General Education and Assessment: From My Work to Our Work

In order to develop high-quality general education pathways that are effective for all students—especially for those students from traditionally undeserved groups—we need to build, enrich, and support greater collaboration among educators of all sorts.  AAC&U’s 2016 conference on General Education and Assessment—”From My Work to Our Work”—is designed to examine research, evidence, and models for effective general education programs and courses that work for all students.  With focused attention on equity, the meeting will examine effective general education teaching and learning methods,  campus cultures that value and support general education, integrative general education frameworks, and transparent approaches to assessment.

A change in perspective from “my work” to “our work” requires rethinking the curriculum and cocurriculum and re-envisioning the nature of faculty roles.  Participants will consider how communities of practice, and other forms of inclusion and collaboration, can support the development and sustaining of effective general education programs.  They will learn how to redesign general education programs to extend from cornerstone to capstone and how to scaffold high-impact practices and—through connections among general education, majors, and co-curricular programs—empower all students with the knowledge and skills required for their professional, personal, and social lives in a pluralistic democracy.