The General Education Committee has reviewed general education programs at other University of Nebraska institutions, our Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan University (CUMU) peers, and other institutions around the country that have recently undergone general education reform efforts. Several notable themes emerged about these programs related to their structure and approach.
General Education Models
The structure of most general education programs around the country are organized around one of three common frameworks: Distribution Approach, Skills-Based Approach, or Theme/Cluster Approach. Many institutions’ general education programs incorporate elements representative of all three of the models.
The specific combination of elements at different universities is tailored to their unique student demographics, capacity, institutional mission, and other considerations for their schools.
Distribution Approach
Some programs continue to use distribution style models. This is sometimes referred to as a “cafeteria” approach and is organized around distribution requirements where students are required to take a certain number of courses in broad areas like the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. This is the model that most closely resembles UNO’s existing approach.
Examples of distribution approaches to general education:
Skills-Based Approach
Some programs have adopted an organizational framework centered around a set of distinctive skills to be imparted through the general education curriculum. While the specific skills vary by institution, these are normally oriented around various critical thinking and human skills thought to be important to an engaged, active, and successful life.
Some examples include information literacy, teamwork, leadership, and communication. Universities that adopt this approach may have 10 or so skill-based requirements which are populated by courses from around the university. General education programs at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Kearney have both adopted a blended approach that incorporates elements of distribution and skills-based general education.
Examples of skills-based approaches to general education:
Themes/Cluster Approach
The third approach is a model built around a set of related courses organized around common themes or pathways. The idea behind this model is to make the connections between disciplines and courses more explicit to students. The structure is deliberately designed so students can explore essential questions and issues from a variety of perspectives. For example, students may study climate and society, sustainability, or equity and ethics through humanistic, scientific, and social science perspectives.
The specific type and number of themes vary by institution and can change over time as faculty identify new opportunities and partnerships across disciplines. Students at some institutions earn transcript designations for successfully finishing a general education pathway. An additional variation on this approach adopted by some universities is the creation of interdisciplinary minors which are included within general education themes. California State University (CSU) Chico and Virginia Tech University are two notable examples. At the time of this report, CSU Chico has 10 minor options built into their general education curriculum, while Virginia Tech has 29.
Examples of the theme/cluster approach to general education:
Other Innovative Approaches
In addition to the previously outlined institutions, The Teagle Foundation, through their Cornerstone: Learning for Living initiative, aims to support colleges and universities interested in reinvigorating the role of the humanities in general education while increasing the coherence and relevance of this part of the undergraduate curriculum.
Two curricular elements are central to Teagle’s approach: 1) gateway courses grounded in transformative texts that build community and belonging, and 2) opportunities for students to take thematically organized courses oriented around broad academic or professional topics. These elements bring greater coherence to the general education curriculum while deliberately grounding enduring global issues with a humanistic perspective.
Partnering with Teagle provides access to resources and a network of experts that provide support for institutions looking to develop a more impactful and meaningful general education curriculum. Purdue University, for example, was one of the first institutions to partner with Teagle to improve their general education program by making substantive changes that strengthened the role of the liberal arts.
Teagle has created a guide that offers specific strategies for institution’s looking to make sustainable and lasting changes, while providing examples of how different institutions have adopted Teagle’s approach of gateway courses and cluster courses.