University Business Magazine recently highlighted the University of Lynchburg’s new general education program for its integration of technology.
The DELL Curriculum, which focuses on critical thinking and broad learning, will have students create electronic portfolios beginning during their first-year seminar courses. Students will add their best work to the portfolios throughout the college experience. The magazine article cites this as one of two examples for integrating technology into general education.
The article quotes Dr. Allison Jablonski, associate provost, who pointed out that the e-portfolio should help students carry ideas and insights from one semester to the next.
The article highlights several practices that universities are embracing in new core academic programs. The University’s DELL curriculum includes several of those practices, such as integrative learning, first-year seminars, and intercultural competence. The article highlights how one university is using smaller classes to engage first-year students; small classes have always been, and continue to be, a core part of Lynchburg.
DELL takes effect in the fall of 2019. Under the leadership of Dr. Sharon Foreman, director of general education, Lynchburg faculty have been designing the new first-year seminars, including a course on how music sparks revolutions and another on the way “ultimate reality” is experienced across cultures. Learn more about DELL and first-year seminars at www.lynchburg.edu/dell-curriculum.
Dr. Jablonski said first-year seminars will help students develop skills for broader thinking. “Students will have a unique opportunity in the first year seminar to explore issues, analyze evidence, and integrate ideas in a new way,” she said. “This is more than simply exploring two issues side-by-side; it is developing the ability to consider how one issue can impact and change another, resulting in a deeper understanding of each.”
Read the University Business Magazine story at UniversityBusiness.com.