Assessing general education is not that different from assessing any other type of academic program, but there are some distinctions that make it even more challenging than other types of assessment. This article addresses methods for working with nondepartmentally based and interdisciplinary areas within general education, providing some examples…

By tracing the historical roots of general education, we can make many of our current issues and problems in general education more understandable. This chapter is an overview of historical trends that have taken general education from the concept of a unified curriculum with no distinction between "specialized" and "general" education to the…

When the University of North Dakota began working to improve general education, two concerns were recognized. The first issue, which faculty and administrators across campus found immediately engaging, was how to change general education so that it would be a better program, more likely to yield clear student learning benefits. A second concern,…

The pedagogical assumptions and teaching practices of learning community models reflect exemplary conditions for learning, so using these models with unprepared students seems desirable and worthy of investigation. This chapter describes the key role of faculty in creating active, integrative learning experiences for students in basic skills…

Principles for the administration and governance of interdisciplinary programs are drawn from several decades of experience in general education and in interdisciplinary centers, colleges, and schools. The principles are discussed in terms of the institutional context and include suggestions for garnering budgetary support, addressing faculty…

A broad liberal arts curriculum coupled with basic and advanced journalism writing, editing, and theory (including law and ethics) courses is the best insurance for excellence in journalism education. A University of Kentucky plan includes establishing an exchange program with other disciplines, and requiring paired, cross-disciplinary courses.…

The agendas of the social work profession's accrediting group and the society served by the profession call for revitalizing the linkage between social work and the liberal arts. Accreditation requirements and their implementation, social work's mission as control of dependency, and outcomes as an organizing principle are discussed. (Author/MLW)

More important than creating an interdisciplinary major is the need for all teachers to be solidly grounded in liberal learning. Several collaborative programs blending the liberal arts and pedagogical studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are offered by the College of Liberal Arts. (MLW)

The challenge for engineering education is to capture, from the beginning of the freshman year, the student's interest in liberal learning and then to accomplish four aims of general education. The aims include: language (reading, writing, and speaking skills), ethics, context, and adaptability. (Author/MLW)

The integration of liberal and professional education will require pharmacy faculties to redefine the dimensions of their role as educators. An assessment of liberal education in pharmacy, models for integration of liberal education, and prescription for change are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Use of problem-based learning in a large upper-division general education class at McMaster University (Canada) provides opportunities for students to identify and practice skills for inquiry into societal problems and solutions. Classroom techniques and processes preserve the essence of problem-based learning despite the fact that the class is…

The study of management in historical and comparative perspective can help resolve tensions between business and the liberal arts in undergraduate education. With the stimulus provided by the Professional Preparation Network, the Business Department at Skidmore College has developed a set of courses for the college's liberal studies core…

Liberal learning and professional training both can be enhanced if humanities and nursing faculties will join in creating a larger vision of education. (Author/MLW)