Two studies were conducted regarding the achievement goal orientations of college students within two contexts: coursework in all courses and in general education courses. Interactions were detected for achievement goals by class level and context. Findings raise concern about student attitudes toward general education, despite its importance to…

This study examines whether collecting gender information before general education assessments affects the performance of subjects for whom a negative domain performance stereotype exists. Results show that inquiry is not a sufficient priming stimulus to trigger stereotype threat in low-stakes assessments, yet its removal may increase motivation…

This study examined the subjective experience of academic disengagement. Flow theory, which describes an intense form of engagement, structured writing-to-learn activities undergraduates applied in major and liberal arts courses. Results suggest that writing to learn can transform academic anxiety and boredom by facilitating concentration,…

After describing our interdisciplinary humanities course and its history, we identify challenges these courses face and strategies for keeping them vigorous. We argue that course longevity depends on effective translation of vision and content into explicit goals bridging the gaps between faculty members and between faculty and students. (Contains…

We assessed students in General Psychology classes and examined their SAT/ACT scores, GPAs, and attempted and earned hours. Exams in General Psychology were superior to the SAT/ACT in predicting GPA, supporting the use of an introductory course as a "gateway" for identifying at-risk students and engaging them in academic services. (Contains 3…

Coherence is a major focus of general education reform today; however, an examination of the history of higher education shows that interest in maintaining curricular coherence has fluctuated over the past 200 years and is best described as a swinging pendulum that alternates between periods of integration and fragmentation.

This article discusses variance in critical thinking between arts and nonarts undergraduates. Research indicates that inquiry based curricula positively influence critical thinking and that learning in the arts is largely inquiry based. These findings and the study results indicate that learning in the arts positively influences undergraduates'…

This article examines a six-year process of reforming the core curriculum at a midsize public research university, showing how a seminar for first-year students, a lengthy campus-wide dialogue, and a multidisciplinary community of faculty produced a new core curriculum focused on inquiry, communication, and undergraduate research. (Contains 1…

Although academic provision has become associated with professional education, knowledge is delivered through standard classroom methodology associated with liberal arts education. Elsewhere, a "practice turn" has elevated experience as a basis for knowledge. This article shows how practice became detached from theory and how through praxis they…

To enhance student performance, prevent attrition, and build a learning community, two courses were linked together by requiring concurrent enrollment. "Writing Effectively," an upper-division composition course, was linked with "Abnormal Psychology," an upper-division clinical psychology course, requiring concurrent enrollment in both. In short,…

This study applied the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Technology Acceptance Model to measure outcomes of general education courses (GECs) under the University of Botswana Computer and Information Skills (CIS) program. An exploratory model was validated for responses from 298 students. The results suggest that resources currently committed to…

By investigating undergraduates' epistemological orientations and processes in academic and personal contexts, this study examined whether and how epistemological development in one context is related to development in another context. The focus of this particular study was on tension regarding the contextuality of epistemological development. The…

This study examined critical thinking instruction in a required introductory communication course (N = 324). Experimental group participants received enhanced instruction using various active learning strategies, activities, and assignments. Results indicate significant improvement in their critical thinking skills. Implications for pedagogy and…

General education classrooms provide a common milieu for understanding and appropriating results of classroom research projects, which are typically viewed as having little application outside their original contexts. Here, results of an investigation into the "sophomore slump," where grades and class attendance rates typically suffer, are…

The authors examine an institutional assessment model for general education that effectively incorporates instructor-driven strategies. This article is informed by the perspectives of a teaching librarian and a departmental faculty member at the University at Albany, State University of New York. As instructors, they both participated in mandated…