Matthew Lillig Source 2

STEP 1:

A) Thompson, Clarissa A., Michele Eodice, and Phuoc Tran. "Student Perceptions Of General Education Requirements At A Large Public University." JGE: The Journal Of General Education 64.4 (2015): 278-293. Professional Development Collection. Web. 9 Oct. 2016.

B) Should general education courses be a requirement for graduation?

C) BEFORE: What I am trying to get out of this academic journal is a more concrete understanding of what the general perspective of gen eds in the public eye, as well as why colleges have chosen to make them requirements. With this information, I plan to in turn relate it back to the idea of is college worth it as a possible solution, by cutting out gen eds, people can focus on classes that are important to the furthering of their career. DURING: Completion agenda: the idea that higher education is something you have to get through, not focusing on the idea of wanting knowledge in general. Universities focused on enrollment. TABLE 4 is the results of the survey informing us of the general opinions of students. LOOK BACK AT TABLE.

STEP 2:

P1 Summarize:

This article I found is written from the perspective of the University and tries to continue to make the argument that general educations have worthwhile value that will further help people in life. Even though when looking at the results of the survey there is a large group that still believes that they should not have to take gen eds and would rather take classes that are worthwhile to furthering their career. 50% Agreed while 22% strongly agreed. It’s also important to notice that 50% of students said they would not enroll in gen eds if they were not required, and only 28% said that gen eds have helped them choose a major. This article at the end makes the argument that students still don’t see the importance of general education and that is a problem. They establish ways of th fixing that by continual stressing, and applied pressure of the ideas that general education is important. They believe that instructors play a huge role in this.

P2 Think:

I believe that what the universities fail to understand is that with the continual growing price of education and tuition people are trying to get more bang for their buck, they shouldn’t have to take courses that in no way help them in the future when it comes to a career. They are trying to make create the idea that students are still “blind” to what general education has to offer, but the way that I see it as the students have spoken, and they can continue to speak with their money and time. They brought up the idea that students are opting out of paying for the high cost gen eds and taking semesters and a easy cost community college so they can get their required courses out of the way cheaper. This is safe to argue that students are feeling cheated out of there money and are attempting to find alternatives.

P3 Synthesize:

I noticed after reading both the articles that after showing off the information of why higher education can be seen as not important, or no longer worth the money, they retract and say but in reality this is why it is. This is also coming from the bias that both are written by college professors that want people to keep coming to school. Understandably the numbers show that if you go to college you will make more money in the future. But that is where these two different articles may have a conversation with each other. Although statistics show it’s worthwhile (represented in the first article), this article in turn brings up the point that their may be alternatives to higher education, or ways of getting the most bang for your buck while paying for higher education, specifically big colleges. The first article argues that it is important to go to college for 4 years and get a bachelor's degree so you can make on average 15% more that someone without an education, after subtracting cost of education. This article says but what if we only have to go for 2 or 3 years, that is what the students want, and it is shown by the growing number of students taking their general education courses outside of the big college setting.

P4 Question/plan:

My plan now is to dive into the more financial aspect of what you are getting with higher education. How much money is saved by taking education courses outside of the big college setting as opposed to on campus, I also want to know more about why colleges are ignoring the fact that a majority of students do not want general education, and if I find something like that what has been implemented in order to counteract any pursuits against it. Still feel like my question can be revised a bit in order to truly encapsulate my ideas about higher education, may be shifting towards: With the growing cost of higher education what is possible to make higher education more affordable? This way I can keep a more positive outlook on higher education while still establishing the key wrongs that are being overlooked or not addressed.