General Education for Faculty

2007-2008 proposal for GE reform

Proposed Revisions to the
UH Hilo General Education Program
Submitted by the 2005-2006 General Education Committee

The motions submitted by the current Committee must be understood in the context of actions undertaken by GE Committees in the recent past. Building on the work of the 2004 Committee, the current proposal incorporates the concept of makia or hallmarks for the content of general education courses. It addresses issues of assessment and provides a structure for how programs may qualify their courses as general education courses. Implicitly, this proposal recognizes that the four Colleges of UHH have distinctive academic missions. Therefore, the proposal provides needed flexibility while describing the hallmarks of what a common core of general education courses might be.

This process of GE Curriculum development, being a complex one, has evolved over time. Please consult the General Education Process Narrative for the highlights of the GE process as it has evolved over the past several years.

For the latest briefings, please consult the meeting minutes attached:

Proposal Put Forth by the 2005-2006 Committe

The 2005-2006 Committee’s first achievement was in bringing together representation not only from the four Colleges, but from each division. We were joined as well by units like the Library and the Office of Student Affairs. We were particularly grateful to have student membership from each of the four Colleges as well. Our deliberations spanned the Fall and Spring Semesters. Summaries of our meetings can be found in the minutes posted on-line at the General Education Web site:http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/uhh/genedfac/

We understand that the proposed changes are probably imperfect and even controversial. Some needed work remains. The assessment of learning outcomes in the General Education Curriculum remains to be examined, for example.

However, we have addressed some fundamental concerns expressed by previous and current Committee members. Before presenting the specific motions of our proposal, we want to briefly raise the rationales and thinking behind our work. The following table describes the concerns of the GE Committee and how they were addressed:

Issue or Concern	How Addressed
General Education Curriculum should allow for more student flexibility, at the same time as increasing students’ competence in written communication and quantitative skills.	See I, II
Guidelines for General Education Course Content acceptable to the four Colleges	Embodied in III – XI (Makia)
General Education goals promoted throughout the undergraduate curriculum	Writing intensive courses and area requirements span upper- and lower- division curriculum
Review or selection of GE courses and documentation of appropriateness	Courses for GE must meet Makia guidelines; this must be documented by the offering Department; accountability achieved through regular program assessment and review (See XII)
Mechanism for Departmental and College Curriculum Committee Review	See XIII (See also expanded discussion below under “Accountability for and Administration of General Education”).
Articulation among Colleges to accept course hallmarks (in cases of student transfers from one College to another) and a mechanism for settling disputes	See XIV
Mechanism whereby Colleges offering GE courses may address “challenges” or alternative means of satisfying GE requirements	See XV
A language option was seen as a desirable part of the General Education Curriculum	See Item V. which adds an exception to the World Cultures requirement. (See also expanded discussion below under Language Option.)

Accountability for and Administration of General Education

The proposal places reliance for the overall administration of General Education on Program Chairs and College Deans, through the existing Curriculum Review and Program Review processes. The system of Hallmarks or Makia provides for a universal system of standards based on the educational goals of the courses rather than specification of content. Programs that wish to offer courses that students may take in satisfaction of General Education requirements have the obligation to certify to the University Community that those courses are in compliance with the Hallmarks or Makia for the relevant General Education requirement area. Curriculum and Program Review processes already in place, which employ multiple levels of review through Department and College Curriculum Committees, the various Deans, and the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, can provide the external review and assurance that programs are acting in good faith.

The proposal does not address the mechanical process of publication of lists of courses currently approved for General Education usage. We presume that this can be done through collaboration between the Registrar and the various Deans, possibly through the annual catalog review.

The Language Option

A new exception in the World Cultures courses permits the creation of a “Language Option.” Incorporating this language option into the general education requirements will encourage students to study a two-semester sequence of foreign language without putting an unrealizable burden on the resources of the language department or the administration. If students begin taking foreign languages as allowed by this option, language classes at UHH will gradually increase in enrollment, and this will give the language department and the University’s administration the time to gather resources to accommodate increased language enrollment over time.

