Some members of the Ohio University faculty do not welcome changes to the general education requirements.
Journalism professor Joseph Bernt said the desire to re-develop general education programs is a national trend at universities.
He said the details of the program were not fully developed when it was presented to Faculty Senate. The devil is always in the details
Bernt said.
There is a lot of anxiety among faculty throughout this university about how this thing is ever going to happen. And then also how much is it going to cost because it is going to take more faculty to teach it
he said.
Kevin Mattson, professor of history, said he is not sure what was broken in the old program, but said he is worried about the implementation of the new program. My major concern is when things get broken down into categories
we are putting courses into boxes
he said. I teach a lot of courses personally where I feel the courses go in between the aspects of the categories.
The new program puts emphasis on active learning. Provost Stephen Kopp described active learning as researching and pursing knowledge. He said active learning is about becoming an independent, sophisticated and critical thinker, as opposed to rote memorization.
Mattson said he is concerned about the time it will take to rewrite the entire curriculum and about the emphasis put on active learning. I believe in active learning
but I believe the best active learning takes place in smaller classrooms with smaller numbers of students. I think the most effective way to encourage good education at this institution would be to shrink class sizes
he said.
Hannah Denbow, English professor, said advising will be a major concern in dealing with the new program. There are so many components
I think it's going to be difficult for advisers to really advise students on what to take
she said. And I can see how it would be really easy to miss one section and then not graduate on time.
Chair of the General Education Council William Owens said because the program is new, people will need to learn it, just as they had to learn how the three-tier system works. I think all OU faculty and students have the ability to learn how the system works
he said.
Another concern for Denbow is that students will not be receiving much writing instruction in the new program. My fear is that students will probably try to avoid the writing classes and take them in other departments if they have to take them anyway
