GE & BD Designation Application
This page will help you prepare to complete the GE and BD
designation application. In the application you will:
Select the Learning Outcome that applies to the course and identify/ design an assignment(s)
that can be used to assess the Learning Outcome.
Explain how the course meets the Content Criteria for the designation.
| New Designation Reviews Due: Thursday, August 10, 2023 by 5:00 PM |
The application and review process for initial designations will temporarily transition to a provisional process completed manually outside the Kuali system. A subset of the General Education Curriculum Committee will review your application. If approved, the designation will be placed on the course for two years, after which a complete review will be conducted. Apply by completing the Word Document application linked below, email to lindsay.massman@utah.edu before the deadline. Contact robyn.moreno@utah.edu or lindsay.massman@utah.edu with questions.
GE Learning Outcomes
The General Education (GE) Learning Outcomes can be thought of as the four big goals of GE and Bachelor’s Degree (BD) Requirements. Through their GE and BD courses, we hope all students have the opportunity to work toward developing the skills and competencies described by these outcomes, regardless of the particular designation(s) attached to the course. Our accrediting body requires that we assess whether we are meeting GE Learning Outcomes by looking at student assignments from GE courses. For that reason, you will select a GE Learning Outcome for your course, provide sample assignments and explain the connection between the assignments and the Learning Outcome as outlined in the questions below:
1. Select one of the four GE Learning Outcomes that best represents and describes
the skills and competencies students will work toward in this course. The course may address
several of the four outcomes but, for purposes of this application and our later review,
we ask that you select the one GE Learning Outcome that best captures the course’s
contribution to students’ GE experiences.
2. Identify and attach one or two assignments from the course that provide opportunities for students to demonstrate at least three of the four criteria for the Learning Outcome in which you placed your course. We are looking for one or two assignments that provide evidence for the Learning Outcome you chose that we (and you) can collect in the future to conduct GE Learning Outcome assessment for your course. Please indicate which criteria each assignment is meant to assess.
3. Provide an explanation for how this(these) assignment(s) allow students to demonstrate their development of three of the four criteria associated with the Learning Outcome you selected for the course.
Collaborate Effectively
When Community and Knowledge & Skills come together, it’s all about learning to collaborate effectively. Courses within this intersection target the collaborative skills necessary to work and to live effectively in a community of people who have different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and beliefs.
Criteria:
- Communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.
- Incorporate ideas from many diverse lived experiences.
- Develop effective teamwork behaviors and attitudes.
- Navigate conflict productively.
Reason & Act Ethically
When Community and Transformation come together, you learn how to reason and act ethically. Courses in this intersection will provide opportunities to grapple with the ethical dimensions of problem solving and action.
Criteria:
- Develop a personal ethical code.
- Apply a personal ethical code to different situations.
- Reflect on how ethical codes apply to global issues.
- Reflect on how ethical codes apply to community-based issues.
Persist in Addressing
Complex Problems
When Knowledge & Skills and Impact come together, you learn about persisting in addressing complex problems. Courses within this intersection focus on developing the capacity to persist and remain engaged in complex problems, especially when an immediate solution seems elusive.
Criteria:
- Develop strategies for persistence.
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Respond productively to setbacks, errors and failures.
- Create processes that lead to effective problem solving.
- Develop a broad system of people and resources to support creative problem solving.
Respond Creatively
When Impact and Transformation come together, it’s all about learning to respond creatively to the challenges and the opportunities life brings. Courses within this intersection focus on opportunities to explore, create, engage, and transform.
Criteria:
- Use creativity when responding to opportunities.
- Explore and create multi-dimensional responses to opportunities.
- Explore connections between other opportunities.
- Transform familiar response to entirely forms.
Actualize & Contribute
Criteria:
- Build on academic and personal experiences to respond to new and challenging situations.
- Understand one’s capacity to design their own learning experiences.
- Analyze a system focusing on the interdependence of people and planet.
- Judge the value of a system according to how it accounts for equity and inequity created by human actions.
Content Criteria
Finally, the application requires you to select the designation for which you are applying and address questions about the content of the course. Content criteria refer to the readings, lectures, discussions, and media that students will be exposed to in the course. When responding to these questions, please refer to the course syllabus and, in particular, readings and media, that students will encounter. Help the GECC answer the question, “what is this course about?” by responding to all of the Content Criteria identified for the designation.
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Applied Science
How is the course appeal useful to students who are not majoring in applied sciences and engineering?
How does the course introduce students to the ways people in scientifically-based technical fields use scientific findings to solve problems or build innovations?
How does the course introduce students to the primary methods of analysis used in the applied sciences and engineering?
How does the course introduce students to the tensions between scientific progress and the ethical foundations of society?
Social / Behavioral Science
Explain how course content will pose pertinent and thought provoking for students across disciplines, including those outside of the social and behavioral sciences.
Explain how the content of the course introduces students to institutions, cultures, and behaviors by focusing on fundamental concepts, theories, or principles used in the social and behavioral sciences.
Explain how the content of the course introduces students to the primary methods of analysis used in the social and behavioral sciences.
Writing / Communication
How does the course provide direct instruction in how to write and/or communicate according to disciplinary standards or genre-specific conventions?
How does the course require students to use multiple forms of writing and/or communication in ways that are adapted to the particular needs of different audiences?
How does the course require students to use feedback to revise their work for at least one writing assignment?
Clearly identify how at least 50% of the final grade is dependent upon students’ ability to write and/or communicate.
