Keystone Concepts in Teaching: A Higher Education Podcast from the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

S2 E14: What's Happening in the Undergraduate Core Curriculum

• Stearns Center • Season 2 • Episode 14

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Dr. Laura Poms, Director of the Mason Core, joins us again to provide updates on the Mason Core and expand on undergraduate student learning experiences from the Mason Core and beyond. 

Resources: Mason Core Website:  https://masoncore.gmu.edu/ Mason Core Categories:  https://masoncore.gmu.edu/mason-core-course-categories/ 

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Rachel:

Hello and welcome to the Keystone Concepts in Teaching podcast, a higher education podcast from the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, where we share impactful and evidence based teaching practices to support all students and faculty. I'm your host, Rachel Yoho. In this episode, I'm joined again by today's guest, Dr. Laura Poms. Dr. Poms is the director of the Mason Core, George Mason University's general education program, and a professor in global and community health in Mason's College of Public Health. She was also our featured guest for episode five, where we talked about what teaching in the Mason Core teaches us about teaching. And so with that, we had some great conversations if you haven't already listened to that, I encourage you to check it out because that also provides a foundation for our conversation today. You don't have to listen to it to follow along in our follow up conversation today, but it could be a great amount of insights there as well.

Laura:

I am delighted to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Rachel:

And so when we're talking about the Mason Core, one of the things that we want to be thinking about is what this means to the university. So whether you're at Mason or you're at another institution, the undergraduate core curriculum can be really important. And so the Mason Core here at Mason is the general education program that really works to build the foundation for what and who the Mason graduate is, how we define that as an institution. And so that's defined here as an engaged citizen and well rounded scholar who's prepared to act in a global and diverse world. And so, with this, as we're talking about the Mason Core, this is obviously relevant to whether or not you teach in the Core, there still will be something here for you. So to get us started, talking a little bit about what the Mason Core is and what it means to be teaching in the Core helps us get a good foundation there for understanding teaching across different areas. In our last episode that you were here to join us, Laura, you spoke about teaching your students with that why do I care question in mind. Like why should we care or whatever your favorite variation as an instructor might be for that question. Let's expand on our conversation, Laura, with the employers, the people going out into society as a Mason graduate and who they can be and what they can do as lifelong learners. Obviously, all of our courses help our students become the people that they want to be in existing in different careers and personal spaces and participation in society. And so as we're having these conversations and just, you know, briefly recapping our earlier conversation, we're thinking about the Mason Core. And here, I think it's a good place to start with: where are we, you know, what's been going on with the Mason Core? What are the new updates? What should people know about whether they are or are not teaching in the Core about basically what's going on in this space?

Laura:

Right. We have made some really great changes in recent years to the Mason Core. It had not really had a very good overhaul for about 20 years, so it was behind. We took some, oh gosh, I think about five years, believe it or not, and things move a little slow in education, to really make sure that we were coming up with a core that was beneficial to our students and it was providing them what they needed. One of the first changes we made was to go from Western civilization requirement to a global history requirement. We found that about 90 percent of our students come in with about two years of American history and governments. No matter where they came from in the educational system, they have this foundational knowledge. And so global history builds on the foundation that was brought in. Instead of repeating it one more time, we're building on a foundation. And it focuses on the historical experiences that reflect our diversity as one of the most diverse schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia and sort of helps people see where students, their families, their communities fit into the past and into the future. And so it takes a much more modern approach to the study of history, and what we can learn from it moving forward. That was the first one which we started last academic year. This academic year, 24-25, we have added a course called Global Contexts for Mason Core, which is replacing previous course called Global Understanding. Global Contexts, and this one really relates to some of what our employers said they needed people who can see how to work with other people from different cultures, the value of interconnections, the fact that things are related in different ways that we don't think about in a global environment. It allows students to explore those global connections in a particular discipline. So it's a discipline specific course and understands how global systems interact with each other and how they create interdependencies and in some cases into inequalities that have to be addressed for a sustainable world and how it is all interrelated. It really focuses on those connections and understanding what it means to be connected in a global environment. This one starts this year. And a lot of people have been spending a lot of time coming up with really interesting courses. I'm very excited to see how these go. And I'm super excited for students to start taking them.

Rachel:

From my perspective, it's been really great to see some of those new courses and really support some of the course proposals as well. So I'd also like to have us discuss a little bit of why we change the Core. And so especially highlighted here with the change from global understanding to Global Contexts, we're really often talking about not just needs in content, but also where the Mason Core or the undergraduate core curriculum comes from in terms of assessment. And so when we're assessing the Mason Core, we're not talking about assessing the efficacy of a particular instructor or a particular student's grade or something like that. But here we're looking at how we, overall, at a university level, like big picture sense, talk about assessment in terms of are the students actually getting out of the courses the learning outcomes that they were intended to fulfill. And so I think here, maybe if you could tell us a little bit more about what this transition looks like from global understandings to Global Contexts for students, but also about the assessment, you know, what was it about global understanding that led to some of that change?

