The General Education Council confers two types of pathway approval: provisional and final. Provisional approval is analogous to an “intent to plan.” It allows for offering pilot courses and/or implementing parts of a pathway over time (e.g. entry level first) while other parts are being designed. Provisional Approval Process
Provisional proposals should have the following:
An implementation plan with timetable
Detailed templates or syllabi for entry-level courses
Templates for mid-level and capstone
The matrix filled out as a curricular map which includes co-curricular experiences (see attached example).
A reasonably clear vision of the financial impact of both pathway development and implementation.
Final approval will not be given until the pathway is complete. Provisional approval will be awarded for two years: mid-level syllabi should be reviewed in the year after provisional approval, capstone syllabi in year two. At the conclusion of the two year cycle, the pathway either earns full approval or folds.
These provisional pathways need to be structured such that students may change pathways with the understanding that equivalencies will be established with other pathways and with the existing Core curriculum. Pilots will also need to have articulation with the current Core requirements in order to protect students.
Final Approval
A general education pathway proposal includes a concise narrative about and matrix (see attached) of courses and other learning experiences intended to fulfill the goals and outcomes for general education at USM (see attached Vision, Goals and Outcomes for General Education at USM). The narrative will address pathway coherence, integration, rigor, inclusion, practicality, and transfer criteria as spelled out in the Guidelines and Criteria for General Education at USM; refer to this document for more detailed guidance. The General Education Council will examine proposals for both the design of the pathway and the design of assessment mechanisms to ensure that student learning outcomes have been met at multiple levels. Although such careful assessment is required by our accrediting body, NEASC, our primary motive for emphasizing it is to document and substantiate the academic benefits realized by USM students. The Council is happy to work with designers throughout the pathway development process to clarify and assist them in meeting review criteria.Each proposal must also include a reasonably clear vision of the financial impact of pathway implementation.
Narrative Section
Coherence: Learning experiences are designed to further learning goals in a cumulative and sequential manner across the student’s entire college career.
How does the pathway demonstrate coherence?
How does the pathway acquaint students with the different lenses used in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, fine arts and field(s) of practice?
How are skills and knowledge developed throughout the college years?
How is/are learning communities fostered (specify entry, mid-career, and concluding experiences)?
What is the relationship of the pathway to students’ majors?
Integration/Interdisciplinarity: Learning experiences are interdisciplinary in response to the explosion of knowledge…; they develop the intellectual skills of connection and integration crucial to comprehending…complex problems.
How does the pathway demonstrateintegration and interdiscplinarity?
Where in the pathway is there collaboration between faculty members from two or more disciplines in curricular development?
Where and how do students demonstrate the intellectual skills of connection and integration?
Rigor: A rigorous general education will maintain high expectations for teaching and learning, and both…will be informed and improved by deliberate and explicit assessment.
What evidence will be used in the pathway to demonstrate rigor, and how will it be used to inform and improve learning (how you will know that you are accomplishing what you say you are)?
What is the mechanism for evaluating new course proposals and assessing ongoing courses?
What is the plan for ongoing assessment of students’ learning and for identifying collective student success as defined in the pathway? (The GEC can provide sources for and assistance in assessment design.)
How will the pathway demonstrate that students have met the five goals of general education?
Inclusion: Learning experiences require students to contend with varied and contested perspectives and diverse cultures, and to respectfully participate in learning environments honoring diversity.
How does the pathway incorporate diverse perspectives and demonstrate inclusion?
Where do students encounter diverse points of view and contend with diverse people and ideas?
How are considerations of human diversity included?
Practicality: Learning experiences develop those capacities essential for college graduates to succeed in a complex, transforming and diverse world: analytical skills, effective communication, practical intelligence, ethical judgment, and social responsibility.
How are curricular and co-curricular (learning experiences outside the classroom that support or deliberately complement academic experiences and enhance student learning and development) experiences
articulated,
developed,
integrated and
evaluated throughout the pathway?
Transfer: It is important that a general education pathway not discriminate against transfer students, whether internal or external.
What is the plan for accommodating both internal and external transfer students into the pathway?
What is the process for determining transfer equivalencies?
Where does the responsibility and authority for determining equivalencies rest?
What is the transition experience for students who transfer to USM from other institutions?
Matrix Section
Since general education pathways are developmental in nature (learning is sequential and cumulative), we devised a matrix format to summarize the learning experiences across the entry, mid-career and capstone levels for the five goals. While we recognize that learning development is continuous, for simplicity we settled on three sequential way points: introductory, developing, and accomplished. In other words, indicate where in the pathway students develop a beginning level of the knowledge, skills and dispositions (described in the outcomes), where they are further developed, and where students achieve the learning appropriate for a graduate of USM. It is up to the pathway designers to describe the corresponding learning outcomes for the goals (attached are some examples of ways to approach this task).
Every pathway must have a structure of learning experiences that can reasonably be expected to prepare each student to demonstrate successfully the five goals of general education. Every pathway must introduce, develop and integrate the 5 goals of general education. While all 43 outcomes must be addressed to some degree, most should be developed, and many should be accomplished. The General Education Council recognizes that pathways may vary in the degree to which each outcome is developed.
List on the matrix the courses and co-curricular experiences which meet the goals and outcomes, using the numbering system on the attached Vision, Goals and Outcomes. Along with the outcome #, identify whether the course/learning experience is introductory, developed, or accomplished (see table below).
