GE Glossary

A significant skill or context used to frame foundational perspectives or interdisciplinary thinking in the course. Attributes are not course add-ons, but a fundamental tool for students to engage with the course.

Courses in which students engage in multi-perspective taking, disciplinary and otherwise, to explore complex questions, ideas, and problems. By bringing together the knowledge, skills, methodologies, values and perspectives of two or more disciplines or social positions, students are encouraged to develop a more comprehensive understanding of multi-faceted topics. Students will practice higher-order learning activities such as conceptual thinking, problem solving, innovative design, critical analysis, evaluation of ideas, and creation of knowledge/works. Students must take three BC courses.

Describe how students will reach required Student Learning Outcomes through activities specific to each unique course.

Courses that introduce students to ways of thinking, knowing, and doing in different disciplines or fields. Students are given opportunities to explore how people form questions and ideas, use methodologies and techniques, and create knowledge and/or works. Students must take one course each from the Artist, Humanist, Natural Scientist, and Social Scientist perspectives.

The Office of General Education is part of the Office of the Provost and is made up of faculty, staff, and graduate students. This office:

  • advocates for student agency and exploration
  • connects and scaffolds student learning across the curriculum
  • designs curriculum that is relevant to and flexible for a changing world
  • communicates General Education principles and practices across the campus
  • collaborates across disciplines in support of cross-disciplinary learning
  • facilitates high quality teaching and engaged learning, designs holistic assessment and periodic review of courses
  • honors diversities of perspectives and ways of knowing

Assignments provide opportunities for authentic, meaningful learning experiences. These assignments will engage students in the learning goals/objectives of both the course and the General Education Curricular Category and Attribute(s). Signature assignments emphasize how students make meaning, and they connect learning to perspective-taking and multi-perspective taking through course content. Students use signature assignments to reflect on their journey through General Education, including their engagement with the General Education curriculum and will synthesize their learning through a reflective ePortfolio.

Detailed, measurable descriptions of what students should be able to do and/or demonstrate upon completing your course. These outcomes are uniform across courses and align with the curriculum categories (Exploring Perspectives/Building Connections) and the Attributes.

Perspective-taking involves viewing an issue, problem, object, or phenomenon from a particular standpoint other than one's own. These are the cognitive and social skills required to understand how other people think and feel, and are essential to appreciating and understanding conflicting points of view. 

  • In Exploring Perspectives: perspective-taking focuses on how people working within broadly conceived disciplines think, what questions they ask, how they use methodologies and techniques to approach those questions, and how disciplinary knowledge informs their ways of reasoning and doing. 
  • In Building Connections: perspective-taking entails drawing on multiple perspectives, disciplinary and otherwise, in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of complex questions, ideas and artifacts. Through perspective-taking practice, students can better understand differences between disciplines, become more aware of academic and personal biases, and engage in role-playing to recognize and appreciate alternate perspectives.

Students in General Education will compile a learning ePortfolio throughout their experience. The ePortfolio will start in UNIV 101 and culminate in the final UNIV 301 course. The learning ePortfolio is designed for students to highlight growth, metacognition, and meaning-making across the curriculum. Additionally, ePortfolios enable students to develop reflective skills that encourage lifelong learning. ePortfolios will include signature assignments, learning goals, and reflections.

UWGEC is a faculty body charged with the review and approval of all curriculum changes in General Education across the University, assessment of the program, and disseminating General Education information to the campus community and its partners. When reviewing General Education courses, UWGEC looks for alignment with Exploring Perspectives and Building Connections learning outcomes. All instruction and curriculum action items approved by the UWGEC are forwarded to the Undergraduate Council for review and submission to the Faculty Senate for approval.