General Education for the

21st Century:Mapping the Pathways; Supporting

Students’ Signature Work

Carol Geary Schneider

President, Association of American Colleges and Universities

2016 AAC&U Institute on General Education and Assessment

Opening Plenary Session

June 4, 2016

Overview

• Liberal and General Education: Clarifying Our Terms

• The Historical and Contemporary Landscape for Curricular Change

• A 21st Century Vision for High Quality Learning and Liberal Education

• GEMs Design Principles—Cornerstone to Capstone—for 21st Century General Education

• Signature Work: Mapping the Pathways to Support Students’ Inquiry Learning

Clarifying Our Terms

• Liberal Arts/Liberal Arts and Sciences

• General Education

• Liberal Education

• Inclusive Excellence

See handout

General Education,

Then and Now

The Nineteenth Century College

The Twentieth Century University

A Common Core Curriculum

(All learning is “general” and “liberal”

education”)

Breadth + Depth

(Breadth = General Studies;

Depth = Majors; for many, “liberal education” becomes

synonymous with “general education”)

The Twenty-First Century Academy

A Curriculum in Transition:

Rethinking educational purposes and

practices to better prepare students for

• global interdependence

• innovation in the workplace

• civic engagement in a diverse

democracy

• complexity and rapid change

AAC&U’s Work on Quality

Learning• 2000-2005 – Greater Expectations –

A National Dialogue About Goals and Best

Practices for College Learning

• 2005-Ongoing – Liberal Education and America’s

Promise (LEAP)

• Campus Action

• Public Advocacy

• Useful Evidence

• The LEAP Challenge (launched in 2015)

A 21st Century Vision for

High Quality Learning—and

Liberal Education—Now is

In View

The Key Elements in a 21st Century

Framework for High Quality Learning

• Widely Expected Learning Outcomes

• High Impact Practices that Foster

Achievement AND Completion

• Evidence on “What Works” for

Underserved Students

• Authentic Assessments That Raise—and

Reveal—the Level of Learning

Learning Aims and Outcomes

80% of colleges, universities, and community

colleges have identified intended learning

outcomes

Learning Aims and Outcomes

There is very broad agreement across all parts

of higher education—2-year, 4-year, public,

and private—on the learning and skills

students need most

The LEAP Essential Learning

Outcomes Express This Agreement

• Knowledge of Human Cultures and the

Physical and Natural World

• Intellectual and Practical Skills

• Personal and Social Responsibility

• Integrative and Applied Learning

The Emerging Vision for

Quality Adapts the Strengths

of Liberal and General

Education for a Global

World and Reaffirms the

Role of College in Educating

Citizens for a Diverse

Democracy

Yes, But What About the

Economy? Students—and

Everyone Else—Think

College is Mainly About

Jobs…

Employers Strongly Endorse

the Essential Learning

Outcomes

And They Urge New Effort

to Help All Students Achieve

Them

HARTRESEARCHA S S O T E SC I A

It Takes More Than A Major:

Employer Priorities for College Learning

and Student Success

Key findings from survey among 318 employers

Conducted January 9 – 13, 2013

for

HARTRESEARCHA S S O T E SC I A

Falling Short?:

College Learning

and Career Success

Selected findings from online surveys of employers and college students

Conducted November 3 – December 3, 2014

for

Employers Say Innovation, Critical Thinking,

and a Broad Skill Set are Key for Meeting

Challenges in the Workplace

• 95% of employers report that their companies put a priority on hiring people with the intellectual and interpersonal skills to help them contribute to innovation in the workplace

• 93% of employers say that candidates’ demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than their undergraduate major

• 91% of employers say that, whatever their major, all students should have experiences in solving problems with colleagues whose views are different from their own

Source: “It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2013). See more at https://www.aacu.org/leap/public-opinion-research

Broad Learning is

Expected—80% of

Employers Say All Students

Should Have Broad Learning

in the Liberal Arts and

Sciences

See more at https://www.aacu.org/leap/public-opinion-research

It Takes More Than A Major – January 2013 – Hart Research for

Having both field-specific knowledge and skills AND a

broad range of skills and knowledge

Having a range of skills and knowledge that apply to a range

of fields or positions

Having knowledge and skills that apply to a specific field or

position

Narrow Learning is Rejected

16%

29%

55%

Which is more important for recent college graduates who want to pursue advancement and long-term career success at your company?

It Takes More Than A Major – January 2013 – Hart Research for

74%

7%

19%

If you were advising your child or a young person you know about the type of college educationthey should seek to achieve in order to achieve professional and career success in today's globaleconomy, would you recommend they pursue an education like the one described below?

I would

advise a

young person

to pursue

[a liberal

education]

Would not

Depends

Three in four employers would recommend the concept of a liberal education to their own child or a

young person they know

“This approach to a college education

provides both broad knowledge in a

variety of areas of study and knowledge

in a specific major or field of interest. It

also helps students develop a sense of

social responsibility, as well as

intellectual and practical skills that span

all areas of study, such as

communication, analytical, and problem-

solving skills, and a demonstrated ability

to apply knowledge and skills in real-

world settings."

