Gen Ed at Plymouth State University
Checklists for Sunset Renewal
This chapter contains the items that the General Education Committee looks for during the sunset renewal process.
Directions
CREATIVE THOUGHT
Students in CTDI courses must engage with the following:
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The creative processes that lead to the generation of ideas and new interpretations of existing ideas.
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Ability to view themselves as creative beings.
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Appreciation of creativity in others.
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Recognition of creativity as an essential component in all areas of human endeavor.
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Development of imagination, independence of thought, ability to organize and reorganize information and confidence to think in new ways.
PAST AND PRESENT
Students in PPDI courses must engage with the following:
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Realization that societies construct time-lines of significant events to explain the past, comprehend the present, and envision the future.
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Realization that interpretations of the past are subject to change.
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Understanding that the past shapes the present and that our present views shape our understanding of the past.
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
Students in SIDI courses must engage with the following:
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Use of scientific methods in laboratory or field settings.
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Realization that science has real application to all people’s lives.
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Awareness that science occurs in a social, cultural, political, and ethical context.
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Planning of investigations as well as collection, analysis, and interpretation of data.
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Develop their ability to propose answers, offer explanations, and make predictions.
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Understanding of both the power and the limitations of science.
SELF AND SOCIETY
Students in SSDI courses must engage with the following:
- Awareness of the impact of society on the development of individual identity and beliefs.
- Awareness of the ways in which the needs of the individual sometimes conflict with the needs of society.
- Awareness of the ways in which an individual’s social, physical, emotional, and cognitive needs are related to and affected by the broader social environment in which they live.
Connections
QUANTITATIVE REASONING IN THE DISCIPLINES
Students in QRCO courses must engage with the following:
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Appreciation of the relevance of quantitative reasoning to us all.
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Recognition that their major discipline requires quantitative reasoning skills.
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Development of quantitative techniques and tools for use in the major discipline.
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Development of quantitative reasoning skills relevant to their lives.
TECHNOLOGY IN THE DISCIPLINES
Students in TECO courses must engage with the following:
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Examination of the role of technology within their own discipline and within a larger societal and cultural context.
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Hands-on experience using current technologies.
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Understanding of the broad concepts underlying current technology.
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Understanding of the potential ethical issues involved with the use of technology.
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Understanding of the forces, based in the needs and values of our culture, that drive technological innovation.
WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES
Students in WRCO courses must engage with the following:
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Substantial writing that enhances learning and demonstrates knowledge of the subject or the discipline.
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Writing assignments that are an integral part of the course and account for a significant part (approximately 50 percent or more) of the final grade.
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Writing as a process where students have the opportunity to submit and receive feedback on multiple drafts of major assignments.
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Writing for formal and informal, graded and ungraded occasions throughout the course with an emphasis on the use of writing as a mode of learning.
DIVERSITY
Students in DICO courses must engage with the following:
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Awareness and appreciation of and sensitivity to viewpoints other than those to which they have been acculturated.
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Awareness and appreciation of differences and commonalties of sub-cultural groups in the U.S. society defined by differences in race, ethnicity, ability, social class, religion, politics, gender, or sexual orientation.
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Exploration of issues of equity, opportunity, and justice.
GLOBAL AWARENESS
Students in GACO courses must engage with the following:
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Awareness that humans are interdependent members of a global community.
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Awareness that there are both similarity and differences in societies and cultures of the world and that the manners in which people lead their lives need not be exactly alike.
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Exposure to the important societal issues facing the world.
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Development of the ability to appreciate and think about issues from different points of view.
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Focus on the forces that have shaped peoples, cultures, nations, and regions of the world.
WELLNESS
Students in WECO courses must engage with the following:
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Awareness that health, physical activity, and wellness contribute to mental acuity and emotional well-being.
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Understanding of the connection between mind and body.
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Realization that wellness is multidimensional.
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Understand the theory and practice of life-span wellness and fitness activity and the knowledge, attitudes, habits and skills needed to live well.
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Cultivation of life skills which will promote mental, physical, and emotional well-being.