Provide at least three reasons why every student should be required to take general education courses. Explain your rationale.
General education classes give students an exposure to a variety of disciplines that allow them to develop the skills necessary to pursue their major. Catherine Seraphin states that general education requirements help students prepare for the “unknown” (n.d., p.4). College is a different world, it is different from high school and life. General education classes allow students to grasp the critical thinking skills and create skillsets that are necessary to succeed. By taking general education courses, usually within the first year, students become prepared for university-level education.
General education classes also give a cohesion in the education process. By taking classes such as English, History, math, and science students are giving a “global understanding, cultural awareness, or ethical thinking” (Wehburg, 2010, p. 9) to students. These classes allow students to start their education process with an interconnection with each other and a structure to be able to pursue or change their goals.
Finally, general education classes allow students to become better people overall. Austin blogs that general education classes
…show more content…
Not long after I had finished the class a state ecology worker came up to where I work at the Christmas Tree farm, he was discussing the biome of our area, obnoxious plants, EPA guidelines, and the sediments along the roadside ditches and irrigation. As we were discussion these various topics, it occurred to me that had I not taken this science class, I would be totally lost and not be able to follow what he was discussing. Not only was I able to follow the discussion I was able to contribute and make some recommendations for our farm to ensure that we following the EPA guidelines and helping the environment in the
General Education courses may be one of the most hated requirements in college by students. These courses are required amongst all college students regardless of one’s major or minor. General Education courses may vary with schools but usually consist of: the arts and humanities, social science, natural science, mathematics, and writing. These courses should be optional; students should be able to take them at their own interest such as with elective courses. Without General Education courses it is understood that students will not have completed or received credits needed to graduate. Required college courses should be based solely on one’s major or minor. Students should not be required to take general education courses for the simple fact that they are deemed “important”. General Education courses causes more money, unnecessary time spent taking classes that do not correlate with one’s major, and also lower grades. However, general education classes are said to be the basic skills needed for college students.
(Graff, 245) So, we are trained to think that math, English, and science are the end-all of education and while they are important, they have the same basic lessons that we can apply to any other thing of interest. The general idea is to be able to analyze and think deeply, no matter the topic, so schools should offer students more opportunities to take classes that interest
General Ed absorbes time teaching many skills that wont be used, it is widely accepted to require its teaching in schools, and if it would simply be included in the classes already being taken, students could focus on the carrer they are persuing. This proves that if general ed was eliminated from the requirements then students would be better off. Besides, if students could accomplish their career goals faster they would not accumlate as much debt because they would be paying for less classes, and text books which can cost over a hundred dollars each. Removing general Ed from the degree requirements would be a logical action with many
While it is nice to get more educated, your goals as an adult are usually more specific. Whether you are looking for improvement at your workplace or looking to switch it out completely – you know what you want. This is why it is important to realize what the benefits you get out of taking particular classes are.
Students engage in experimental learning and activities that take ideas to help solve real-life problems. Taking the basic classes allow college grads to be better critical thinkers and problem solvers.
Making basic education available provides the conditions for a well-informed population so that we can maintain a society comprised of individuals who have the basic skills required to join the labor force. In particular, an education that provides skills to serve the labor market is vital for individuals, the economy and our society. The reason we continue to subsidize higher education is to produce benefits beyond those that arise from the student through training and
The purpose of a liberal education is to provide exposure to multiple topics. This general education is commonly referred to as “the core curriculum” because all students no matter their intended major are required to complete the courses in order to graduate. Having course requirements is especially beneficial to an undecided major. It creates an opportunity for the student to get a taste of many different concentrations and decide in which department he or she may excel. General education courses are influential to students that have an intended major. An article by MSNBC reported that approximately half of all college students change their major after entering college. A required class may develop one’s interest in pursing a career...
Tagg, John. “Why Learn? What We May Really Be Teaching Students.” About Campus. 2004. Print.
Secondly, college is where a person goes to discover him/herself. This is one of the many goals of the college system, and that discovery process is hindered by unneeded, mandatory classes. Students should be able to try many different classes to discover what interests them the most, not to be fed knowledge that they very well might know already (and is perhaps of no interest to them). If required courses were eliminated, it would free up much time that students could then use to pursue their own interests. College exists to help people become unique individuals, not to put every person into the same standard mold.
Schools currently have a required curriculum, that limits a student's personal choice, by forcing him or her to take classes that are not suited to their aspirations. Typically, the standard material for most schools consists of mainly the "core" classes, like English, math, and science. Yes, it is essential to know and understand these classes to a standard level, however, these so-called "standards" have become more pressing by the year. In order to grad...
My first reason why general education classes should not be required in college is because the topics that they are learning have already been taught in high school. In an article by Jessica Williams, she summarizes it by saying, “We spend 13 years in ‘general education’ courses. Why are we wasting time rehashing what we already know we aren’t interested in when we could be spending that time adding to our resumes” (Williams). For a majority of students, if they take a class where they have already learned the material or even have a grasp on the subject, most likely, they will become bored and uninterested in their sch...
Things such as, social skills, time management, how our ancestors lived, how the entire earth was formed into what it is today, and a look into how you’ll be treated in the real world; as a responsible independent worker. While i'm not saying that some these reasons are untrue as I have already addressed them in paragraph three, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the curriculum doesn’t need to change. Yes, in a sense, school does “teach” you social skills and while there's not a class for it, you are encouraged to accept new people into your life instead of blocking everyone out. It's the same deal for time management, while it's not taught, you are encouraged to, “Use your time wisely” as all of my past and present teachers have said before. But on the other hand, you don't need to be taught how the world was formed or how we evolved into the human beings we are today; if you're going to be anything other then a scientist or something in that range, chances are you will never need that information again.
The world without knowledge is in complete disorder; we don’t realize how empty and ignorant we are without knowledge. The ignorance within ourselves, nonetheless, can be filled with education and bring definite changes which can impact an individual, a community, a generation and eventually our world. Naturally the world, in the long run, is dependent upon the educated. Success is carried throughout the pursuit of obtaining skills and valuing the virtue of education and academics. Education, by far means, is the most important facet of college and well worth the investment.
Why do people need a better broader education? First, a broader education will help people get out of poverty with a better change of not becoming homeless. Second, people can get out of a dead end job and have good career during their college life or after. Therefore, a college degree is important to start your business you can also hire some employees that will help you on your business someday and the business will give you leadership to show your employees how important is college degree will get to you.
For long periods of time, education has been important to the development the different scientific, moral and ethical fields of the humanity. In addition, it has been recognized by some governments as a human right, but in some places around the world; education is not accessible for everyone. Many people believe that having an educational system without any cost would mean a better educated society, whereas others argue that this would not be possible. To develop a better educated society, governments should establish a totally free education system for the following three reasons.