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The text proposes a structured curriculum centered on shared essential knowledge across core disciplines, building interconnected understanding and preparing students to be rigorous thinkers and wise citizens. It concludes with recommendations for legislatures, university boards, and faculty committees, including a model liberal-arts pathway and specific course types.",{"@graph":14,"@context":77},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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reforming general education?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It states that student learning should drive higher-education reform and that well-designed general education strongly shapes students’ intellectual formation for most students.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What does the text criticize about many existing general education programs?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It argues these programs are often poorly designed, skills-focused, content-neutral, and lack coherent grounding, leading to fragmented knowledge and unintended personal and cultural effects.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What curriculum approach does the document recommend instead?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It recommends a structured program emphasizing shared essential knowledge through broad survey courses in core fields such as history, literature, philosophy, civics, and science.",{"name":74,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":75},"Who is asked to take steps, and what are the high-level university recommendations?",{"text":76,"@type":64},"The Martin Center recommends that legislatures, university boards, and faculty governing committees improve general education, and that universities adopt a university-wide, liberal-arts-focused curriculum with a coherent set of core courses.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":79,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":81,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":83,"site_id":7},584991,1792932960,{"code":4,"msg":86,"data":87},"success",[88,92,96,100,105,110,114,118,123,126,130],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Story & 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specialization, and intensifying societal polarization set against an environment of decreasing trust in society’s institutions…programs of general education—both in the high schools and in the universities—may be the single remaining force that can fit the population together as citizens who share a common heritage and culture. If we accept this is indeed an appropriate aim and outcome of education, and in particular general education, then the relevance and value of general education to society is truly immense, indispensable, and indisputable. Conversely, if general education fails to serve those purposes, or worse, if it is used as a vehicle to instill ideas and values that are anathema to society’s  \nprevailing culture, institutions, and traditions—theory presented here suggests the consequences may be profound.”  \n—Kevin D. Gwaltney, executive director, Missouri General Assembly Joint Committee on Education1  \nWhy should general education be reformed?  \nStudent learning should be at the center of all efforts to reform higher education. The content of student learning heavily influences the kinds of thinkers and citizens graduates will become. The surest way to improve the quality of education for the greatest number of students is through general education. This is because all students must complete their institution’s general education requirements. This curriculum, which consists of about 30 percent of a four-year education, can  \n1. Kevin D. Gwaltney,“General Education Requirements: A Look at the Structure of Higher Education,” the Missouri General Assembly Joint Committee on Education, Aug. 19, 2020.  \nsignificantly shape students’ intellectual formation.2  \nUnfortunately, the general education programs at too many institutions are poorly designed and fail to give students a coherent grounding in essential knowledge. The approach to general education is often skills-focused and content-neutral. The specific content of students' studies is not a primary concern for most university administrators. As long as students develop generic skills such as “critical thinking” and take an assortment of courses from broad subject areas, curriculum administrators are satisfied.  \n2. To read more from the Martin Center about the importance of general education, visit: [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[www.jamesgmartin.center/tag/general-education/](www.jamesgmartin.center/tag/general-education/)  \n1 Blueprint for Reform  \n2 Blueprint for Reform  \nSuch programs do a disservice to students on multiple levels.  \nFrom the standpoint of cognitive science, students need a sturdy backbone of knowledge in order to learn. Skills are not developed in the abstract; they are the product of students’building a store of connected background knowledge. A disparate accumulation of random facts will not give students the firm foundation needed for effective learning.  \nAn unstructured program also produces personal and cultural consequences. It enables faculty to require overtly ideological or excessively narrow courses. And the lack of structure leads students to make poor choices when selecting their coursework.  \nGeneral education programs, however, also present an opportunity. When properly designed, general education is an ideal time to give students a rich foundation of knowledge they can build on for the rest oftheir lives. A program emphasizing shared essential knowledge would require students to take broad survey courses in core fields such as history, literature, philosophy, civics, and science. It would aid them in building a mental timeline of their civilization’s key events and the development of its central ideas, giving them wisdom and perspective when confronting contemporary issues. Students would learn to appreciate how the various branches of knowledge are connected, or “intimately united,”as described by John Henry Newman.3 Such a coher","cbCaijO6YdnveZV1","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijO6YdnveZV1","pdf",435474,"English","# Why should general education be reformed?\n## Student learning as the central aim\n## Problems with current programs\n## The opportunity for properly designed general education\n# Recommendations\n## Policy actions for legislatures and university governance\n## University policy and a model curriculum","[{\"question\":\"Why does the document call for reforming general education?\",\"answer\":\"It states that student learning should drive higher-education reform and that well-designed general education strongly shapes students’ intellectual formation for most students.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the text criticize about many existing general education programs?\",\"answer\":\"It argues these programs are often poorly designed, skills-focused, content-neutral, and lack coherent grounding, leading to fragmented knowledge and unintended personal and cultural effects.\"},{\"question\":\"What curriculum approach does the document recommend instead?\",\"answer\":\"It recommends a structured program emphasizing shared essential knowledge through broad survey courses in core fields such as history, literature, philosophy, civics, and science.\"},{\"question\":\"Who is asked to take steps, and what are the high-level university recommendations?\",\"answer\":\"The Martin Center recommends that legislatures, university boards, and faculty governing committees improve general education, and that universities adopt a university-wide, liberal-arts-focused curriculum with a coherent set of core courses.\"}]","Blueprint for Reform - General Education - Reform Recommendations | PDF",1792053201]