GENERAL EDUCATION GENERAL EDUCATION COMMISSIONCOMMISSION

Presentation to the EMU Senate, 22nd April 2009

Mehmet M. Erginel

The General Education Commission was established on 6th March 2007 by the University Executive Board (07/481), as a result of the widespread criticisms against the University’s General Education program.

The Commission was asked to evaluate the General Education program, and to produce a report on what should be done about it.

The Commission consisted of a representative from each Faculty and School, a representative from DAÜ-SEN, a student representative, and a chair.

The Commission held many meetings during the semester, and discussed the problems of the General Education program in detail.

The Commission considered the following three components of the University’s General Education Program:◦ 1. GEED 111/112 courses◦ 2. University Elective (UE) courses◦ 3. SPIKE program

Criticisms and concerns about all three components were raised and discussed.

The main concerns raised about each component were as follows:

1. GEED 111/112 courses

a. The GEED 111/112 courses are not being taught as intended and stated in the ‘learning outcomes’ of these courses. These courses aim to develop the students’ critical thinking skills and communication skills (both spoken and written), and to help them become cultured individuals with a broad conceptual base for their further studies and their roles as informed citizens in the world of the future. It can be seen, however, that this aim is not at all achieved in many versions of the GEED 111/112 courses, for a variety of reasons:

◦ (i) In some cases the subject of the course is itself of only marginal interest and does not serve the purpose of helping educate cultured individuals.

◦ (ii) Even in cases where the subject of the course appears appropriate, many courses taught as GEED 111/112 courses do not contribute to the students’ critical thinking or communication skills, because the course contains little or nothing that serves that purpose.

b. The courses required for all undergraduate students under the General Education program have been added to already heavily loaded curricula, and have led to a significant increase in the total number of credits each student has to take. This has placed a serious burden on students in terms of their time. It has also led to a financial burden to the university, since more courses have to be offered to each student.

2. UE courses

The University Elective courses, which are a part of the General Education program, do not have a proper system of classification. Currently there are four categories: UE-AH (Arts and Humanities), UE-SB (Social and Behavioral Sciences), UE-PN (Physical/Natural Sciences, and UE-MPN (Mathematics and Physical/Natural Sciences). But there is no sense in having UE-PN and UE-MPN as separate categories. There is also a significant problem about foreign language courses, since foreign language courses do not belong in any of those categories. This has led to confusion and various kinds of problems in relation to taking foreign language courses, some interested students being unable to take such courses for no good reason.

Yet another important problem with UE courses is that the university’s registration program does not recognize the categories, and students can be registered for courses in categories other than what they should take according to their curriculum.

3. SPIKE

The SPIKE program, despite improvements since its early days, is still widely unpopular among both students and academics. Students resent being forced to attend lectures or exhibitions in which they may have no interest, and the academic staff dislike the program because events classified under this program get filled with uninterested and disruptive students, dramatically lowering the quality of the event, and showing the hosting department and EMU in a very bad light to our guests.

THE GENERAL EDUCATION COMMISSION’S REPORT

The General Education Commission concluded its deliberations and voted on two alternative sets of proposals on GEED 111/112 courses and UE courses (on 22nd June), and then on two alternative sets of proposals on SPIKE (on 25th June).

One set of proposals on GEED 111/112 and UE courses gained majority support only by 5-4 (with 2 present members voting against both proposals). The Commission therefore decided to include both sets of proposals in its final report.

Similarly, two sets of proposals on SPIKE received support, and both proposals got 4 votes (with 2 present members abstaining). Both of those proposals were therefore included in the final report.

