Elective Provision as a model for General Education

About this initiative

The aim of this project is to use the current system of elective provision as a proxy data source for the design of a general education offering that is aligned with student needs, developed in partnership with students, and fulfils the ambitions of UCD’s Strategy to 2030.

The key deliverable will be a report to inform the work of the General Education Working Group, as well as the teaching and learning activities of Schools in the College, notably on curriculum review and the introduction of academic advising. The aim is to encourage students to be intentional in module choices, and to work towards an ‘integrative’ model in which students are aware of interdisciplinary connections and how these skills can be applied to research, vocational interests, and other academic pursuits. The focus of the project is on electives, but ‘integration’ and ‘intentionality’ are also relevant to the BA joint major and the challenge of how to enhance the coherence of a degree that is based on student choice and allows, at present, for 344 separate joint-honours subject combinations.

For students the primary aim is to change perceptions about electives and to highlight the value of general education, which in the US context has often been criticized by students as ‘irrelevant, costly, time consuming, incoherent’ (White 2015). Students on the project team, in focus groups, and in surveys will be asked to reflect on their own values and interests, the mission of a liberal education, and how UCD can provide students with a talent stack of graduate skills for the future. The students on the project team will take the lead in developing a communication strategy, e.g. posters or social media, to promote an intentional approach to elective choices, interdisciplinarity, and skills-building.