Diversity
The diversity requirement reflects the University’s commitment to proactively and consistently support a positive campus climate in regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Courses that fulfill this requirement provide opportunities for students to critically explore society and culture in the United States — its norms, laws, public policies, cultural practices, and discourses — in the context of the rich and varied cultural diversity that has shaped it. All students in courses fulfilling this requirement will grapple with theoretical approaches to discrimination, privilege, and social justice. Race, ethnicity, sex, gender, socioeconomic status, age, religion, ability status, or sexual orientation will be the crux of these classes.
Students will also critically reflect on their own identities and relationships with institutions that maintain and/or challenge the status quo. The goal of this requirement is to extend cross-cultural understanding; to interrogate current and historical narratives of equality, justice, progress, and freedom; to open possibilities for meaningful communication across social boundaries; and to allow students to consider ethical and social decisions from multiple perspectives. This requirement, together with other institutional practices, also signals to students that their distinctive traditions, opinions, and insights enrich our community and are valued at the University.
How does the course focus on the culture, history, or current circumstances of one or more groups of people in the U.S. who have experienced sustained systemic discrimination (e.g., institutional racism, homophobia, sexism, ageism, ableism, or classism)?
How does the course critically examine and grapple with one or more factors supporting and sustaining the systemic discrimination of groups of people in the U.S. (e.g. institutional racism, homophobia, sexism, ageism, ableism, or classism)?
How does the course incorporate disciplinary methods for analyzing and/or applying real-world strategies of moving toward a more equitable society and challenging patterns of sustained systemic discrimination?
How does the course challenge students to reflect on their own identities (including both the places where they hold privilege and the places where they experience sustained systemic discrimination) in order to apply the concepts of inclusion, equity, and social justice to their interactions?
Fine Arts
Courses in the fine arts introduce students to ways of experiencing and understanding a variety of artistic concepts, structures, and forms by focusing on big questions, both contemporary and enduring. Such courses explore the world through diverse aesthetic viewpoints and practices and seek to foster critical and creative interpretations of artistic expression. These courses help students develop critical, creative, and interpretive skills needed to function in an increasingly diverse world and contribute to society as educated and informed citizens.
How is the course useful to students who are not majoring in the fine arts?
How does the course introduce students to a range of artistic concepts, structures, and forms?
How does the course lead students to appreciate varying aesthetic viewpoints?
How does the course lead students to develop thoughtful interpretations of artistic expression?
Humanities
Courses in the humanities help students achieve a critical understanding of human thought, culture, and society through the study of big questions, both contemporary and enduring. These questions are explored through philosophical, literary, religious, historical, and language-based perspectives. These courses strive to foster analytic, interpretive, and creative abilities. Students develop intensive, interactive communication skills needed to function in the university and to contribute to the larger community as educated and informed citizens.
How is the course useful to students who are not majoring in the humanities?
How does the course use the perspectives of the humanities to lead students to understand human thought, culture, and civilization?
How does the course lead students to develop analytic, interpretive, and creative methods typical of the humanities?
How does the course lead students to develop writing and speaking competencies as valued in the humanities?
International
The upper-division international requirement will give students a broad base of knowledge about global issues and perspectives in a comparative context by exploring big questions both contemporary and enduring. It will introduce students to international frames of reference so that they may think critically about long-standing and newly emerging international issues. These courses will help students accept and appreciate the interdependence of nations and the viewpoints of other nations and give them the ability to communicate with people across international borders.
How does the course focus on international, transnational, or comparative issues?
How does the course include significant content from non-U.S. perspectives and authors?
How does the course focus on cross-border phenomena (i.e.borders conceived in the broadest sense such as language, cultural, economic, political, etc.).
How will the course be relevant to students in the major or discipline?
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Quantitative
Reasoning
The quantitative reasoning requirement will prepare students for an increasingly information-based society in which the ability to use and critically evaluate information, especially numerical information, is central to becoming an informed citizen. Students will acquire the skills necessary to make rational decisions based on real data. They will be exposed to general methods of inquiry that apply in a wide variety of settings. They will be able to critically assess arguments and make rational decisions. Finally, students will develop the ability to judge the strengths and limitations of quantitative approaches to knowledge production.
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QA is the mathematics portion of the Quantitative Reasoning Requirement and this requirement and the courses are overseen by the Math Department.
QB is the statistics/logic portion of the Quantitative Reasoning Requirement and is overseen by the General Education Curriculum Committee.
What are the quantitative methods covered in the course and how do they build on quantitative reasoning skills learned in QA/QB/QR courses?
How will the course provide experiences in solving practical problems or addressing real-world issues?
How will the course be relevant to students in the major or discipline?
Quantitative Intensive
The quantitative intensive requirement will build upon students’ prior quantitative foundations by further developing analytic reasoning skills and deepening knowledge of quantitative methods that are specific to a particular discipline. As a result, students will not only become better-informed interpreters and evaluators of quantitative data, they will also learn how to apply newly acquired quantitative skills and methods in ways that address practical issues, solve real-world problems, or model phenomena according to disciplinary standards and conventions.
What are the quantitative methods covered in the course and how do they build on quantitative reasoning skills learned in QA/QB/QR courses?
How will the course provide experiences in solving practical problems or addressing real-world issues?
How will the course be relevant to students in the major or discipline?
Physical / Life Science
Courses in the physical and life sciences acquaint students with fundamental concepts, theories, and methods of analysis used in the physical and life sciences by focusing on big questions, both contemporary and enduring. They introduce students to the scientific method by illustrating the interplay between observation, theory, experiment, deduction, and application. The connection between scientific and technological progress and the moral and ethical foundations of society are studied and students are given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through the application of skills and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems.
How is the course useful to students who are not majoring in the physical or life sciences?
How does the course introduce students to fundamental concepts, principles, and theories of the physical and life sciences?
How does the course introduce students to the primary methods of analysis used in the physical and life sciences?
How does the course introduce students to the tensions between scientific progress and the ethical foundations of society?