With the freshman year behind us and the first semester of the sophomore year on the horizon, dissatisfaction with general education requirements is growing exponentially. This year she took 12 subjects, but he was only able to take 3 related to his major.
Why do I have to take general education classes in both college and liberal arts departments? Is it the whole point of college that you can’t study the major you’re trying to get your degree in?
Let’s start with a discussion of general educational requirements. The IU Bulletin has written a statement on the importance of general education in college.
IU states that the gen-ed requirement is “to ensure that all IUB undergraduates acquire basic skills in English writing and mathematical modelling, and the vast amount of work offered in the arts and sciences fields offered by IU Bloomington. The aim is to make a large number of courses available,” he said. humanities, sociology and history, natural and mathematical sciences, and world languages and cultures.”
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This seems to be aimed at providing IU students with a “enriched educational experience”.
It’s nice to have these skills, but we are paid members of this institution. Remember, each class has a price, and universities profit from having students take many classes unrelated to their major.
I am a journalism major specializing in public relations. My major requires 36 credit hours at 1 second concentration of 24 credit hours. At IU, students can complete a core number of credits in one academic year by taking a maximum of 19 credits per semester. He was then able to complete his second concentration the following year quite comfortably. Without a general education, I was able to complete all the major requirements in half the time it would normally take to complete a bachelor’s degree.
As a paying student at this institution, how can you justify having to pay for two full years of “enriched educational experience”? I think it helps, but it shouldn’t be forced. In reality, this guise of building a well-rounded student is simply a ruse for money.
We had 13 years of general education before entering college. This is called K-12. I spent almost all of her K-12 education studying English writing, mathematical modeling, arts and humanities, social and historical studies, natural and mathematical sciences, and world languages and cultures. The difference was that I was learning those skills for free. This does nothing for the university.
I acknowledge that not all K-12 education has been adequate to teach these subjects. In an article by Director Dr. Paul Hanstedt, he also acknowledges this fact. But Hanstedt explains that general education is not the answer.
“But what I’m saying is that even if students come to need ‘some extra help,’ we can build their learning and development into apathy, ignorance, and indifference. It is that we do them, or ourselves, no favors by packaging them with incompetence.And in many institutions, even very good institutions, this curriculum or course It feels like high school,” Hanstedt writes.
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I agree with this assessment. Many of the general education courses I have taken have not enriched me. We have to give college students credits. They worked hard from kindergarten to high school and took all the necessary steps to get into college. As a college student, a general level of understanding of these generational requirements is expected.
I think we need to follow the model of universities like England.
According to Butler University’s Institute for Study Abroad, “In the UK, students meet general education requirements before entering university, so they choose a major when completing their bachelor’s degree and only take classes in their field of study.” will take the
This is a great way to achieve a comprehensive education and focus on your major once you reach college level.
Colleges are meant to be places where students can choose their course of study and prepare for their future careers. As a PR journalism student, why should I take science and math courses that are completely unrelated to this field? Why should I take an English writing course?
Having extra time in your schedule and having to pay for classes you don’t want to take is the exact opposite of what college is supposed to be.
Ravana Gumm (she/she) is a freshman studying journalism.