Ashley Carter
Published: November 23, 2005
PJC faculty has been working since February on drastically changing all general education course syllabi to reflect global learning outcomes. These seven outcomes include critical thinking, communication, scientific and mathematical literacy, information management, cultural literacy, social skills, and personal management.
The changes to the syllabi are a direct response to requirements from accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It is the SACS accreditation that allows students’ credits to transfer to other institutions. SACS rules require that “The institution identifies college-level competencies within the general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those competencies.”
Students might be asking what impact these changes will have on classes. Each new general education syllabus must integrate three of the seven outcomes. The side bar contains an explanation of each one of these outcomes.
Several committee members were interviewed about their varying reasons for the change. Gloria Gonzalez, an instructor in the biology department, said that in discussions with area employers, it was estimated that no more than 50 percent of the current and future PJC students actually learn the vital skills needed to succeed in the business world.
As faculty implements the revised syllabi, some of them are also considering adding a more learning-centered approach to teaching the courses. This new style of teaching involves more hands-on activities and more group work. Students’ grades may be more dependent on others’ effectiveness inside the group than in the traditional lecture- test style. This change may help the students that are not keeping up with the upper range of the class, said Betsy Werre, of the education department.
Committee members reported that the revision process has taken long hours and hard work.
“Faculty from different departments had very different opinions of the very broad project that they had undertake,” Jelle Roos, an English professor, said.
“Some faculty from departments that were already using a more hands-on approach in their courses felt that the process hadn’t been hard at all,” Virginia Vail, an instructor in the learning resources center, said.
The new syllabi changes are set for a mandatory implementation during the fall 2006 semester. Staff members’ timing for implementing the new changes varies from professor to professor, and some have decided to go ahead and change their courses earlier than requested.
Werre is not required to change her syllabi because her classes do not fall under general education. Therefore, she has chosen to wait until the change has fully been accepted before she decides if she should restructure her course.
Vail says she is one of the few that already has these techniques in her classes’ structure, so not much will change.
Gonzalez plans to implement her changes during the 2006 summer classes; but both Jo Sharon Spencer, one of the Global Learning Outcomes committee chairs, and Pete Falzone of the mathematics department, plan to wait until the mandatory date of the 2006 fall semester to implement their new course changes.
Committee members urge students from PJC to find out about changes like these in their school. These changes will affect every part of the PJC population when implemented.
