I continue to believe that the most significant barriers to improving (most) general education courses is the requirement to cover certain content and the mindset that students must “master” that content. Both ideas are harmful illusions. I know that in Intro to Psychology it is impossible for me to in any way adequately cover the full range of possible topics, and it is impossible for students to master any one of those topics. These two ideas restrict the pedagogy I use. I am forced to try to cover every major idea in psychology, no matter how relevant to my students’ lives, and I must move at such a fast pace that depth in any area is impossible. It’s like learning about geology by looking out the window of a car traveling 90 mph.
If content coverage and mastery are not realistic goals, then what are the achievable goals for general education courses? I would propose these two:
- Students’ lives are improved after class is over
- Students want to learn more about topic/discipline after class is over
The first goal reflects the goal that we all have for general education courses. The philosophy of a liberal education is that it improves students’ lives to know something about art and anthropology, and cultures and chemistry, and math and music. The main job of general education instructors is to figure out how their course can improve students’ lives, and then convince students of this fact.
The second goal reflects the impossibility of content coverage and mastery, and puts the emphasis on continual or life-long learning. Since they will not be trying to master the content they are free to explore the ideas they find the most fascinating. Students will ideally want to explore these ideas long after the course is over. Information is now free to access and abundant. What citizens need are better information search skills and filters. If we give students those skills they will be able to pay attention to reliable and valid sources to pursue their professional and personal goals.
What students need is to discover the disciplines represented in general education and how those disciplines can improve their lives.
