What, if any, additional "weaknesses" has the UABGES identified? This question should be distinguished from "what ideal features does the current GER lack?" The addressing of this latter question might be part of the "action plan" UABGES has been charged to devise.
Summer task force Final Report
The Summer working group issued a report in which Three Options were described for revision of the General Education Requirements at UAA. In Options 1 and 2, it is assumed that an additional category of 8-9 credits would be added to the current categories. The Discussion Draft Document presented at the 10/25/01 meeting of UABGES opened the consideration of the content and implementation of such a new category.
The implementation of Option 3 has been associated in committee discussions with the current General Education Core program at UAF. It may be timely to present a draft implementation of Option 3 as it would apply to a revision of the UAA requirements.
To meet the demands of coherence and mission, the following revisions in the previous century's GER preamble are suggested
GER Preamble
The General Education Requirements provide students with a common
educational experience that will foster the development of habits and
capabilities fundamental to personal growth and a productive life.
To this end, UAA students take courses in six basic areas: (1) Courses
in Written and Oral Communication develop the critical reading,
thinking, and communication faculties (writing, speaking, and listening)
necessary for personal and professional success. (2) Courses in
Quantitative Skills foster the analytical and mathematical abilities
necessary for success in undergraduate study and professional life.
(3)
Courses in the Humanities consider the cultural, historical, literary,
aesthetic, ethical, and spiritual traditions shaping the contemporary
world. (4) Courses in the Fine Arts examine the historical, aesthetic,
critical, and creative aspects of art. (5) Courses in the Social
Sciences explore insights about individuals, groups, and cultures
derived from empirical methodologies. (6) Courses in the Natural
Sciences present theoretical and descriptive approaches to understanding
the natural and physical worlds. Throughout these studies,
where
applicable, students are encouraged to
master information technologies;
appreciate the multicultural reality or contemporary
life, practice
critical thinking, and consider the ethical commitments
informing
responsible citizenship. to
consider implications for culture, ethics, and ideals;
to seek both local and global, national and international
perspectives;
and to apply the critical function, whether aesthetic
or analytic.
After completing the General Education Requirement, UAA students shall
be able to:
1 . Communicate effectively in a variety of contexts and formats
2. Reason mathematically, and analyze quantitative and qualitative
data
competently to reach sound conclusions.
3. Relate knowledge to the historical context in which it developed
and
the human problems it addresses.
4. Interpret different systems of aesthetic representation and
understanding their historical and cultural contexts.
5. Investigate the complexity of human institutions and behavior to
better understand interpersonal, group, and cultural dynamics.
6. Identify ways in which science has advanced the understanding of
important natural processes.
7. Locate and use relevant information to make appropriate personal
and
professional decisions.
8. Comprehend the concepts and perspectives needed
to function in a
multicultural society.
Adopt appropriate perspectives for understanding
the forces of globalization and diversity.
9. Integrate creative and critical thinking and personal experience
in a
meaningful and coherent manner.
Undergraduate baccalaureate study at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
is characterized by a common set of learning experiences known as the Core
Curriculum. The core provides students with a shared foundation of skills
and knowledge that, when combined with specialized study in the major and
other specific degree requirements, is designed to prepare students to
better meet the demands of life in the 21st century. Through the baccalaureate
core experience, every UAF student is expected to achieve:
* multidimensional competency in written and oral
English -- including comprehension of complex materials
and creation of clearly organized presentations of soundly reasoned thought
in both oral and written form;
* a solid grasp of quantitative reasoning and mathematical application;
* an intellectual comfort with the sciences -- including the objectivity
of the scientific method, the frameworks that have nurtured scientific
thought, the traditions of human inquiry, and the impact of technology
on the world's ecosystems;
* an appreciation of cultural diversity and its implications
for individual and group values, aesthetics and social and political institutions;
* an understanding of our global economic interdependence, sense of historical consciousness and a more critical
comprehension of literature and the arts;
* a better understanding of one's own values, other value systems and the relationship between value systems
and life choices.
