CSC General Education Committee September 2007
Learning Objectives for the General Education Program's
Frames of Reference
A. Background
As a reminder, the Castleton State College Undergraduate Catalog states:
The goals of Castleton’s general education program, which includes the Frames of
Reference, are to prepare the student to search for the meaning of a good life; to
develop an awareness of the interaction between personal and societal values; to foster an appreciation of the interconnectedness of all things; to stimulate intellectual
curiosity and promote life-long learning. In order to engage in meaningful and
productive study, the student should develop and learn to apply a variety of skills,
including reading, writing, speaking, critical thinking, using the library, and practical computing. The courses listed under the general education requirements are designed to help students develop these and other skills, and are required of all Castleton students. In addition to providing a common educational experience, these courses prepare the student for subsequent course work at Castleton, and for life beyond college.
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The four areas of learning described below are an introduction to the variety of ways
that human beings understand and explore their world and themselves. The
requirements in each frame provide a starting point for further exploration of the
category of human knowledge and ways of knowing represented by the frame, and may be satisfied by courses in a number of different fields of study. Students are encouraged to experiment by taking courses in academic areas with which they are unfamiliar. Taken together, the frames provide a balance to the concentrated focus of the major by placing the student’s college experience within the wider context of an intellectual heritage shared by all human beings. In addition, the frames are intended to make students aware that many academic disciplines, both within and across frames, share common concerns and themes, and that the apparent diversity of disciplines is not a cacophony of voices; it is a chorus.
The four frames of reference are as follows:
Aesthetic Understanding and Activities – This area of study is concerned with the forms of human expression, the value of aesthetic activities, artifacts, and experiences, and the contributions of the arts and language to human life and culture.
Scientific and Mathematical Understanding – This area of study is concerned with mathematical and empirical ways of knowing, pertaining to such things as nature, the universe, the human body, mathematics, logic, and critical thinking.
World Views: Cultural, Historical, and Philosophical –This area of study is concerned with understanding oneself in the larger contexts of one's own and other cultures as presented by the study of history, geography, language, philosophy, ethics, and anthropology.
Social and Behavioral Understanding – This area of study is concerned with the issues and principles involved in understanding human behavior and personality, social life and institutions, economics, and politics.
In consultation with faculty who teach in each of these frames, we have developed learning objectives for each of the four frames of reference. These objectives will assist the General Education committee when considering courses for inclusion in the framework, as well as serve as basis for the assessment of this part of the General Education program.
B. Proposed Learning Objectives
Aesthetic Understanding and Activities
AU1. Students will demonstrate awareness and understanding of several forms of cultural expression such as: creative writing, dance, motion picture arts, music, theatre, and visual arts.
AU2. Students will be able to critically discuss and write about the arts.
AU3. Students will develop an understanding of the historical and/or
philosophical context of forms of human expression, and the value of
aesthetic activities.
AU4. Students will gain a broader knowledge of the contribution of the arts to society.
Scientific and Mathematical Understanding
SM1. Students will demonstrate scientific literacy[1].
SM2. Students will be able to apply the scientific method, as well as
understand the values and limitations of scientific investigation.
SM3. Students will be able to explain how our natural world is affected by
human and non-human processes.
SM4. Students will demonstrate proficiency in logical and mathematical
reasoning , allowing them to acquire, understand, and apply mathematical concepts and information in quantitative, qualitative, and
statistical ways.
World Views: Cultural, Historical, and Philosophical
WV1. Students will explore various aspects of thought, culture, language and
tradition, as seen in various forms of communication among the peoples of the world.
WV2. Students will demonstrate a broader knowledge of the commonalities and the diversity of past and present cultures of the world.
WV3. Students will understand themselves in the larger contexts of their own and other's histories and cultures.
WV4. Students will learn about various schools of philosophical thought.
WV5. Students will gain perspective on the historical and spatial dimensions of the human experience, and an understanding of the historical forces that have, over time, produced both change and continuity throughout the world.
Social and Behavioral Understanding
SB1. Students will be able to describe basic theories of human behavior and personality, including environmental factors that influence the development of human personality.
SB2. Students will be able to describe theories of, and differences in, human social organization, including the organizational structures of economic life and work, family, marriage, child rearing, education, and politics around the world.
SB3. Students will be able to describe issues and theories about the
relationship between society and the individual, including the political and economic factors that influence that relationship.
SB4. Students will be able to describe moral and ethical issues and theories concerning human life both individually and socially.
SB5. Students will develop a basic understanding of the intersections of our human environment with the natural environment.
Note: No single course is expected to meet all the objectives outlined, nor must all objectives be met to fulfill the frame.
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[1]“Knowledge and understanding of the scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.” (National Academy of Sciences, 1995)