Back to GE Educational Objectives and Criteria

University Learning Objectives :: Program Goals :: Writing Component

Interdisciplinary/Linked Courses :: Information Competency :: Double-Counting

Gender and Diversity :: U.S. Cultural Pluralism

Service Learning/Staffing GE Courses

At Cal Poly, we believe that General Education is central and vital to each student's university experience. The GE Program strives to integrate the University Learning Objectives into the GE Curriculum for students.

UNVERSITY LEARNING OBJECTIVES

All Students who complete an undergraduate education at Cal Poly should be able to

1. Think critically and creatively
2. Communicate effectively
3. Demonstrate expertise in a scholarly discipline and understand that discipline in relation to the larger world of the arts, sciences, and technology
4. Work productively as individuals and in groups
5. Use their knowledge and skills to make a positive contribution to society
6. Make reasoned decisions based on an understanding of ethics, a respect for diversity, and an awareness of issues related to sustainability
7. Engage in lifelong learning

PROGRAM GOALS

Cal Poly's GE Program seeks to promote connections between the various areas so students and faculty will perceive GE courses as interrelated rather than as isolated fragments. By placing basic knowledge in a larger context, each course in the program should provide a vision of how its subject matter is an important component of GE 2001. Students should understand the value of a discipline being studied as well as its relationship to other disciplines.

Students are encouraged to complete foundational courses as early as possible. Lower-division coursework in Areas A-D has been designed to give students the knowledge and skills to move to more complex materials. The three-course Communications sequence, for example, provides instruction and practice in the kinds of skills in writing, speaking, and critical thinking that students will need in later courses. (Consequently, students are expected to complete this sequence during their freshman year, and by no later than the end of their sophomore year.) By the end of the sophomore year, students should also complete lower-division courses in Science and Math, Arts and Humanities, and Society and the Individual.

WRITING COMPONENT

All General Education courses must have a writing component. In achieving this objective, writing in most courses should be viewed primarily as a tool of learning (rather than a goal in itself as in a composition course), and faculty should determine the appropriate ways to integrate writing into coursework. While the writing component may take different forms according to the subject matter and the purpose of a course, at least 10% of the grade in all GE courses must be based on appropriate written work.

Writing Intensive courses are located in Areas A1, A3, C1, C2, C4, and D5. These courses  include a minimum of 3000 words of writing and base 50% or more of a student's grade on written work.   Faculty teaching Writing Intensive courses will provide feedback to students about their writing to help them grasp the effectiveness of their writing in various disciplinary contexts. A significant selection of writing-intensive upper-division courses will be made available.

The GE Program is committed to providing the resources to support both the required writing component and Writing Intensive coursework. The kind and amount of writing will be a factor in determining class sizes, and a Writing IN Generally  Every Discipline (WINGED) program will provide support and training for faculty.

INTERDISCIPLINARY AND LINKED COURSES

All lower-division coursework is considered foundational and is meant to ground students in various disciplines. Consequently, interdisciplinary courses will not ordinarily be offered at the lower-division level. The opportunity for interdisciplinary study will occur primarily at the upper-division level, with lower-division exceptions developing from specific programmatic needs.

However, faculty are strongly encouraged to create linked courses. (Linked courses occur when students concurrently enroll in courses from two areas of the GE curriculum-e.g. a course in composition linked to a course in social science.) Academic disciplines are encouraged to cooperate in designing coursework which, when linked, enhances the study of more than one foundational area. Linkages can be thematic or can contribute to a core curriculum.

Linked courses are especially encouraged as a way to provide subject matter for courses in writing and speaking, and for courses which connect the arts and humanities with the social sciences, and the liberal arts/sciences with polytechnic and professional curricula.

Linked courses provide options for students. Because many students fulfill part of their GE requirements at community colleges or other four-year institutions, however, all students cannot be required to take linked courses. In addition, conflicts in students' course scheduling often prevent them from enrolling in courses taking more than one term to complete. Courses offered for GE must normally allow students to complete a four-unit requirement in a single quarter. The value of a coherent, integrated program is clear, however, and packages of linked courses should, where possible, be developed as alternative tracks to fulfilling GE requirements.

INFORMATION COMPETENCY

Information Competency is an educational goal of the university curriculum, and the GE Program affirms the goals established by the Information Competence Committee:

According to its Mission Statement, Cal Poly aims to teach students "to discover, integrate, articulate, and apply knowledge" and to provide students "with the unique experience of direct involvement with the actual challenges of their disciplines." To meet these goals, Cal Poly must help students acquire the skills necessary to master the challenges of an information-based society. As the amount of information proliferates and information technology becomes more sophisticated, it is especially imperative that college graduates be "information competent." They must possess the information-management skills necessary for independent and lifelong learning and the tools required being informed and productive citizens.

GE courses are expected to provide relevant guidance in information retrieval, evaluation of information, and appropriate citation of information.

DOUBLE-COUNTING

While many lower-division GE courses are necessarily specified as support courses (especially in the sciences), students should be able to choose upper-division courses in Arts and Humanities, Society and the Individual, and Technology. The upper-division electives in these areas are seen as opportunities for students to explore an interest in depth beyond their majors. Consequently, courses from the student's Major Department may not be used to fulfill upper-division electives in Areas C4, D5 or F.  

U.S. CULTURAL PLURALISM

USCP is a university requirement, and faculty are encouraged to develop GE courses which also meet the USCP requirements.

GENDER AND DIVERSITY

Cal Poly seeks to provide its students with an education rich in diverse experiences and perspectives. Such an education is intended to provide students with knowledge and perspectives fostering adaptability and flexibility in a changing world, as well as enhancing students' understanding of, and tolerance for, differences among people. The General Education Program affirms the university's commitment to diversity as a value central to the education of Cal Poly students.

All GE courses are expected to address issues of gender and diversity within the context of the material presented in the course. Effective general education creates an awareness of those figures, male and female, who have made a significant impact on our society or a major contribution to science, mathematics, philosophy, literature, the arts, history, economics, and other areas of human endeavor. Students completing Cal Poly's GE Program should have a clear sense of the intellectual roots creating and contributing to American society and of the ways that various cultures, and both women and men, have contributed to knowledge and civilization and to transforming American society over time.

SERVICE LEARNING

A service-learning component is encouraged in courses where it may be appropriate.

STAFFING GE COURSES

Faculty teaching General Education courses should meet the following minimum qualifications or their equivalent:

1. An understanding and appreciation of the educational objectives of Cal Poly's GE Program;
2. For teaching lower-division courses, a master's degree in a related field (or, for teaching associates, appropriate training and supervision by an expert in the field);
3. For teaching upper-division courses, a doctorate or an appropriate terminal degree in a related field is not required but is strongly expected;
4. A professional commitment to the subject, as demonstrated by teaching experience, scholarly contributions, or continuing professional education.