Real-World General Education Experiences
As universities grapple with how to provide students with the integrative learning skills and critical thinking they need to succeed in a global society, RIT faculty are leading the effort by providing students with highly relevant learning experiences embedded throughout General Education courses. Faculty create assignments which provide the opportunities for students to explore real-world problems and situations while achieving the General Education Student Learning Outcomes (GESLO).
Thank you to the faculty below for creating signature assignments in their General Education courses.
Wicked Problems
GESLO: Analyze or construct arguments considering their premises, assumptions, contexts, conclusions, and anticipatory counter arguments.
In Professor Sarah Brownell’s Wicked Problems (CMDS 333) course, students wrestle “wicked” or very difficult to resolve, multi-faceted problems, often containing social components that face the current generation. The course design offers students a chance to collaboratively investigate and propose a good--in their opinion--resolution to one piece of a bigger problem, considering the problem’s context, impact, and stakeholders. Last spring, the course focused on the sustainability of public water. Students on Team Moo and the Furry Cow addressed the inefficient use of water in the dairy industry, proposing the creation of a nonprofit organization that connects environmentally conscious milk consumers with on-line data on water usage by milk suppliers and suppliers with information on how to save water. Their proposed solution was grounded in a theory of change and implements several environmentally connecting steps. Other team topics included watershed deterioration, the water-energy dilemma, and inadequate use of storm water.
Decision Making
GESLO: Apply methods of scientific inquiry and problem solving to contemporary issues and scientific questions.
Dr. Eric Hittinger’s Decision Analysis (PUBL 302) course focuses on students learning the skills to make sound decisions and applying these tools to contemporary public policy. Dr. Hittinger asks students to develop a financial model to calculate the Net Present Cost of buying and operating different types of lightbulbs. Students calculate product and energy cost and efficiency and then incorporate their own variables (e.g., lightbulb usage) to answer this real world question: which lightbulb technology is least expensive? Students are also asked to analyze their methodology, considering what components of the model are uncertain or what happens when model inputs are changed.
Policy Advocates
GESLO: Identify contemporary ethical questions and relevant positions.
Students in Dr. Benjamin Banta’s Ethics in International Politics (POLS 205) course participate in a carefully orchestrated simulation of the 1999 Kosovo Crisis. Students take roles as “actors” portraying (costumes encouraged) American and foreign leaders, media representatives, and members of the United Nations. Actors—ahem, students— prepare by studying the context, history, and political climate leading up to the day of the Racak Massacre. Banta doesn’t require actors to follow the same path as the people they portray, but asks that they advocate for policies that are consistent with their roles, while providing leeway for students to incorporate their own ethical positions. The simulation affords students the opportunity to address and reflect upon the ethics of a complex international crisis.