Seminar Objective
The seminar is designed to make General Education more visible in our classrooms and courses. We will build an engaging environment for learning through exploration, implementation, and assessment of a variety of proven teaching practices using Civic Engagement, Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Information Literacy and Teamwork as our focus this year.
At City Tech we define these student learning outcomes in the following manner:
Civic Engagement
Civic engagement is “working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.” (Excerpted from Civic Responsibility and Higher Education, edited by Thomas Ehrlich, published by Oryx Press, 2000, Preface, page vi.) In addition, civic
engagement encompasses actions wherein individuals participate in activities of personal and public concern that are both individually life enriching and socially beneficial to the community
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion.
Ethical Reasoning
Ethical Reasoning is reasoning about right and wrong human conduct. It requires students to be able to assess their own ethical values and the social context of problems, recognize
ethical issues in a variety of settings, think about how different ethical perspectives might be applied to ethical dilemmas and consider the ramifications of alternative actions. Students’ ethical self-identity evolves as they practice ethical decision-making skills and learn how to describe and analyze positions on ethical issues.
Information Literacy
The ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively and responsibly use and share that information for the problem at hand. Adopted from the National Forum on Information Literacy.
Teamwork
Teamwork is behaviors under the control of individual team members (effort they put into team tasks, their manner of interacting with others on team, and the quantity and quality of
contributions they make to team discussions).
Full details of the AAC&U General Assessment Rubrics can be found on the Faculty Commons website: https://www.citytech.cuny.edu/aire/gen-ed-rubrics.aspx
Seminar Outcomes
Upon completion of this seminar, participants will be able to:
- Integrate the General Education Student Learning Outcomes of Creative Thinking, Foundations and Skills for Life Long Learning, Inquiry and Analysis, Integrative Learning and/or Intercultural Knowledge and Competence into their course syllabi and course segments and/or assignments.
- Use the OpenLab to engage in Open Pedagogy
- Gather, interpret and apply Kuh’s High-Impact Educational Practices (HIEPs) in their teaching
- Acquire and use assessment tools
- Develop/apply strategies for place-based learning
- Share General Education philosophy and practices with students and colleagues
Meeting Dates
Seminar 1 Introduction Jan 9, 2024
Seminar 2 Open Pedagogy Jan 10 , 2024
Seminar 3 Assessment Jan 11, 2024
Seminar 4 Review Session Jan 16, 2024
Seminar 5 Place-based Learning Jan 17, 2024
Seminar 6 Final Presentations Jan 18, 2024
Seminars run from 9:00am-12:00pm.
Zoom Meeting Link
Seminars will be held on Zoom unless otherwise noted:
LL Gen Ed Seminar Winter 2024 Zoom Link:
Meeting ID:
Seminar 1: Introduction, Gen Ed at City Tech and AAC&U’s HIEP
January 9, 9:00am-12:00pm
- Introduction to the Living Lab General Education Seminar. Discussion on the integration of General Education Student Learning Outcomes and George Kuh’s High Impact Educational Practices into course segments and/or assignments.
- Reflections on General Education and the Seminar by Seminar Alumni
Seminar 2: Open Pedagogy
January 10, 9:00am-12:00pm
- Presentation of the OpenLab platform and its features and functionality.
- Seminar activity and discussion on opportunities and strategies for open pedagogies. leveraging the OpenLab digital platform.
- Use of OpenLab and L4 in seminar.
- Introduction to Place-based Learning
Seminar 3: Assessment and Progress Review
January 11, 9:00am-12:00pm
- Presentation on Assessment by Guest Speakers on the design and implementation of assessment strategy.
- Review of resources provided by the Office of Assessment, Institutional Research & Effectiveness (AIRE) Discussion of access to information on assessment at City Tech.
- Review of draft proposal for course integration of Gen Ed Learning Outcome into course segment/assignment.
- Small group discussion of draft proposals and assessment strategy(s) based on selected SLO.
Seminar 4: Review Session
January 16, 9:00am-12:00pm
- Review progress on development of syllabus and/or activity/assignment.
- Rehearse presentation within defined time limit
Seminar 5: Place-based Learning and the BWRC
January 17, 9:00am-12:00pm
- Introduction to the Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center (BWRC)
- Discussion on place-based learning.
- Guest Speaker Presentation
- Group discussion on integration of place-based learning activities in courses.
Seminar 6: Presentation of Participant’s Course Segment/Assignment
January 18, 9:00am-12:00pm
- Presentation by each participant of integration of Gen Ed Learning Outcome into course segment/assignment.
- Invited guests from college administration to join review.
- Final discussion and reflection
Seminar Deliverables
Submit all deliverables as required below no later than May 31th, 2024:
- Development of a new or redesigned course assignment/project targeting one of the General Education Learning Goals;
- Presentation of the activity during the final Seminar meeting on Jan 19, 2023;
- Implementation of the assignment/project in the Spring 2024 semester (if teaching the course for which an activity will be created) and reflection on the activity implementation included in the activity template posted on L4: Living Lab Learning Library, OR a written reflection on the Seminar participation and a template of the proposed activity submitted on L4.
Seminar Readings/Videos
- See Seminar OpenLab site READINGS page for all readings and videos.
Contact Information
Susan Phillip | Javiela Evangelista |
Associate Professor Co-Director | Associate Professor Co-Director |
sphillip@citytech.cuny.edu | jevangelista@citytech.cuny.edu |