Many students are surprised when they arrive on a college campus and discover the number of general education courses they are required to take.  This is because today's college inherited many of its traditions and attitudes from the medieval university system that evolved in Europe during the 12th to the 15th centuries.  Ultimately, the goal of the European university was to produce a "Renaissance man".  This was an individual who was knowledgeable in many areas and prepared to assume a position of leadership when he or she returned to their home community. A craftsman might limit his or her training to those areas necessary to practice a trade but a truly educated person because of his or her knowledge in many areas could appreciate the achievements of civilization, understand the tensions and problems within that civilization, and contribute to resolving those problems in ways that would be impossible for those with a more limited world view.

Educators of the time believed that to develop a Renaissance man required at least a basic introduction to all the arts and sciences.  This became the foundation for the general education requirements that are the hall mark of today's college programs.  At Cloud County Community College there is a core requirement of 18 hours of general education courses.  Students can take more and often are required to take more than the mandatory 18 hours but they cannot take less.  Students do have some options in terms of the specific general education courses in which they enroll.  Some general education courses, such as English Composition are required of all students.  But, there are also areas in which several different courses may satisfy a more global requirement.  These are often referred to as "electives" because the student can elect to take one course or another in a particular area.   Thus one student may fulfill part of their humanities requirement by enrolling in Music Appreciation while another student may have more interest in Art Appreciation.  But all students will enroll in a general education core designed to develop a broad understanding of the world in which they live. 

The first part of this lesson requires that you identify a core set of general education courses that will meet graduation requirements and help you address your personal and professional interests.  When you have completed that assignment you will return to this page, and complete your reading of the general education assessment material.  Following that you will take a multiple choice quiz over both the goals and the College's assessment plan for general education.  Successful completion of this lesson requires that you complete the course worksheet and obtain a passing score on the quiz.  Failure to obtain a passing score will require that you read the material again and retake the quiz. 

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General Education Assessment

The acquisition of knowledge in many areas does not by itself make one an educated person.  An educated individual develops the ability to organize, synthesize and clarify information in ways that allows him or her to apply their knowledge in many different situations.  Knowledge that cannot be applied outside the boundaries of the course in which it was learned is of little value.  To determine if someone has acquired knowledge that can be used across the boundaries of many disciplines requires assessment procedures that examine a student's mastery across the curriculum.

Assessment across the curriculum is not an easy task. The results of such an assessment reflects as much on the college as it does on the student.  It also requires an agreement about the skills and attitudes that need to be assessed and a method of accomplishing the assessment procedure.  After a great deal of discussion, the faculty and staff at Cloud County Community College identified the following integrative cognitive skills and attitudes they believed it was important for students to master.

1. Communication: Students will be able to communicate effectively orally and in writing.

2. Mathematics: Students will demonstrate proficiency in mathematical skills.

3. Culture: Students will demonstrate knowledge of cultural experiences and            expressions.

4. Problem Solving: Students will be able to effectively solve problems.

In order to assess these skills the following assessment procedures were developed.

1. Communication: 1a) the student will write a clear, well organized paper, using documentation when appropriate; 1b) the student will deliver a clear, well organized oral presentation.

2. Mathematics: 2a) the student will extract, represent, analyze and interpret data, draw conclusions from data and present data and conclusions; 2b) the student will demonstrate applied mathematics in a career setting in at least one of the following ways: financially, scientifically, agriculturally or technologically; 2c) the student will use appropriate technology to solve mathematical problems.

3. Culture: 3a) the student will demonstrate a knowledge of the variability of human behavior; 3b) the student will demonstrate understanding of the human condition through art, history, literature, music, theater or philosophy.

4. Problem Solving: 4) the student will demonstrate the ability to apply the scientific process by means of an essay, project or experiment designed by the instructor to assess student abilities.

Each year instructors in various courses are asked to develop questions and assignments designed to measure the attitudes and skills listed above. For example, a student in an agriculture course might be asked to determine mathematically the ideal amount of fertilizer to use on a field and the yield he might expect if harvesting conditions are ideal. The mathematical skills for this assignment would come from such courses as College Algebra but if one has actually mastered algebra then it should be possible to apply those skills in other courses.  

These kinds of assignments represent only a small part of the work a student will complete in most courses.  However, your efforts in these areas is of vital importance to the College.  During the year, we will pull out the responses to these global assignments and questions and determine the percentage of students who have been successful with them.  This becomes an important indicator to the College in determining our success in providing you with a college education.  The percentage of students who have mastered these higher level skills in effect acts as a report card for the College.  As our "grade" comes in each year we intend to keep you and the public posted as to our successes and failures.  We hope you will work with us and provide us with suggestions to improve this process and thus increase the value of the education you are receiving at Cloud County Community College.    Now be sure to take the quiz!