The Key Elements in a 21st Century

Vision for High Quality Learning

• Widely Expected Learning Outcomes

• Practices that Foster Achievement AND

Completion

• Evidence on “What Works” for

Underserved Students

• Assessments That Raise—and Reveal—the

Level of Learning

Practices That Foster Achievement

and Completion

• First-Year Seminars and Experiences

• Common Intellectual Experiences

• Learning Communities

• Writing-Intensive Courses

• Collaborative Assignments and Projects

• Undergraduate Research

• Diversity/Global Learning

• Service Learning, Community-Based Learning

• Internships

• Capstone Courses and Projects

When Students Are Engaged in High

Impact Practices, They Are…

• More likely to complete

• More likely to achieve intended

outcomes, with particular benefits for

underserved students

See handout

High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who

Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter, by George D.

Kuh (AAC&U, 2008)

Five High-Impact Practices: Effects, Impact, and Research

Challenges, by Jayne E. Brownell and Lynn E. Swaner

(AAC&U, 2010)

Assessing Underserved Students’ Engagement in High-Impact

Practices, by Ashley Finley and Tia McNair (AAC&U,

2013)

High Impact Practices Put Students’

Own Active Learning at the Center

• High Engagement (Peers, Mentors,

Unscripted Questions)

• High Effort (By Students)

• High Reward (Ownership of Learning)

The Key Elements in a 21st Century

Vision for High Quality Learning

• Widely Expected Learning Outcomes

• Practices that Foster Achievement AND

Completion

• Evidence on “What Works” for

Underserved Students

• Assessments That Raise—and Reveal—the

Level of Learning—VALUE

How Do We Help Students

Achieve the Essential

Learning Outcomes?

A New Tool for

Curricular Redesign:

The Lumina Foundation’s

Degree Qualifications Profile

(DQP)

See handout

Degree Qualifications Profile

(DQP)

First edition published in the fall of 2014,

after beta testing on 400 campuses

The DQP Builds From

the Vision that Higher

Education Already Has

Created—And That

Employers Endorse

The DQP Shifts Our

Collective Attention to

What Students Actually

Do: Research, Projects,

Papers, Performances,

Creative Work…Applied

Learning

The DQP Makes HIPs

Expected, Not Optional

GEMs: Applying the DQP to

Liberal and General Education

GEMs—General Education

Maps and Markers:

New Design Principles for

General Education from First

to Final Year

What the DQP/GEMs Recommends

for General Education

• Cornerstone to Capstone

• Proficiencies Practiced and Demonstrated—

Across all Learning Experiences

• Inquiry-Centered Learning

• Clear Connections to Majors and to the Wider

Society

• …And MULTIPLE High Impact Practices

What GEMs Adds to the DQP/Quality

Discussion

• Equity

• Practices That Work for Underserved Students

• Deeper Engagement with Big Questions and Problem-Centered Inquiry

• Digital Innovation

• Expanded Possibilities for Communities of Inquiry and Practice—e.g. Research, Service, and Action

What GEMs Adds to the

DQP/Quality Discussion

Student Agency: Preparing

Students to Take

Responsibility for Their

Learning

What GEMs

Recommends—And Where

General Education Needs

to Go…

Signature Work and The

LEAP Challenge

Making Integrative “Signature Work”

An Expected Part of the College

Curriculum—and the Best Evidence of

What Students Can Do With

Their Learning

Signature Work

Signature Work Should Prepare Students to

Grapple with Complex Questions Where

“The Right Answer” Is Not Yet Known and

Where Students Have to Use All the Strategies

of Inquiry, Analysis, and Collaboration to

Construct a Course of Action and Take

Responsibility for the Results

Preparing Students for Signature Work

• To succeed in designing and executing signature

work, students need preparation and frequent

practice across the multiple years of college.

• And that, ultimately, is the point of the LEAP

Challenge.

• Our designs for general education should prepare

students to integrate and apply their learning—to

questions that matter

Signature Work and General Education

Suppose We Envisioned General Education

as Guided Preparation for Students to

Identify and Work on a Signature Topic and

Related Work—Courses and Projects

Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry and

Students’ Signature Work

• The First-Year Experience Should Introduce

Illustrative Questions and Problems

• The Entire Educational Experience Should Build

Capacity to Grapple with Significant Questions

• The Students’ Portfolio Should Demonstrate

Deep Engagement with One or More Significant

Problems—Problems That Matter to the Student

and Problems That Matter to the Wider Society

Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry and

Students’ Signature Work (continued)

• Disciplinary Inquiry is Still Foundational

• But Students Also Need Experience in

Connecting Their Disciplines with Other

Perspectives and Voices

• And, Both for Citizenship and for Work, Students

Need Active Engagement in Their Own Inquiry-

Centered Studies and Projects

Critical Questions for Liberal Education

and General Education

• Will We Use the Digital Revolution as An

Opportunity to Flip the Classroom—And Even the

Curriculum?

• More Time for Collaborative and Cross-Disciplinary

Projects, Investigation, and Research?

• More Opportunities for Community-Based

Learning?

• More Opportunities to Work with Faculty on

Significant Problems and Questions?

• More Student Engagement with Significant Problems

That Matter to Them and Matter to Society?

Fulfilling the Promise of General and

Liberal Education:

Together, We CAN Teach Students to

Connect Their Learning—Across the

Curriculum and Co-Curriculum—AND

With the Needs of the Wider Society