General Education, Assessment, and the Learning Students Need
Network for Academic Renewal Conference
February 26-28, 2009
Baltimore, Maryland
In recent years, campuses have become more intentional and ambitious in framing general education around powerful goals for student learning. Yet how closely do our general education programs —vulnerable to political pitfalls, entrenched ways of thinking, and day-to-day demands on time—match our aspirations for student accomplishment?
This conference will help campuses align General Education vision and action, including action to assess and strengthen students’ cumulative learning. The four conference tracks are organized around one or more “big questions” related to philosophical and practical challenges facing campuses today and an expectation of evidence—the ability to show “what’s working” and why.
General Education, Assessment, and the Learning Students Need will engage participants in reflecting on what we know and what we do with regard to general education. A focus on student learning—essential areas of knowledge, skills, capacities, and integration—can reaffirm the directions that institutions are taking with general education or throw these directions into question. Every day, campus leaders embark upon general education reform. The road is challenging, usually calling for new learning on the part of leaders themselves. This conference will help campuses both develop sustainable leadership for general education and find ways of rewarding those who make their programs work.
Getting assessment “right” is a pivotal challenge for every college and university. This conference will help faculty and staff to invest in designs for assessment that focus and deepen learning, especially designs that are anchored in the curriculum. It will also explore what we are learning from assessment initiatives across the country, including AAC&U’s own pioneering effort to develop national guidelines for e-portfolios.
Major themes for 2009 include:
- Philosophy: What are the Purposes of General Education Today? Is There an Artificial Distinction between Essential Goals for ‘General Education’ and Essential Goals for ‘the Major’?
- Design: Can the Menu Be Saved? How Well Do Thematic Designs Really Work?
- Roles, Rewards and Leadership: How Do We Support What We Say Is Important?
- Assessment: Are We Fostering the Kinds of Learning We Espouse for Students?
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 202.387.3760 or write to meetings@aacu.org.
Sponsors
Please contact the Development Office at (202) 884-7421 or e-mail Development@aacu.org for information about sponsorship opportunities for this conference.
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