Temple is looking to formally reform its general education program by next school year. The anticipated changes come after the university established a 27-person task force, including faculty, students, advisors, deans and staff from each university, to review the program.
The program is currently exploring ways to strengthen the relationship between general education courses and majors, make general education a pathway to the major, improve the role of general education in the transfer experience, and increase overall cohesion. wrote Dustin Kidd, the school's director. General Education, Message to Temple News.
“While we think of general education as a passport to exploring ideas through a wide range of electives, that is often not how students experience it,” Kidd wrote. “Are there appropriate subject areas and ideal program designs?”
The general education program conducted self-study in February 2022 as part of the university's strategic plan. They examined various survey data about general education at Temple from the past several years, with student feedback at the center of their evaluation.
The independent study was given to external reviewers, general education experts from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Virginia, Kidd said. The judges visited Temple in February 2023 and submitted a report on the program in March 2023.
“During their time here, they met with numerous students, faculty, staff, and administrators and produced a report with a series of recommendations,” Kidd wrote. “However, their strongest recommendation was to gather more information before implementing the changes.”
The review was originally scheduled to begin in June 2023 and end this year. The program will spend the next year creating a program revision plan.
“Nonetheless, we will share those suggestions and go through the process of getting more feedback,” Kidd wrote. “Finally, reforms must go through a certain level of approval and implementation before being applied to new student populations. Valuable changes take time!”
The program gathers information for consideration in a variety of ways, including conducting classroom-style student focus groups, distributing student feedback forms, and meeting with university experts, staff, and administrators. .
Kidd looks forward to taking over more classrooms this semester and fostering even more direct engagement with the Temple community. He also invited students to come to the Howard Gittis Student Center on March 18 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to hand out free pretzels, talk about general education and take a survey. To do.
“We are also hosting additional focus groups with adjunct faculty and advisors,” Kidd wrote. “I have personally given presentations and held Q&A sessions with faculty at almost every university. [with two left] And I submitted it twice to the Faculty Senate. I also met with all the deans and many administrators. ”
In addition to internal analysis, the program also provides external research into how other universities deliver general education by traveling to national conferences and participating in online workshops.
Daniel Berman, vice president for undergraduate studies, hopes that general education will eventually become something new students look forward to taking in college.
“Our ideal is for general education to be what draws students to Temple,” Berman wrote in an email to Temple News. “This is a strength of our curriculum and a reason to come here. It will engage, energize, and foster lifelong exploration, learning, and success beyond Temple.”
In a Feb. 8 message to the Temple community, President Gregory Mandel provided an update on the university's strategic plan, an initiative that will begin during the fall 2022 semester.
The announcement includes general education reform among a list of highlights of ongoing efforts and concludes with instructions for the Temple community to report feedback to a dedicated email.
Faculty Senate President Shohreh Amini spoke on general education reform at the most recent board meeting on January 30th.
“[Kidd] “We were talking about using 1000-level courses for general education courses,” Amini told the board. “He said one of the issues was the speed of General Ed's reforms. They're expecting several years, up to four years, but for existing students, it makes sense because they're going to graduate. I do not think.”
Berman believes the current timeline and speed with which general education reform is being moved is necessary.
“We developed a multi-year plan for evaluation, proposed changes, and eventual implementation,” Berman wrote. “Once we decide on a new structure, we need to spend time implementing it properly before rolling out the new general education program to new classes. We are considering the entire program.”
Shianie Li, a junior psychology major, believes that the curriculum for all general education courses needs to be improved so that universities recognize general education as more of an enrichment rather than a requirement. Masu.
“I'm glad to hear the news about the Ed education reform, because no one knows why we read about Plato in Intellectual Heritage, for example,” Lee said. “At least me and my class got lost because it felt like something we had to get through. All the courses are not that difficult or just enough to look at. [Gen Ed courses are] It is compulsory for graduation, and God forbid a student cannot understand Plato just by being given a book or just having a math teacher lecture him on math. ”
