BGSU has long recognized that educating students goes far beyond simply imparting information to them. Providing the proverbial “well-rounded education” means addressing the whole person by recognizing that learning takes place inside and outside the classroom, and that experience is indeed a valuable teacher.
What holistic learning efforts might be further developed for the future?
1:58 pm - 9-4-2008
Hello, I’ve been reading your e-mails and this project may be useful to you, as it deals almost entirely with a holistic learning.
A&S Vision is working with many students on campus to produce “Student Voice.” A video Series designed to present student perspectives on a variety of issues here at BGSU to promote internal discussion of those issues and brainstorming about how we can improve The experience and culture of BGSU. The primary audience is faculty and administrators here on campus, and episodes can focus on pretty much anything that involves some aspect of BGSU. Here is the first episode, and a link to The SV website where people can find an additional 3 episodes. Episode 1 and 2 are on Vimeo for all the PC users who do not use quicktime.
-Matt
http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/as/asvision/page53307.html
Vimeo Version (flash based) http://vimeo.com/1660217
12:46 pm - 9-5-2008
The Core Commitments committee, the BG Perspectives Director, and others, have collaborated to draft a definition of the “Bowling Green Experience.” It is to come out in the Provost’s NewsNotes on Monday, Sept 8 (see http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/provost/news/NewsNotesArchive.html ). The statement is aimed exactly at the topic of creating a holistic learning environment. I would be grateful if this work could help move the discussion along productively.
Also relevant to this discussion is the proposed revision of the University Learning Outcomes. That draft has been worked for almost a year, with the participation of a large number of people and groups. I will cut and paste that draft into the following post.
12:48 pm - 9-5-2008
The following proposed revision to the University Learning Outcomes is guided by AAC&U’s LEAP outcomes:
University Learning Outcomes
Draft, May 6, 2008
The University Learning Outcomes serve as a broad framework to guide student learning and development in and out of the college classroom. The BGSU approach to student learning and development is holistic, that is, dependent upon interactive mastery of the skills, knowledge, and dispositions described here. For instance, it is through the interplay of inquiry, leadership, and participation that students explore and develop the capacity and disposition for personal and social responsibility. Students at BGSU are purposely provided with opportunities to use and integrate general and specialized knowledge to solve problems, followed by guided reflection on those experiences. (Reflection is an activity in which people recapture their experience, think about it, evaluate it, and develop insight toward future action). In this way BGSU graduates students who have identified purpose and meaning in their lives and potential careers.
Intellectual and Practical Skills
• Critical and Constructive Thinking
• Inquiry – a close examination of an issue or situation in a search for information or truth; determining what questions should be asked; formulating hypotheses; seeking information and evaluating claims, making discoveries and reaching new understandings, and making informed judgments.
• Examining Values – observing carefully and critically to identify the values, principles, standards, or qualities considered worthwhile or desirable in a dilemma, situation, problem, or decision.
• Solving Problems Creatively– generating a solution for a problem through original, imaginative or artistic effort, including problems that are complex, ambiguous and difficult to formulate.
• Communication
• Writing – a social activity in which the author creates written text to convey meaning to an intended audience.
• Presenting – speaking, showing, demonstrating, exhibiting or even performing for an individual or group.
• Engaging Others in Action
• Participating – active engagement in some activity, including shared effort, understanding others’ points of view, the lively exchange of ideas, compromise, and contributing to the group’s product.
• Leading – guiding or influencing a group to achieve its goals. Leading does not require formal authority or power but rather is a matter of influence, integrity, spirit, and mutual respect.
General and Specialized Knowledge
To be an effective and prepared citizen, capable of understanding and responding to the diverse challenges present in the modern world, students must be conversant with the core concepts of disciplines in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities and arts, along with knowledge related to human learning, interaction and enterprise. Just as breadth of knowledge is a cornerstone of a liberal education, so too is expertise in a particular disciplinary area or major. Both breadth and depth are important concepts, not just in terms of acquired content knowledge, but also for development of the skills and methods necessary to explore any matter in depth.
Personal and Social Responsibility
BGSU recognizes and intentionally fosters a learning environment in which students strive for excellence, cultivate personal and academic integrity, contribute to a larger community, take seriously the perspectives of others, and develop competence in ethical and moral reasoning, as shown by:
• Interacting with and understanding the perspectives of people from diverse cultures within the United States and other nations.
• Engaging communities as a participant and leader using civic and professional knowledge as a basis for values driven action.
• Identifying the purpose and meaning for one’s life that embodies ethical integrity and actions consistent with one’s principles. A purposeful approach to questions of meaning also includes sound career development leading to rewarding work.
Integrate, Apply, and Reflect
Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies as evidenced in project-based work systematically archived in an electronic portfolio throughout the duration of the student’s enrollment. Portfolio projects draw upon all of the skills and fields of knowledge described above. What has been learned from accumulated experiences is recorded in written reflections.
A BGSU education provides the foundation for a lifetime of continued learning, self-awareness, career success, contribution to community, and purposeful living. Demonstrating quality performance on each of the learning outcomes is the hallmark of a BGSU graduate.