FIRST PROPOSAL ON GEED 111/112 AND UE COURSES (Supported by the majority)

1. There should be five categories of university elective courses:   UE-AH : Arts and Humanities UE-SB : Social and Behavioral Sciences UE-MPN : Mathematics and Physical/Natural Sciences UE-FL : Foreign Languages GEE : General Education Electives   2. GEED111/GEED112 courses are removed from the undergraduate

freshman curriculum.   3. UE-FL and GEE courses should be 3 ECTS credits.   4. The UE requirements should be set in terms of ECTS credits, since the

university is now adopting the ECTS system. Accordingly, each undergraduate curriculum should include a minimum of 18 ECTS credits of UE+GE courses in total. At least 12 ECTS credits (out of 18) must come from two 6 ECTS credit UE courses. The remaining 6 ECTS credits can be allocated as either 2 GE electives, or 2 UE-FL electives, or 2 UE electives with 3 ECTS credits, or any combination of the three.

5. Departments having more than 4 elective course slots in their curriculum can fill in these slots with GEE or UE courses based on their own selection.

  6. All UE courses students take must belong to the categories other

than the category of their own discipline. Thus, for example, a student in the Department of English Literature and Humanities may not take a UE-AH course, and an Engineering student may not take a UE-MPN course.

  7. Course codes of GEE courses should be determined by the GE

committee upon their approval.   8. A student may not take a one-semester UE-FL course in more than

one language: the student who takes a one-semester UE-FL course may continue with another one-semester course of that language or else take a UE in the categories other than UE-FL. (For example, a student may not take German I and then French I; he/she should follow German I either with German II or with a 3 ECTS UE course outside the UE-FL category.) This is to avoid students repeatedly taking first-semester language courses to avoid difficulty.

9. The General Education Committee should develop a quality-control mechanism to make sure all the GEE courses serve the program’s mission. There should be a course proposal and evaluation process for each GEE course; the General Education Committee administration should carefully evaluate each course proposal (submitted by instructors or departments) and determine whether it suits the mission of these courses. There should also be a special course evaluation for all GEE courses as to whether it meets the criteria. The administration should take this into consideration when deciding whether to continue the course, terminate it, or require modification.

  10. GEE courses should be divided into categories – similar to the

current categorization or UE courses (except UE-FL) – and each department should take GEE courses in the categories other than the one closest to their own.

  11. Turkish language GEED courses should be made available for

programs in Turkish.  

SECOND PROPOSAL ON GEED 111/112 AND UE COURSES

The second proposal is divided into two parts, since it maintains the distinction between GEED 111/112 and UE courses.

I. UE courses

There should be four categories of elective courses:   UE-AH: Arts and Humanities UE-SB: Social and Behavioral Sciences UE-MPN: Mathematics and Physical/Natural Sciences UE-FL: Foreign Languages

◦ The UE requirements should be set in terms of ECTS credits, since the university is now adopting the ECTS system.

  1. Each undergraduate curriculum should include a minimum of 18

ECTS credits of UE courses in total. This is perfectly compatible with the current requirement to include a minimum of 3 UE courses, since most courses at EMU will be 6 ECTS credits. All UE courses students take must belong to the categories other than the category of their own discipline. Thus, for example, a student in the Department of English Literature and Humanities may not take a UE-AH course, and an Engineering student may not take a UE-MPN course.

2. At least 12 ECTS credits (out of 18) must come from two 6 ECTS credit UE courses. This is to avoid an excessive financial burden on the university, and to make sure students take at least two regular-weight courses in disciplines other than their own. The remaining ECTS credits may be collected through 6 ECTS credit or 3 ECTS credit UE courses. This possibility will give more freedom to departments in designing their curricula.

3. At least 12 ECTS credits must come from the categories of UE-AH, UE-SB, or UE-MPN. The remaining credits should remain free and not be restricted with respect to area (indicated simply as ‘UE’), consistently with the idea of ‘elective’ courses. They may be restricted only with respect to ECTS credits: the department may choose to require two 3 ECTS credit UE courses or one 6 ECTS credit course. Departments may indicate the category (AH, SB, MPN, or just UE for at least 6 ECTS credits) and ECTS (3 or 6) of a UE course in their curriculum but may not specify what course should be taken (course code cannot be given). Students should be free to elect from the complete list of courses in the specified category.