Furthermore, this will serve to aid students preparing to transfer to UH Manoa or other universities that require a foreign language as part of the bachelor’s degree. It will also allow students planning to apply to graduate programs to include a foreign language into their undergraduate course of study.

It should be noted that a minority report was released from this Committee regarding the Language Option. See the contents of this Report.

Details of the 2005-2006 Proposal

With the foregoing in mind, the 2005-2006 General Education Committee submits the following proposal to the UHH Congress for Approval:

I. The General Education Program in all undergraduate degree programs at UH-Hilo will include the following requirement areas:

Basic Requirements, which will include coursework in Written Communication, Quantitative Reasoning, World Cultures, and Hawaii/Asia Pacific.
Area Requirements, which will include coursework in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. The Natural Sciences Area Requirement must include a laboratory course in a physical or biological science.
Writing Intensive, satisfaction of a Writing Intensive Requirement.

II. The minimum acceptable coursework for any College’s implementation of this General Education Program must include, but is not limited to:

Basic Requirements: 6 credits in Written Communication; 6 credits in Quantitative Reasoning; 6 credits in World Cultures; 3 credits in Hawaii/Asia/Pacific.
Area Requirements: 6 credits in Humanities; 6 credits in Social Sciences; 7 credits in Natural Sciences, including one laboratory credit.
Writing Intensive: 9 credits, 6 of which must be upper division.

III. Courses used to satisfy the Basic Requirement in Written Communication must:

introduce students to different forms of college-level writing, including, but not limited to, academic discourse, and guide them in writing for different purposes and audiences
provide students with guided practice of writing processes-planning, drafting, critiquing, revising, and editing-making effective use of written and oral feedback from the faculty instructor and from peers
require at least 5000 words of finished prose-equivalent to approximately 20 typewritten pages
help students develop information literacy by teaching search strategies, critical evaluation of information and sources, and effective selection of information for specific purposes and audiences; teach appropriate ways to incorporate such information, acknowledge sources and provide citations
help students read texts and make use of a variety of sources in expressing their own ideas, perspectives, and/or opinions in writing.

IV. Courses used to satisfy the Basic Requirement in Quantitative Reasoning must:

enable students to understand the use of mathematical concepts as representations of real world events and phenomena
require students to develop skills in chains of reasoning from data to conclusions
require students to develop skills in problem-solving using mathematical concepts and techniques

V. Courses used to satisfy the Basic Requirement in World Cultures must:

analyze the development of human societies and their cultural traditions through time and throughout the world, including Africa, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Oceania (Pacific Basin)
offer a broad, integrated analysis of cultural, economic, political, scientific, and social development that recognizes the diversity of human societies and their cultural traditions
examine processes of cross-cultural interaction and exchange that have linked the world's people through time
engage students in the study and analysis of writings, narratives, texts, artifacts, and/or practices that represent the perspective of different societies and cultural traditions
Exception for language course: Second semester or above language course that includes a World Cultures component through language or cultural comparison.

VI. Courses used to satisfy the Area Requirements in Humanities must:

involve students actively in critical thinking and in written or oral communication
use the terminology of the visual, performing, or creative arts; or of the study of philosophy, language, communication, or religion; or of literary representations
engage students in the study of artifacts, texts, performances, processes, theories, or issues of the concern in studies of the arts, philosophy, language, communication, religion, or literature
demonstrate the methods or modes of inquiry employed in studies of the arts, philosophy, language, communication, religion, or literature
illustrate the interrelationships between the discipline and academic disciplines in the social or natural sciences