Through better integration of knowledge, it is expected that UAF graduates
will more fully understand the changing world in which they will be expected
to function. If you completed your bachelor's degree from a regionally
accredited institution, you will be considered to have completed the equivalent
of the baccalaureate core when you have been officially accepted to an
undergraduate degree program at UAF.
Courses used to meet core requirements may not be used to meet any other
requirements for a degree.
ENGL 111X -- Introduction to Academic Writing* (3 credits)
ENGL 211X -- Academic Writing about Literature
OR ENGL 213X -- Academic Writing about the Social and Natural Sciences
(3 credits)
COMM 131X -- Fundamentals of Oral Communication:
Group Context OR COMM 141X -- Fundamentals of
Oral Communication: Public Context (3 credits)
*ENGL 190H may be substituted.
(Humanities and social sciences) (18 credits)
Complete the following six courses:
ANTH 100X/SOC 100X -- Individual, Society and Culture (3 credits)
ECON 100X or PS 100X -- Political Economy (3 credits)
HIST 100X -- Modern World History (3 credits)
ART/MUS/THR 200X -- Aesthetic Appreciation:
Interrelationship of Art, Drama and Music OR
HUM 201X -- Unity in the Arts (3 credits)
ENGL/FL 200X -- World Literatures (3 credits)
COMM 300X -- Communicating Ethics OR
JUST 300X -- Ethics and Justice OR
NRM 303X -- Environmental Ethics and Actions OR
PS 300X -- Values and Choices OR
PHIL 322X -- Ethics (3 credits)
OR complete 12 credits from the above courses plus two semester-
length courses in a single Alaska Native language or other
non-English language or three semester-length courses (9 credits)
in American Sign Language taken at the university level.
MATH 107X -- Functions of Calculus OR MATH 131X -- Concepts
and Contemporary Applications of Mathematics 3
OR MATH 200X, 201X, 202X, 262X, 272X or any math course
having one of these as a prerequisite
* MATH 161 is not an equivalent course to MATH 107X.
Complete two 4-credit courses, with labs, from approved natural science
core courses with depth or breadth emphasis. Both courses must be from
the same emphasis area, that is, either breadth or depth.
The two courses must be in different natural sciences or must be interdisciplinary
in nature.
Select two courses from the following:
ATM 101X -- Weather and Climate of Alaska (4 credits)
BIOL 100X -- Human Biology (4)
or BIOL 103X -- Biology and Society (4)
or BIOL 104X -- Natural History (4) (4 credits)
CHEM 100X -- Chemistry and the Modern World (4 credits)
GEOG 205X -- Physical Geography (4 credits)
GEOS 100X -- Introduction to Earth Science OR GEOS 125X -- Humans, Earth
and Environment OR GEOS 120X -- Glaciers, Earthquakes, Volcanoes (4 credits)
MSL 111X -- The Oceans (4 credits)
PHYS 102X -- Energy and Society OR PHYS 175X -- Astronomy (4 credits)
The two courses must be sequential courses or a two-semester survey
in the basic natural sciences (biology, chemistry, earth science, physics).
Select one sequence from the following:
BIOL 105X-106X -- Fundamentals of Biology I and II (8 credits)
BIOL 211X-212X -- Human Anatomy & Physiology I and II (8 credits)
CHEM 103X-104X -- Basic General Chemistry --
Beginnings in Biochemistry (8 credits)
CHEM 105X-106X -- General Chemistry (8 credits)
GEOS 101X -- The Dynamic Earth and
GEOS 112X -- History of Earth and Life (8 credits)
PHYS 103X-104X -- College Physics (8 credits)
PHYS 211X-212X -- General Physics (8 credits)
PHYS 211X-213X -- General Physics/Elementary Modern Physics (8 credits)
PHYS 212X-213X -- General Physics/Elementary Modern Physics (8 credits)
Successful completion of library skills competency test or
LS 100X or 101X prior to junior standing 0 - 1
oral communication intensive course designated (O)
or two oral communication intensive courses designated
(O/2), at the upper-division level
(see degree and/or major requirements) 0 additional
Last
modified: Fri Sep 28 06:19:55 AKDT 2001