Design Team #2Cognitive and Communicative Skills

Gen Ed Lunch – 4/30/08

Members of the learning outcome #2 committee:

Vince Berdayes, Communication, Theatre and DanceTom Bonnell, English (writing program)Christopher Cobb, EnglishKaren Chambers, PsychologyNatalie Domelle, MathChris Dunlap, ChemistryKrista Hoefle, ArtCatherine Pellegrino, LibraryPatti Sayre, PhilosophyJill Vihtelic, Business & Economics

Learning Outcome #2 Cognitive & Communicative Skills

As a women’s college, Saint Mary’s emphasizes the value of women’s voices and their distinctive contribution to intellectual life. Therefore…

•A Saint Mary’s student masters a broad set of sophisticatedintellectual skills, including critical thinking, careful interpretationof complex texts and artifacts, accurate evaluation of data,investigative problem solving, quantitative reasoning, historicalanalysis, and technological and information literacy.

• A Saint Mary's student communicates her ideas, insights, thoughtprocesses, and conclusions with accuracy, competence, and style invarious media and contexts.

Assumptions1.General Education LO#2 is about establishing

skills and exposing students to fields of study.

2.Design Team 3 (yet to be formed) will address breadth of exposure across the disciplines.

3. To a large extent, skills can be discipline neutral.

How Do We See Skills in the Gen Ed Program?

Fundamental Skills

First Year Curriculum

Writing

Critical Thinking

Skill Building

Sophomore-Senior

Breadth in Skills

Depth in Some Skills

A Saint Mary's student communicates her ideas, insights, thought processes, and conclusions with accuracy, competence, and style in various media and contexts.

Writing is a fundamental skill

W program is central to Gen Ed

Success is due to wide participation

Keep W program

o Expand department breadtho Increase tandem offerings

RECOMMENDATION:

Critical Thinking is the process of purposeful, self-regulatory judgment. (American Philosophical Association)

Skills involved:

What is Critical Thinking?

Interpretation Analysis

Evaluation Inference

Explanation Self-Regulation

Critical thinking is fundamental to a Saint Mary’s graduate

Critical Thinking is the basis for all of the other skills

Proposal: A First-Year Seminar that addresses critical thinking.

Critical Thinking

Why could this work?

The First Year Seminar on critical thinking can be envisioned as similar to the W program. That is: It is fundamental to many other skills It appears in all disciplines It can be taught in a variety of contexts

A Confession

While we, generally, find the FYS an intellectually exciting idea, pragmatically we are unsure of whether it will work.

Two Fundamental Questions:

1. Will we get enough buy-in by faculty to staff the FYS?

2. How can we fit it into the curriculum?

Question 1 – Faculty Buy-InWe envision this course: As discipline neutral (similar to the W) but will explicitly address critical

thinking Would be a seminar class (similar to W) The topic would be a “passion” of the professor

Earlham Women and civil rights Insects and human society Feasting and fasting: food in the ancient world, Sweet persuasion Bubble, bubble toil and trouble (Econ) MONSTERS AND MARVELS (English)

Gettysburg Tryin' to Find a Way Back Home: An Introduction to the Literature and Legacy of

Homelessness in America, Samurai and Geisha: Beyond the Stereotypes, Food: Fuel for Thought and Action, A Dying Ocean: The Increasing Environmental Challenges to the Marine Ecosystem, Einstein in Wonderland: Physics, Philosophy, and Other Nonsense

Question 2 – Fit?

Possible avenues: First Year Seminar as 3 credit class with a one credit social

responsibility seminar.

Allow the FYS to count as class in the general education curriculum, similar to the W program now.

Others?

What happens after the first year?

Breadth (Distribution)

To be filled in by design team 3

CT Courses

Unit 1At least 2 of 3Quantitative ReasoningProblem SolvingData analysis

Unit 2At least 2 of 3Interpretation of textsHistorical analysisInformation Literacy

Unit 33 follow-ups to skillsalready introducedin categories 1 and 2

Breadth (Distribution) & Broad Critical Thinking SkillsDistribution requirements are designed to integrate Outcome 2

aptitudes into disciplinary requirements.

OR

What we are still working on…. Communication in other contexts Technological literacy E-Portfoilos Integrating Design Team 1 models Skill floor and how to build skills

What we need from you…

Comment on the usefulness of the skill definitions