VII. Courses used to satisfy the Area Requirements in Social Sciences must:

involve students actively in critical thinking and in written or oral communication
use the terminology of theories, structures, or processes in the social sciences
present theories, concepts, models, practices, research methods, or issues of concern in the study of these structures or processes
demonstrate inquiry that is guided by theory and/or by quantitative and/or qualitative methods employed in the study of structures or processes within the social sciences
illustrate the interrelationships between the discipline and academic disciplines in the humanities or natural sciences

VIII. Lecture courses used to satisfy the Area Requirements in Natural Sciences must:

involve students actively in critical thinking, numeracy, and written or oral communication
use the terminology of computational, physical or biological sciences
include knowledge and theories of the computational, physical or biological sciences
foster a student's ability to perform inquiry that is guided by the scientific method, including observation/experimentation and scientific reasoning/mathematics
illustrate the interrelationships between the discipline and academic disciplines in the humanities or social sciences

IX. Laboratory courses used to satisfy the Area Requirements in Natural Sciences must:

use the laboratory methods of physical or biological science
involve the process of, or considers the issues of, experimental design, testing/measurement, analysis and interpretation of experimental data/results
consider the strengths and limitations of the scientific method
demonstrate the interaction of observation/experiment, and reasoning/analysis.

X. Courses used to satisfy a Study of Hawaii, Asia, or the Pacific requirement must:

involve students actively in written or oral communication
investigate major aspects of the culture, language, economy, history, or natural environment of Hawai'i or of another indigenous culture or nation or region of the Pacific or Asia
foster critical understanding of different cultural perspectives, values, and world views and the ability to acquire additional knowledge about these
illustrate the interrelationships among various disciplines in the study of the culture or region

XI. Courses used to satisfy a Writing Intensive requirement must:

use writing to promote the learning of course materials. Instructors assign formal and informal writing, both in class and out, to increase students' understanding of course material as well as to improve writing skills.
provide interaction between teacher and students while students do assigned writing; in effect, the instructor acts as an expert and the student as an apprentice in a community of writers.
be graded to a significant extent by the student's writing performance
require students to do a substantial amount of writing—a minimum of 4000 words, or about 16 finished pages—formal, or informal, including analytic essays, critical reviews, journals, lab reports, research reports, or reaction papers, etc.
normally be restricted to 20 students.

XII. The decision to offer a course for General Education credit rests with the offering Department and College. Offering a course for General Education credit imposes the following obligations on that department:

Notification to the University community that the course is intended for General Education credit, and the specific General education requirement that it is intended to satisfy. This includes an obligation to notify the community of any future changes in the course that may affect its continued suitability for that General Education requirement.
Public statement of the broad learning objectives of the course, through publication of a master syllabus or other statement of objectives for the course at an accessible location.
Enforcement of reasonable compliance with the stated learning objectives by instructors appointed by the department.
Documentation through regular, periodic program review that the course continues to meet the appropriate set of hallmarks or standards.

XIII. Upon adoption of this program, the following sequence of events must occur:

Each Department must review courses that it may choose to offer for General Education, and prepare a description of how the each course meets the appropriate set of hallmarks.
Each College Curriculum Committee must review the descriptions provided by the Departments within the College, and act to approve or deny each course for General Education.
The results of the Colleges’ reviews must be accumulated, and a combined list of acceptable courses published. (Mechanism to be determined.)

XIV. The Colleges agree that any course certified by one College’s Curriculum Committee as meeting a particular set of hallmarks will be accepted by all other Colleges for the same requirement area. Acceptance of a course by one College, when that course is unacceptable to another College and the disagreement cannot be resolved through discussion between the Colleges, may be appealed to, and finally resolved by, the General Education Committee of the UH-Hilo Congress.

XV. Colleges that offer courses to fulfill General Education requirements may determine alternative means (credit by examination, or other alternatives) for the satisfaction of any General Education requirement, subject to the following conditions:

The Department proposing the alternative means must demonstrate how the appropriate hallmarks are satisfied by the alternative; and,
The alternative, if offered, must be available to any student that requests it.