1. 2013 as the New 1828 Leveraging Inquiry in General Education to:
“Lay the Foundation for a Superior Education”
D. Kent Johnson
Northern Kentucky University
Presented at AGLS 53rd Annual Conference
September 20th 2013

2. Goals for Today’s Session
Try to justify the insanity of choosing a 19th Century Faculty Essay to frame a discussion of bringing meaning to a general education program in the 21st Century.
To discuss how a common intellectual experience might help students connect general education and their major
To get feedback and learn from my peers

3. 19th to 21st Century Old Tensions are New Again
Tensions surrounding the common “aims” of higher education – what is a college degree, what should it be?
Experimentation and Differentiation in Organizational Form and Aims of Higher Education (see Geiger (ed), 2000)
Transition from elite to broader participation (Potts, 1977) in postsecondary education in 19th Century, to mass in the 20th and approaching universal in the 21st Century (Martin Trow, 1973)

4. Yale Report of 1828 as: “A song I can’t quite get out of my head”
The two great points to be gained in intellectual culture are the discipline and the furniture of the mind; expanding its powers, and storing it with knowledge. The former of these is, perhaps, the more important of the two. A commanding object, therefore, in a collegiate course, should be, to call into daily and vigorous exercise the faculties of the student.

5. Quote from –Unnamed Southeastern Governor
The Unique Challenge of Politicizing the Completion Agenda as Utilitarian
“So I’m going to adjust my education curriculum to what business and commerce needs to get our kids jobs as opposed to moving back in with their parents after they graduate with debt," said, adding
“Why are we teaching these courses if they're not going to help get a job?”
Quote from –Unnamed Southeastern Governor

6. So What Do Employers Want. (http://www. aacu
Nearly all those surveyed (93 percent) say that “a demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than [a candidate’s] undergraduate major.” More than 9 in 10 of those surveyed say it is important that those they hire demonstrate ethical judgment and integrity; intercultural skills; and the capacity for continued new learning.

7. Reframing “Liberal Culture” for “21st Century Learning”
As a starting point, what if: “Discipline and Furniture” were viewed through the lens of Blooms Taxonomy modified by Anderson and Krathwohl (2000) as: “Cognitive Process and Knowledge Dimension”

8. The Yale Faculty’s 1828 Claim in the context of A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy
Discipline as
Cognitive Process
Furniture as
Knowledge Dimension
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create
Factual Knowledge
Conceptual Knowledge
Procedural Knowledge
Metacognitive Knowledge
*Anderson, L. W., Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds). (2000). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

9. The Yale Report, Critical Thinking and Inquiry
Those branches of study should be prescribed, and those modes of instruction adopted, which are best calculated to teach the art of fixing the attention, directing the train of thought, analyzing a subject proposed for investigation; following, with accurate discrimination, the course of argument; balancing nicely the evidence presented to the judgment; awakening, elevating, and controlling the imagination; arranging, with skill, the treasures which memory gathers; rousing and guiding the powers of genius

10. What Employers Want Pt. 2 (http://www. aacu
More than 75% of employers say they want more emphasis on 5 key areas including: critical thinking, complex problem-solving, written and oral communication, and applied knowledge in real-world settings. Employers endorse several educational practices as potentially helpful in preparing college students for workplace success. These include practices that require students to a) conduct research and use evidence-based analysis; b) gain in-depth knowledge in the major and analytic, problem solving and communication skills; and c) apply their learning in real-world settings.

11. Initial Goals for NKU’s First Year Seminar
To help students develop critical thinking abilities as an intellectual foundation
To emphasize oral and written communication skills
To frame critical thinking in a cultural lens helping students value perspectives of other’s differing perspectives
To provide a common intellectural experience that helps students bring coherence and meaning to the general education program

12. SLO’s for NKU’s Proposed First Year Seminar
Outcome Category
Preliminary Learning Outcomes for the First Year Seminar
Critical Thinking (A1, A2)
Students effectively gather material relating to a focused topic, using a variety of tools, sources, and search strategies.
Students identify, interpret, and evaluate assumptions, evidence, conclusions, and theories.
Perspectives (B2, B3)
Students compare historical perspectives on the development of various cultures
Students identify the connections between and differences among local, national, and global communities.
Communication (C3, C4)
Students employ the principles of rhetorical communication
Students analyze and interpret college-level readings in various settings and disciplines
Science and Technology (D3)
*Perhaps as an alternative to Perspectives (B2, B3) for departmentally housed science FYS courses.
Students distinguish between scientific and non-science explanations by employing scientific methods
Personal Responsibility and Community (E2, E3)
Students identify the influence of cultural and socioeconomic background in shaping attitudes and opinions (in themselves and others).
Students identify a variety of influences on human behavior

13. Proposed Framework at NKU
First Year Seminar
Cultural Pluralism
Foundation of Knowledge
Lower Division Statewide Articulation
Upper Division General Education Capstone
Global Viewpoints
Major