General Education Task Force Frequently Asked Questions Spring 2024
Q: Where can I learn more about what’s been happening recently and future plans for the revision of the GE curriculum?
A: It’s been a year since the March 16, 2023 Laying New Tracks presentation by the GE Task Force (GETF) and since then a lot has happened. To share that progress, on December 12, 2023, the Executive Committee of the GE Task Force gave an update to interested parties. You can view the Zoom recording of that informative presentation, and download the PowerPoint, by visiting the GE Task Force’s webpage with Shared Presentations & Public Meetings.
Q: Has the timeline for the implementation of the new GE curriculum changed?
A: Yes. This process is time-consuming, and we want to be sure we get this right. What was originally proposed as a Fall 2024 implementation has been extended to allow for pilots meant to field test the three pedagogical pillars which support the place-based curriculum:
- Experiential learning
- Engaging students’ knowledge
- Inquiry-based teaching
We’re also investigating the viability and effectiveness of using theme-based learning communities as part of the GE curriculum’s redesign. This would allow cohorts of faculty to collaborate around a theme in an interdisciplinary manner, and afford students the opportunity to benefit from a high-impact best practice for student engagement like joining learning communities.
The GETF is motivated to do what’s best for Kean’s students. We believe in testing out these and other documented pedagogical Best Practices for ourselves– seeing how Kean faculty can adapt, change, and grow alongside Kean students. For that reason, full implementation of all four semesters of GE curriculum isn’t likely to happen until Fall 2026, at the earliest. A more detailed timeline will be released shortly.
Q: Should I wait until there’s a new GE curriculum to revise my curriculum sheets?
A: Not at all! Given the timeline for implementation, it’s important that the campus community make changes that will improve curricular delivery for students and strengthen degree programs. Make sure that any changes to current GE Foundation, Distribution, or Capstone courses go before the University Senate’s GE Committee, currently chaired by Dr. Dean Casale.
Note that the work of the past year has led us to predict that not all GE courses will need to change; in some cases, structure and content may stay the same. Any changes will be driven by decisions made by faculty who step up as collaborators when calls are announced for participation in the coming months.
Q: So much of the March 16, 2023 proposal involved “the train idea.” Is using field trips on NJ Transit’s rail system still part of the plan?
A: Yes! Whether it is by rail to Jersey City, with a campus bus to Newark or Elizabeth,* or on foot to one of Kean’s galleries or a STEM lab, the GETF continues to be excited by the experiential learning possible when students and faculty take their learning out of the classroom and into campus venues and local communities. The Transdisciplinary Teams who worked during Summer 2023 on developing drafts of possible new GE courses utilized such excursions in their course design. However, the GETF has shifted its priority to field test pedagogical changes before making decisions about curricular content. That’s why the next phase of our timeline involves the 2024 - 25 GE Fellows & Pilot Faculty program, an opportunity for faculty to use existing Kean GE courses while experimenting with the three pedagogical pillars in theme-based learning communities. We’ll come back to this idea when the time is right.
*These examples are drawn from field trips classes participating in GE Pilot Field Tests in 2023-2024 have taken.
Q: Initially, the GE curriculum was going to occupy 15 credits in each of a student’s first two semesters. Has that changed?
A: Yes. After receiving feedback from the colleges during the GETF’s individual college meetings in April 2023, the proposal was modified to 12 credits of GE in each of the first two semesters, followed by 6 credits of GE in Semester 3, and 6 credits in Semester 4. This is often referred to as “12 + 12 + 6 + 6” by members of the GETF.
Q: Will the new GE curriculum work with Kean’s many transfer students? What if a student leaves Kean– will their GE coursework be transferable?
A: The goal is for the new GE curriculum to be a common core for all Cougars. How this works for transfer students entering or leaving Kean has yet to be determined. The GETF maintains a document affectionately called “The List of Legitimate Concerns,” and the plans for transfer students, part time students, students with developmental needs, students with AP credits, etc. are on that master list. We certainly don’t want students to feel like they are behind if they don’t get the full 12 + 12 + 6 + 6 GE experience, so we will address these legitimate concerns.
Q: We saw the call for 2024 - 25 GE Fellows & Pilot Faculty. Who was selected?
A: The GETF is grateful for all of the applicants for the GE Fellows & Pilot Faculty program; it was exciting to see so many faculty from across the campus interested in serving during 2024-25.