4. The UE-FL courses should be 3 ECTS credits (as currently stipulated by the GE department). A student may not take a first-semester UE-FL course in more than one language: the student who takes a first-semester UE-FL course may continue with the second-semester course of that language or else take a UE in the categories other than UE-FL. (For example, a student may not take German I and then French I; he/she should follow German I either with German II or with a 3 ECTS UE course outside the UE-FL category.) This is to avoid students repeatedly taking first-semester language courses to avoid difficulty.

5. The General Education Program administration should be responsible for matching the departments’ needs for different categories of UE courses and the supply of such courses. In doing so, the GE administration aims to provide as many alternatives as possible for the students.

II. GEED 111/112 courses

GEED 111/112 courses (currently classified also as Arguments and Knowledge courses) should be modified in the following ways:

  1. The General Education Program administration should develop a

quality-control mechanism to make sure all the GEED (111/112) courses serve the program’s mission, as already established. There should be a course proposal and evaluation process for each GEED course; the General Education Program administration should carefully evaluate each course proposal (submitted by instructors or departments) and determine whether it suits the mission of these courses. There should also be a special course evaluation for all GEED as to whether it meets the criteria. The administration should take this into consideration when deciding whether to continue the course, terminate it, or require modification.

2. The GEED courses should be introductory courses to various disciplines, as opposed to the more specific courses that currently exist. So as to avoid confusion with the names of introductory courses that currently exist in curricula, the courses may be called ‘Elementary Physics’, ‘Elementary Philosophy’ etc. or ‘The Basics of Physics’, ‘The Basics of Philosophy’ etc.

3. Each student must take at least two GEED courses. At least one of these courses must be taken within the first two years. The other(s) may be taken at any time each department considers appropriate. There are no further constraints with respect to the timing of these courses.

4. GEED courses should be divided into categories – similar to the current categorization or a replication the categorization of the UE courses (except UE-FL) – and each department should take GEED courses in the categories other than the one closest to their own. The two GEED courses each student takes must belong to different areas. If, for example, the UE categorization is replicated for the GEED courses, an engineering student will be unable to take a GEED course in the MPN (Mathematics and Physical/Natural Sciences) but must choose from the AH or SB categories, one course from each category. The distinction between GEED 111 and 112 is thus removed.

5. GEED courses should be 3 ECTS credits each.

6. There should be a General Education Advisory Board, consisting of representatives from each faculty and school. Representatives should facilitate good communication between the General Education Program and their respective academic units. They should convey and defend the views of their academic units with respect to the discipline in which they would like their students to take their GEED courses. Continuing with the above example, the Engineering Faculty representative may specify disciplines within each of the AH and SB categories for the engineering students’ GEED courses. He/she may ask, for example, for an Art History course in the AH category and a Sociology course in the SB category.

7. The General Education Advisory Board is responsible for periodically reviewing the general principles and performance of the General Education Program. This Board should also be consulted when approving new GEED courses or evaluating the performance of existing GEED courses.

8. The General Education Program administration will be responsible for supplying the academic units with the kind of GEED courses they would like, to the extent that this is possible.

9. Turkish language GEED courses should be made available for programs in Turkish.

PROPOSALS ON THE SPIKE PROGRAM

◦ First Proposal

The number of semesters in which SPIKE courses are taken should be reduced from 6 to 4 – the first 4 semesters of each student. Steps should be taken to solve the students’ technical problems with SPIKE. Communication between the General Education Program and the faculties/schools should be improved to make it easier to resolve difficulties with SPIKE.

  Second Proposal

The number of semesters in which SPIKE courses are taken should be reduced from 6 to 4 – the first 4 semesters of each student. But joining the SPIKE Program should be voluntary, and students should be encouraged to join the Program by giving a certificate to students who complete the Program. Steps should be taken to solve the students’ technical problems with SPIKE. Communication between the General Education Program and the faculties/schools should be improved to make it easier to resolve difficulties with SPIKE.

◦ These two proposals received an equal number of votes. The idea common to both, that students should take SPIKE for 4 rather than 6 semesters, has been implemented.

The Commission decided by a majority vote not to make any proposals regarding the organizational and administrative structure of the General Education program. There is, therefore, no proposal on the status of the General Education Department.