General Education Core Courses
The general education core is intended to apply to all degrees and certificates recognized by the State Board of education (SBOE). A central component of SBOE policy is the requirement that a student working toward a degree or certificate must complete coursework in the general education core.
In our rapidly-changing world, students need to understand how knowledge is generated and created. They need to adapt to new knowledge and opportunities as they arise, as well as effectively communicate and collaborate with increasingly diverse communities and ways of knowing. In combination with a student’s major, General Education competencies prepare students to use multiple strategies in an integrative manner, to explore, critically analyze, and creatively address real-world issues and challenges. Coursework provides graduates with an understanding of self, the physical world, the development and functioning of human society, and its cultural and artistic endeavors, as well as an understanding of the methodologies, value systems, and thought processes employed in human inquiries. General Education helps instill students with the personal and civic responsibilities of good citizenship. General Education prepares graduates as adaptive, life-long learners.
In light of this philosophy and its mission “to provide quality educational opportunities,” the College of Southern Idaho believes that the preparation of educated, literate people for careers and participation in society includes a strong foundation of knowledge from a broad framework of integrative skills and educational ways of knowing. At the end of the College of Southern Idaho Program of General Education a student will demonstrate the ability to:
- Think - use multiple approaches and terminologies to discuss, analyze, solve, interpret and create in disciplines.
- Communicate - transfer information using strategies appropriate to context and audience.
- Connect - explain how the different ways of knowing are interconnected; judge the appropriateness of using one or more ways of knowing to solve a problem or explore an issue; reflect on one’s progress as a generally-educated learner.
- Be well - explain the concept of wellness and apply dimensions of wellness.
Achievement of these abilities will be assessed using the College of Southern Idaho General Education Outcomes Assessment Rubric, which is available for review. All general education courses meet the requirements for GEM designation in the state of Idaho along with the principles outlined in Idaho State Board of Education Policy III N.