Konneker Fund laying the ‘bricks’ in OHIO’s road to a reimagined general education program
The “tiers” of Ohio University’s general education program will soon become “bricks,” thanks in part to the Konneker Fund for Learning and Discovery, which is providing $100,0000 to help OHIO educators develop, implement and assess a reimagined general education program. Photo courtesy of University Communications and Marketing
For the past 40 years, Ohio University undergraduates – regardless of their major or location – have participated in a shared learning experience, completing general education requirements designed to lay the foundation for success after graduation.
As OHIO moves fearlessly first into the future, the “tiers” of the University’s general education program will soon become “bricks,” building on an educational experience rooted in the liberal arts but poised to meet the needs of the 21st century. This new era in general education at OHIO is the result of Bobcats past and present, including Wilfred Konneker, BS ’43, MS ’47, HON ’80, whose Konneker Fund for Learning and Discovery for nearly 10 years has supported initiatives that seek to make a University-wide impact.
The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees has allocated $100,000 from the Konneker Fund for Learning and Discovery to a proposal that will give OHIO educators the tools they need to develop, implement and assess a reimagined general education program.
The “Reimagining General Education at Ohio University: Implementation and Assessment” grant proposal supports the development and implementation of OHIO’s newly approved general education curriculum over the next two years. The proposal was developed by a team of faculty members from OHIO’s College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Patton College of Education as well as the Division of Student Affairs’ director of strategic planning and assessment.
Dr. Katie Hartman, BBA ’97, MBA ’98, is Ohio University’s Richard P. and Joan S. Fox Associate Professor in Business and the principal investigator of the “Reimagining General Education at Ohio University: Implementation and Assessment” proposal.
“OHIO has thought about and explored changing its general education for more than a decade,” said Dr. Katie Hartman, BBA ’97, MBA ’98, Ohio University’s Richard P. and Joan S. Fox Associate Professor in Business and the principal investigator of the “Reimagining General Education at Ohio University: Implementation and Assessment” proposal.
Earlier this year, OHIO’s Faculty Senate and University Curriculum Council (UCC) voted to approve a reimagined general education program, replacing the three-tiered system that included requirements for written communications and quantitative reasoning (Tier I), breadth of knowledge (Tier II) and synthesis (Tier III) that has defined general education at the University since 1979.
The reimagined general education program will be known as OHIO BRICKS, designed to ensure that all Ohio University students will:
- Build connections between themselves and others through teamwork and intercultural knowledge.
- Reason quantitatively, critically and ethically.
- Integrate learning between knowledge and experience
- Communicate effectively in writing and speech.
- Know the material and methods of inquiry in arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
- Synthesize skills and knowledge across the curriculum.
Realizing general education reform is one of the 11 strategic initiatives Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis announced last fall, and the OHIO BRICKS system focuses on eight general education common goals: critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, written communications, oral communications, teamwork, intercultural knowledge and competency, ethical reasoning and integrative learning.
“I strongly believe that plans only work when they are effectively implemented, so having this assistance from the Konneker Fund is amazing,” Hartman said. “We are so grateful and even more confident that we will be able to execute a new general education landscape that results in high-impact teaching and learning. The funding also allows us to build a culture of meaningful and authentic assessment of learning outcomes.”
The “Reimagining General Education at Ohio University: Implementation and Assessment” proposal will create a series of BRICKS workshops for faculty, staff and administrators that will engage and empower these educators in the general education reform process and course development. Those workshops will include:
- “Understanding BRICKS” (required) provides a broad understanding of the reimagined general education program (BRICKS) design, intentions and learning outcomes.
- “Designing BRICKS” (required) shares tools and techniques to develop coursework through the “backward design” method and authentic learning, which focuses on what students should learn from a class rather than what educators should teach.
- “Assessing BRICKS” (required) equips participants with the principles and tools needed to effectively gauge student success.
- “Integrating General Education” (optional) provides opportunities for faculty to collaborate to develop ideas and submissions for multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary elements for general education.
After completing the workshops, educators will have the opportunity to submit proposals for inclusion in BRICKS.
The Konneker Fund for Learning and Discovery is supporting the proposal by providing funding to cover the cost of workshop and workshop content development, allowing OHIO educators to engage in the process either by directly participating in the workshop series or by accessing workshop training materials. The Konneker Fund is also covering the cost of marketing and training materials for the workshops as well as stipends for workshop leaders and educators. Educators who complete the workshop series, submit a completed general education course proposal, and submit a general education proposal for UCC approval will be eligible to receive up to $400 as a stipend.
“I am grateful for Dr. Konneker’s vision to continually enhance OHIO’s educational experience, and I look forward to implementing the new BRICKS curriculum with its emphasis on student outcomes and multidisciplinary faculty collaboration,” said Dr. Elizabeth Sayrs, Ohio University’s executive vice president and provost.
The first installment of the BRICKS workshop series will be offered remotely during summer 2020. BRICKS workshops will continue to be offered through spring semester 2021 with a goal of getting at least 160 OHIO educators to participate in the series.
“Ohio University faculty are incredibly dedicated to student success and would likely participate in these workshops without any monetary incentives,” said Hartman, “but the fact that we can provide them with a small stipend shows that the University is invested in faculty-driven initiatives and the work we do to elevate students’ academic experience. We are sowing seeds of success for OHIO students. This funding allows faculty to learn to plant, water and grow those seeds. In turn, thousands of students will benefit from the fruits of that labor while they are students at Ohio University, in their first jobs out of college and for the rest of their lives.”