Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is General Education?
A1. The title General Education comes into use early in the twentieth century to identify that part of the college curriculum that is not the major (Peer Review, 2004). Synonymous with titles such as “Core Curriculum,” “Liberal Studies,” and “Basic Competency Requirements,” General Education at Morehouse College is a core curricular program of “shared learning”—i.e., coursework that all newly admitted students must take.
Q2. What is the organization of General Education?
A2. There is a director of General Education who reports to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. To assist the director are the following: an assistant director; faculty coordinators of the basic courses English, Math, Reading/Critical Thinking, History, and Foreign Languages; and faculty coordinators of distribution courses in the Humanities, Science, Social Sciences, and Health and Physical Education. Supporting the director and the logistics of the program is a Core Curriculum Advisory Council.
Q3. Why is there a revised core curriculum or pilot at Morehouse College?
A3. Approximately 950 colleges and universities are member institutions of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). In its 2002 report, Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College, the AACU joined policy and business leaders, legislators, the media, parents, and colleges and universities to call for a “new accountability” of college achievement and student learning, particularly in the twenty-first century when students will need to thrive in a “knowledge-intensive economy,” “globally engaged democracy,” and “technological society where innovation is key to progress and success” (vii). Like member institutions of AACU, Morehouse is qualifying its demand for student learning within the context of a diverse and changing world. In particular, Morehouse is piloting an outcome-based core curriculum that centers student learning and, among others, requires students
• to integrate and to transfer knowledge and skills from one setting to another;
• to broaden perspectives and experiences beyond courses and majors, and across disciplines;
• to integrate information literacy and technology skills;
• to demonstrate engaged critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving;
• to demonstrate civic, social, ethical, and personal responsibility; and
• to embrace general life skills and on-going learning.
In the twenty-first century, colleges and universities will be expected to demonstrate and to assess a cumulative quality of student learning. Morehouse’s framework for a “new accountability” of achievement begins with the pilot in General Education. (See also Our Student’s Best Work: A Framework for Accountability Worthy of Our Mission at www.aacu.org).
Q4. Will the coursework in the pilot apply towards graduation?
A4. Yes, absolutely.
Q5. What distinguishes the pilot (i.e., the revised core curriculum) from the standing core curriculum?
A5. The goals and student learning outcomes of General Education apply to the pilot and to the standing core. What distinguishes the standing core from the pilot are models of student development, credit hours, reform expectations, and the relationship of general education to the majors. Requiring 53 credit hours of coursework towards graduation, the model of student development in the standing core is teacher-centered in instructional design and is comprised largely of sequences of core courses and the distribution of courses from the majors. While the faculty and courses in the pilot, more or less, come from the disciplines, the model of student development, requiring 48 credit hours, depends largely on student-centered and outcome-based learning with quantitative and qualitative measures of achievement. Intentional, coherent, corrective, and integrative, the model of student development in the pilot is influenced by the demands of a changing world and the nations’ need for “accountability” in higher education. The pilot’s model of development moves the student from foundations of knowledge and skills, to applications of knowledge and skills, to synthesis of knowledge and skills. (See also the curriculums for the standing core and the pilot core on Morehouse’s TigerNet website).
Q6. Why is the pilot starting August of 2006?
A6. The revised core curriculum is the product of years of collaborative efforts by faculty and administrators who served on the Core Curriculum Task Force (2002-2005) or on several design teams (2004-2005). During these years, the faculty and administrators reviewed the College’s mission statement and goals; the standing core’s curriculum requirements and course designs; and the national consensus for “new accountability” of college achievement and student learning. To achieve the latter, faculty and administrators designed the current pilot that consists of four goals and eighteen explicitly stated student learning outcomes. In May of 2005, faculty voted 74 to 43 to test the revised core from 2006 to 2009. After the vote, a year was needed by General Education to finalize the academic program’s infrastructure and overall assessment plans; to review and finalize performance criteria needed to achieve learning outcomes; to organize faculty development workshops; to create non-traditional labs; and to have the entire pilot program evaluated by an outside consultant. The earliest starting date became August of 2006.
Q7. How are students selected for the pilot?
A7. Currently, a range of SAT scores are used to place newly admitted students in the core courses. General Education will select students accordingly to participate in the pilot. Letters notifying students that they have been selected will be mailed first- class. While students are invited to be one of the 150 students in the pilot, students must officially accept by returning an acceptance form to General Education by the given due date. All other students will study in the standing core.
Q8. Can students take courses in both the pilot and in the standing core?
A8. No! The model of student development for the pilot differs greatly from the model of student development for the standing core (see Answer 5). Students who accept to participate in the pilot will be expected to remain in the pilot during the duration of their core studies.
Q9. Are students in the pilot at risk of failing?
A9. Absolutely not. The arrangement of the coursework in the pilot is intentional, coherent, corrective, and integrative—a plan of study for every student to ensure high achievement. The pilot’s coursework, labs, and co-curricular activities will intentionally lay a foundation of knowledge and skills; advance knowledge and skills; require applications of knowledge and skills; and culminate with the synthesis of knowledge and skills. The overall assessment plan of General Education provides every student with diagnostic, milestone, and culminating assessment of key learning outcomes. In particular, this data is interpreted. Then it is used to improve individual learning and to evaluate cumulative quality of student learning in the program.
Because student-centered learning in the pilot will be coherent and integrative, before advancing to the majors, students will be required to demonstrate proficiencies in English, math, and critical thinking by (1) receiving at least a “C” in the respective courses with labs (the labs run concurrently with the English and math courses), and (2) by passing comprehensive exams in English and math that would count 20% of the final grade. Long before their midterms and finals, students who adhere to the pilot’s plan of study to ensure high achievement are expected to be successful.
Q10. What happens to a student who is matriculating through the pilot when 2009 arrives?
A10. A student who enters the pilot in August of 2006 is expected to enter his major by the first-semester or second-semester of his sophomore year in 2007-2008. When 2009 arrives, a student who has not completed his coursework in the pilot can remain with impunity and no interruptions. As stated in Question 4, all coursework taken in the core (pilot as well as standing) applies toward graduation.
Q11. Will students in the pilot receive support to ensure that they meet all requirements?
A11. Available to students to ensure high achievement in the pilot are faculty as advisors; labs that accompany the math and English courses; a walk-in lab with experienced tutors; on-line tutorial assistance; and co-curricular activities. In the pilot, the focus is on “what students know and how we know that students know.” The pilot centers the student—he knows at all times what is expected of him and how he is progressing. In addition, systematic and ongoing assessment and evaluations will signal difficulties and the necessary corrective measures to the teachers and to the students.
Q12. Who will advise students in the pilot?
A12. Faculty teaching in the pilot core will advise students in the pilot. To balance the freshman experience, other forms of assistance will come from General Education, Student Affairs, the Counseling Center, etc.
Q13. Do students in the pilot share in the overall freshman experience?
A13. With the exception of Freshman Orientation (EDU 141 and EDU 142), students in the pilot will attend Crown Forum (i.e., Assembly) and may participate in any co-curricular activities sponsored by Student Affairs, fraternities, clubs, councils, etc.