Code for Matrix of Courses/Learning Experiences
Degree to which outcome is addressed
Description of learning outcomes (in pathway)
Introductory (I)
Developing (D)
Accomplished (A)
See the attached hypothetical matrix for examples.
Use the numbering system below in your matrix:
Vision, Goals and Outcomes for General Education at USM
Adopted by the Faculty Senate April 2, 2004
General education at USM is a coherent, integrative, and rigorous liberal education that will enable our graduates to be world-minded, intentional, life-long learners. General education engages the academic community in learning experiences that both illuminate and transcend the perspectives of various disciplines, and systematically fosters the values and dispositions, knowledge, and skills essential for students to demonstrate
1. Informed understandings of human cultures and the natural world;
2. Analytical, contextual, and holistic thinking about complex issues;
3. Effective communication using multiple literacies and forms of expression;
4. Critical reflection upon, and informed action in, their roles as citizens, family members, consumers, and producers; and
5. Ethical action to maintain their own health and contribute to the social, environmental, and economic welfare of local and global communities.
Goals and Outcomes
1. To demonstrate informed understandings of human cultures and the natural world:
students will be able to 1.1 Examine and analyze interrelationships within and among ecosystems and human communities; 1.2 Clarify and assess the values and histories underlying quests for human freedom; 1.3 Describe and employ different lenses used in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, fine arts, and within a specific field or fields of practice; and 1.4 Value and appreciate the diversity of human cultures, the natural world, and the complexity of the interrelationships between them.
students will have knowledge of 1.5 The processes of creative expression and products of human imagination across cultures; 1.6 Socio-cultural systems over time and across the world; 1.7 Diverse ecosystems and interrelationships between the human and the natural world; and 1.8 Natural processes as disclosed through modes of scientific inquiry.
2. To demonstrate analytical, contextual and holistic thinking about complex issues:
students will be able to 2.1 Employ quantitative and qualitative analyses to solve problems, identify the component parts of complex issues and describe their interrelationships, and evaluate information using accepted criteria and standards;
2.2 Recognize and construct well-reasoned arguments; and 2.3 Value, appreciate, and work effectively with diverse viewpoints, uncertainty, and ambiguity, and remain open-minded towards alternatives. students will have knowledge of 2.4 Different levels of cognitive complexity and alternative sequences of thinking and reasoning; 2.5 The intellectual standards of and criteria for sound reasoning and logical argumentation, including the processes of quantitative and qualitative analyses, and systems of thinking; and 2.6 Alternative systems of thought, and modes of problem solving.
3. To demonstrate effective communication using multiple literacies and forms of expression:
students will be able to 3.1 Express themselves clearly through a variety of media including writing, speaking, non-verbal modes, and technologies; 3.2 Identify, select, and employ audience-appropriate forms of communication; 3.3 Critically evaluate information communicated through various media; 3.4 Critically read and frame questions for understanding; 3.5 Practice respectful civil discourse with diverse individuals; and 3.6 Value and appreciate the richness of multiple literacies and forms of expression, and the limitations of each in contributing to knowledge and understanding.
students will have knowledge of 3.7 The standards and criteria of effective communication and critical reading; 3.8 Artistic, scientific, quantitative, linguistic, technological, philosophical, and socio-cultural literacies; 3.9 A variety of texts from the major fields of knowledge; and 3.10 The characteristics and contexts of diverse forms and modes of communication.
4. To demonstrate critical reflection upon and informed action in their roles as citizens, family members, consumers, and producers:
students will be able to 4.1 Analyze their roles as citizens, family members, consumers, and producers, and assess their responsibility for action in these roles and in service to their communities; 4.2 Clarify their own values, frame decisions, and evaluate actions as citizens, family members, consumers, and producers within ethical frameworks; 4.3 Appreciate the values and histories underlying different views on the roles of citizens, family members, consumers, and producers; 4.4 Recognize the diverse expression of these roles within societies; and 4.5 Take thoughtful, ethical action despite ambiguity and uncertainty.
students will have knowledge of 4.6 The ethical dimensions of perspectives used in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, fine arts, and within specific fields of practice; 4.7 The roles of citizen, family member, consumer, and producer, and the interrelationships among them in different societies and historical periods; 4.8 How values shape communication, interpretation, and action; and 4.9 The effects of action/inaction in the roles of citizen, family member, consumer, and producer through a cross-cultural and historical perspective.
5. To demonstrate ethical action to maintain their own health and contribute to the social, environmental, and economic welfare of local and global communities:
students will be able to 5.1 Recognize and practice a healthy lifestyle; 5.2 Employ effective approaches to decision-making and distinguish between ethical and unethical action; 5.3 Articulate her/his own ethical basis for decisions and actions, and engage in informed civic action with integrity; 5.4 Collaborate with diverse individuals and groups to find solutions to complex problems; and 5.6 Value and practice civic engagement in a diverse democracy.
students will have knowledge of 5.7 Health and healthy practices; 5.8 Civic processes and the values upon which they are based; 5.9 The context of and connections among local, state, regional, national, and global systems over time; 5.10 The systems of values and ethics, both historical and contemporary, underlying diverse societies and political systems; and 5.11 The democratic ideals of egalitarianism and social and economic justice, environmental stewardship, and compassion and caring.
