Succeeding in your GE Program:

A helpful guide for motivated freshmen

(updated: Feb. 1, 2012)

Wayne Smith, Ph.D.

Department of Management CSU Northridge [email protected]

Student Success: How might a student conceptualize GE Courses? *

Paradigmatic

Math Natural Sciences

Bio

Social Sciences Government History

Pure

English Critical Thinking

Applied

Life-long Learning Comparative Cultural Studies

Non-Bio

Oral Communication Arts and Humanities

Pre-Paradigmatic * Adapted from Biglan, 1973

Student Success: How does a student think about GE Courses in general?

• Paradigmatic – Knowledge accretion; high consensus on data, methods, and “truth” – So…you are constantly evaluating how each topic builds upon a prior topic • Pre-Paradigmatic – Knowledge interpretation; low consensus on data, methods, and “truth” – So…you are constantly re-evaluating yourself and your relationships • Pure – Emphasizes theory over practice; community of scholars is important – So…you focus on the intrinsic (academic) value and theoretical depth • Applied – Emphasizes practice over theory; comm. of professionals is important – So…you focus on the extrinsic (professional) value of the topic and theoretical breadth • Bio – Involves the deep, rich study of life or organic material (microscopic) • Non-Bio – Involves macro issues, especially the broader society or universe (telescopic)

Student Success: How does a student think about specific GE Courses?

• Paradigmatic/Pure – E.g., Math, History – What are the appropriate questions and how best do I evaluate the answers?

• Pre-Paradigmatic/Pure – E.g., English Literature, Music/Art Appreciation – How does a person change, why is it important, and what do others perceive?

• Paradigmatic/Applied – E.g., Physical/Natural Sciences, U.S. Government – What do we know about our world, and how do we relate to our society?

• Pre-Paradigmatic/Applied – E.g., Public Speaking, Health/Wellness – What is the most practical, pragmatic, theory-in-use application of my skills • Bio – Add this dimension and adjust all the above descriptions as applicable

Student Success: How does a student approach and craft success in GE Courses?

• CSUN GE Requirements – http://www.csun.edu/catalog/generaleducation.html

– If printed, this document is 24 pages – The first half of the first page is the “why” of GE; the rest is a list of categories/courses – The fact that CSUN has designed GE so that you select courses is extraordinary… – Always try to select GE courses that “double-count” in your major (see your advisor!) – In general, you most often select GE courses that are consonant with your interests… • Vocabulary that isn’t on the GE web page…but arguably could be: – Serendipity, Discovery, Discernment, Enlighten, Wisdom – Authority, Democracy, Empathy, Leadership, Ethos – Synergy, Relationships, Uncertainty, Wellness, Happiness – Systems, Holism, Beauty, Justice, Truth • Students need to 1), look up in a college-level dictionary the meaning of each of these words, 2), use each in sentence, and 3), most important…approach each GE course with an application of each word.

• The ideal goal is for you become an “intentional learner” – and you will improve, incrementally and demonstrably, in each GE (and other!) class

Student Success: What is interdisciplinary thinking in GE Courses?

• I’ll proffer that the most (all?) important questions of life require a conjunction of two or more quadrants (i.e., “inter-disciplinary”).

• Identify what we need from each quadrant to help evaluate each of the following four statements… • “Eureka! An astronomer using a telescope in Chile has discovered yet another planet outside of our solar system.” • “To love another person is to touch the face of God.” – “Les Misérables”, by Victor Hugo (1802-1885) • “Geez, sweetheart, I absolutely adore this new house and this residential community, but can we make the monthly payments?” • “The incumbent President Barack Obama is focusing on the swing states that have stable and important demographic characteristics.” • And, by extension of the above examples, one might argue that critical reasoning is indeed properly placed at the conjunction of all 4 quadrants.

Student Success: GE is also about wisdom and efficacy

• An example…”What is Logic?” (Allen, 2006) • Academic perspective – “[Logic is about]…flaws in reasoning; examining evidence; comparing two lines of an argument” • Professional perspective – “[Logic is about]…performance in ill-structured situations; finding the problem to solve; working around missing information; [knowing] what is a ‘good enough’ solution and therefore when to stop [analyzing]” • GE not only helps with the definitions and context, but also with knowing what reasoning to use and when (contingency).

• And, of course, Basic Skills—Analytic Reading and Expository Writing, Critical Thinking, Mathematics, and Oral Communication—will be threaded through everything you do both during and after college.

Student Success: What do other students think?

• Comments regarding the value of GE courses from my Freshmen students in the past two years…

• “Astronomy is another form of history, but from a cosmic view.” • “I am taking philosophy next semester because I have always been a critical thinker.” • “College is like a painting; its meaning changes to the people viewing it.” • “When majoring in any field, we are majoring in a subject that will help the world—that goes for all majors from accountants to social workers.”

Student Success: What does another California institution think?

• As of January, 2012, Stanford is proposing 55 new recommendations for their undergraduate experience.

– It’s designed mostly around interdisciplinary critical thinking.

– “[The faculty’s] single motivating principle… is our determination to breach the silos of students’ lives…” (emphasis added) • “[There are]…four broad elements that [the faculty] believe represent the goals of a Stanford education.” – Owning Knowledge, Honing Skills and Capacities, Cultivating Personal and Social Responsibility, and Adaptive Learning • “[This] new [breadth] model promotes the acquisition and development of seven essential capacities, which [the faculty] term ‘Ways of Thinking, Ways of Doing’.” – Aesthetic and interpretive inquiry (2 courses), Social inquiry (2 courses) ,

Scientific analysis (2 courses), Formal and quantitative reasoning (2 courses), Engaging difference (1 course), and Moral and ethical reasoning (1 course)

References

• Allen, M. (2006), Assessing General Education Programs, Anker Publishing • Biglan, A. (1973) “The characteristics of subject matter in different academic areas”, Journal of Applied Psychology, 57(3), pp. 195-203 • CSUN GE Requirements – http://www.csun.edu/catalog/generaleducation.html

• The Study of Undergraduate Education at Stanford University – http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/january/SUES_Report.pdf

• Additionally, a few of the ideas in this presentation have benefited from informal communications with Prof. Sharon Klein (CSUN, English/Lingusitics/WRAD)