The GETF proudly announces those named 2024 - 25 GE Fellows and Pilot Faculty:
Fellows
Laura Baecher, VPAA & COE
Dean Casale, CLA
Kim Daniel-Robinson, DGEIS
Tamara Hart, CLA
Melissa Libbey, CLA
Machid Namazi, CHPHS
Claire Yun, CBPM
Pilot Faculty
Dena Arguelles, CLA
Joshua Burnett, DGEIS
Jake Carlson, CLA
Sharmistha Das-Iyer, DGEIS
Fred Fitch, CLA
Chris Friend, CLA
Koren Goodman, CHPHS
Sean Keegen-Landis, CLA
Kathleen Lodge, DGEIS
Abigail Maguire, CLA
Stefania Meza, Hennings
Kalasia Ojeh, CLA
Shalander Samuels, CLA
Joseph Sarnoski, Hennings
Karen Woodruff, COE
The GE Fellows and Pilot Faculty will participate in faculty development in June designed to foster collaboration and to prepare them for teaching in 2024-25 learning communities of students as theme-based faculty cohorts.
Q: Why has the GE Task Force decided to use student learning communities?
A: Learning communities, where students are co-registered for courses with the same group of students, have been identified as a high-impact practice because they support student retention, sense of belonging and academic achievement (Mayhew et al., 2016; Tinto, 2012). They have been shown to improve students’ engagement and retention through the development of peer-relationships (Fink & Inkelas, 2015; Gokpinar, Shelton & Pike, 2021) and improve students’ academic performance because of the higher level of support students receive (Gokpinar, Shelton & Pike, 2021).
However, studies of learning communities have also revealed that the success of learning communities is dependent on both the integration between the courses and the inclusion of student support services (Mayhew et al., 2016). It is not enough to co-register students for classes, there needs to be meaningful connections between the classes. Colleges also need to utilize these courses as places to bring greater academic and social support to students.
To explore how we can “do learning communities right” at Kean within the GE curriculum, the GE Task Force is currently piloting learning communities where there is a shared theme between classes while faculty collaborate both in planning their classes and across the semester. Faculty who teach in these pilots will also be applying three high impact key pedagogical practices in their learning communities: engaging students’ knowledge, experiential learning and inquiry-based teaching. We believe that pairing best practices for learning communities with these pedagogical approaches will provide students with rich learning experiences that support their persistence at Kean. Within the pilots, we are both exploring if that is the case and how best to adapt these models at Kean. Our goal is to both do learning communities right and for Kean to be a model of other institutions.
Q: What is the work plan for the GETF in the next six months?
A: The agenda for the GETF between now and September 1, 2024 is full!
The Spring 2024 Field Test continues: Five faculty members are uniting sections of their GE courses around the theme of Migration, with some of their students in learning communities:
Tamara Hart: ENG 1030
Kalasia Ojeh: SOC 1000
Brid Nicholson: HIST 1062
David Birdsell: COMM 1402
The GETF and the University Senate’s GE Committee will co-sponsor three joint presentations:
The Evolution of GE at Kean: Responding to Student Needs
Monday, April 15, 3:20 - 4:20pm
on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7328870568.
GE Reform in the USA: Trends and Best Practices
Wednesday, May 22, 12:00 - 1:30pm
on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7328870568.
The Future of GE at Kean: Identifying Campus-Wide Needs
Wednesday, May 29, 3:30 - 5:00pm
In person only, CAS 106
GETF Chair, Rachel Evans, is forming a Working Group focused in June on drafting a “Concept Document” aiming to communicate the following:
- The history of GE at Kean, with an overview of its present structure,
- Assessment of the current program’s strengths and challenges,
- A survey of GE programs nationwide, capturing current trends and Best Practices,
- A timeline of the GETF’s work to date,
- An update on the Spring 2024 Field Test that utilized learning communities and integrated instruction among 5 faculty,
- Justification of the selected pedagogical pillars and theme-based learning communities, and
- Initial ideas for redesign of the GE curriculum’s content and form.
Two additional Working Groups will be formed: one to create proposed revisions of the GE curriculum’s Semester 3, and one to propose revisions to Semester 4.
Anyone interested in volunteering for one of those three Working Groups, should contact Rachel Evans (revans@kean.edu).