"Greater Expectations": Teaching and Assessing for Academic Skills and Knowledge in the General Education History Classroom

Abstract

GREATER EXPECTATIONS: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College, a recently published national report by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, calls for a radical restructuring of liberal arts education in American colleges and universities. Rather than defining liberal arts education in terms of course content and credit hours, the report suggests that students in the twenty-first century need institutions of higher education to develop their practical and intellectual skills, dispositions, ethical and civic responsibility, as well as their knowledge of the disciplines taught in their general education and major courses. The report specifies a set of twenty national practical liberal arts outcomes that create intentional learners who are empowered, informed, responsible, and able to apply their knowledge and skills to a variety of real world environments.1 This report represents just one recent example of a national movement toward outcome-based education. Whether teachers like it or not, outcome (or standards based) education has become the norm in the United States education system. From kindergarten through college and beyond into professional and graduate programs, teachers at all levels are expected to teach toward defined outcomes that combine knowledge and