General Education Pathways to Success: The Impact of General Education Pathways on Student Writing

• In Event: Poster Session 7
  In Poster Session: College Student Learning and Development

Abstract

General Education (GE) programs are often criticized for having weak unifying values, and viewed as a random selection of courses by students. Creating coherence across the GE curriculum to make it more meaningful to students is a priority nationwide and in the California State University (CSU) system. At CSU Fullerton, we developed and implemented a GE Pathways program aimed at unifying GE courses around four themed “pathways”. Impact of the GE Pathways on our students was examined. In particular, we assessed student writing skill development associated with the GE Pathways. Mixed yet interesting results were observed, which helped us reflect on the design and delivery of our GE Pathways.

Authors

• Su L. Swarat, California State University - Fullerton

• Alison Wrynn, California State University - Fullerton

• Brent Foster, California State University - Fullerton

• Irena Praitis, California State University - Fullerton

• Steve Westbrook, California State University - Fullerton

• Laura Lohman, California State University - Fullerton

• Peter Nwosu, California State University - Fullerton