3 pages

Assignment: The Great General Education Debate (group work)

Jillian is responsible for presenting the first argument: General education is a waste of time because it is a repetition of what student’s are required to learn in elementary, middle, and high school.

Argument #1

General education is a waste of time because it is a repetition of what student’s are required to learn in elementary, middle, and high school. College is for specialization. Students spend the first twelve years of their education learning the basics of math, English, history, science, a second language, music, etc. College is the time where these students decide what interests them enough to want a career in it. By requiring general education courses to college students we are simply repeating what we have already taught them. When students choose their area of specialization they are declaring what they do like to learn and what they do not like to learn about; therefore, there is no need to continue to teach a student information that they do not need or care for. As of 2009, 89% of institutions were reviewing their general education program through formal review, proposal for changes, implementing changes, or conducting assessments of learning outcomes (Trends and Emerging Practices in General Education, 2009). This shows that universities are recognizing that there is an issue with their general education programs and are looking to solve it, whether it is decreasing the amount of required general education credits or eliminating the general education curriculum all together, changes are being made.

References

Trends and Emerging Practices in General Education. (2009). Hart Research

Associates. Retrieved October 22, 2015, from https://www.aacu.org /sites/default/files/files/LEAP/2009MemberSurvey_Part2.pdf

Argument #2

Morgan is responsible for presenting the second argument: General education is a waste of money because students must pay to take courses that they have already learned about.

General Education: waste of money – repeating information

· Required Gen Ed Courses are introductory; same information as high school education

· Basic classes in science, math, english and history, that only go over introductory topics in the subject matter.

· College is meant to make students better critical thinkers and requiring classes that they have already taken is a waste.

· Can’t be critical thinkers when students are just repeating information in basic classes

· “The point of a college education is to teach students to think, solve problems and change the world, they say, not to download a compendium of facts.” (Washington Post)

· College students pay for each course to fulfill requirements from school

· Students pay tuition to get a degree in a certain field

· Each class is payed for working towards that degree

· If students are paying to take these courses filled with information they already know; it’s a waste of their money

· Why require classes that have them regurgitate information when they can take courses in subject matter that interests them and has them think critically

Argument #3

Moryah is responsible for presenting the third argument: General education has very little impact or importance on the overall process of instruction, a person’s career, or their lives in general.

Jin will be responsible for the introduction and conclusion of the debate presentation.