Laura:

Students who do need that global understanding requirement can take a Global Contexts course instead, because I do think they're stronger courses. Global Understanding didn't really assess particularly well. And it was sort of a little bit of a split identity going on there that meant that students weren't really getting any of the outcomes we wanted, which is not okay in general education. We need to make sure students are getting those outcomes. Another one we implemented this year was one we call Mason Apex. And I love that one because our students actually named it. We got them involved and asked them what they thought for a name of a culminating experience would be, and they picked Apex. So it's not very often we get to actually collaborate with our students and come up with something that the faculty and the students can agree on, but this was one of those. And that incorporates what was previously known as our capstone or synthesis courses. We have students, of course, in about four different catalog years right now. So that's always an entertaining experience for everybody. But what it does is it gives the students that culminating experience that allows them to draw on everything they've learned across their undergraduate experience. It's the hands on application of ideas, which is something that employers really want our students to be able to do. And it allows them to see all the interconnections across their entire major and general education and just general elective experience how it all relates together. So those are the two big ones. Going forward, we have what's called a just societies flag. It sits on top of other courses. It's what's called a flag. So it's not a brand new requirement. We did not expand the core. We've just added a little different twist to some of our courses. These courses are currently available now and they're marked in catalog with the notation in case you happen to have students that are interested in topics around inclusion and diversity.

Rachel:

So as a note to our listeners, updates to the Mason Core are an ongoing topic. We're bringing you very much some of the current events going on here with the undergraduate core curriculum So right now, the Just Societies flag or designation is not currently a Mason Core requirement, but is an option for students if they are interested in expanding their learning in those areas. They can seek out those types of courses and really explore and take ownership of their own education in that way. So it's a great opportunity for expanding their knowledge while it's not currently a requirement. So maybe this would be a good time, Laura, if you could tell us a little bit more about the course. What might students encounter in a course with a Just Societies flag? What might they be interested in? You know, some of the diversity of thought or perspectives or experiences that would be brought into what they might actually do in these types of courses.

Laura:

So helping students understand key terms that are commonly used in society in the workplace today. Having them engage with one another effectively while they use those terms and then identifying collaboratively processes for change when we see a place where change is necessarily needed. That is sort of really enabling our students to talk to people who are different from them, yet another job skill that our employers are looking for. It's really a kind of a competency. It's an ability to be able to do something on an ongoing basis. So they're pretty exciting. I think we'll see a few more things coming forward, but we are still in the very early stages of those.

Rachel:

That's great. Thank you so much. And so as we're thinking about the Mason Core, I know if I reflect on some of the core courses I took as an undergraduate, those were actually some of my favorite ones. I certainly didn't perhaps think of that at the time. But really looking back, obviously I like the things in the majors and the minors and all of that, but I've looked at some of the arts things. I've gone to see some of the places that we studied in the architecture sections. I've done and looked at some of the things in different museums that I've been to in the significant number of years since I graduated as an undergraduate. So I think these are a great opportunity to be thinking about what we're educating, how we're educating in these spaces, because one thing is this might be students' only exposure to these topics in a formal learning environment. But as we extend some of our conversation, what else and what are some of the strategies or lessons, perhaps, from teaching in the Mason Core that other faculty who aren't in those spaces could apply?

Laura:

I think that almost everything that you use for good teaching practice is even more amplified in Mason Core, simply because there are newer students. And even if they're coming in as transfer students, they're still new to Mason and higher education because they'll have had the community college experience, which is slightly different. I think the most important thing to think about with that for everybody is making sure that students have the necessary-- don't make assumptions about students, know your student body, bring them to where you need them to be to make sure that they're there so they can be successful, and I'm not talking about like decreasing the rigor of the content. That is not at all what we are talking about, especially in our sciences. It's not that. It's just making things more approachable and explaining why. I think that's really the most important thing. I can recall back when I used to do an outbreak investigation when I taught epidemiology and public health, and I made them do it in teams. And as you can tell, they were not very excited about working in a team. They didn't understand it. So we took that step back. We worked on what it means to work in a team. We had a workshop in class to make sure that everybody was on board. And I told them why they had to work in the team. And no, it was not because I wanted to grade fewer papers. It was because you never do an outbreak investigation as a single person. You just don't. So it's a skill that these students would need as they went forward in their public health careers. And that's the other thing we need to think about. Sometimes we don't always see the connection of why someone might need to develop a particular skill. Because we're a little bit far removed from some of that stuff, especially as an experienced faculty member, we're not really sure what, why do I do this again? So just take a minute to think about what your assignments are, the way they are. Should they be that way? Maybe they need to be refreshed. I think sometimes we-- I'm guilty of this, I will have an assignment that's worked great for years and years. So why should I change it? And then I suddenly realized that, Hey, there was a pandemic. So I actually need to change it, especially teaching and public health, but other aspects too. And then don't forget to think about the modality that you're teaching in as well. It's going to be very different when you're teaching the principles apply, the execution will be slightly different if you're all online, if you're hybrid, if you're in person. And the trick really for them to be successful is they need to I think, see you as someone who cares about them as a student. You don't have to get involved in their day to day personal stuff. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that you need to see them as a learner and they need to see you as someone who cares about their learning and by explaining what you're doing and why you're doing it. I think that makes a lot of difference.

Rachel:

Yeah, absolutely. I think from here, whether we're in the Core, whether we're not in the core, we're looking at how do we make things relevant. How do we help students also with some of the things that we don't think about as often. You know, often we are so focused on how much content we have to cover,

Laura:

Right.

Rachel:

Or covering all the things in an even shorter amount of time that it seems like we're asked to do more and more. Maybe there are opportunities to do slightly less. But even if not, how do we simultaneously build in some of those skills, some of the life skills that students may not have an opportunity to gain otherwise? We could probably do a whole conversation on just teamwork, and maybe we will another time,

Laura:

Hahaha!

Rachel:

but that I think is a great example there of students often when put in a team will be like, okay, you do this, you do this, you do that, and we will never discuss, we will never talk to each other, we will submit three different things maybe shoved into one document. Maybe not. And so we can see what it means to work as a team, because these are the skills that our students not only need, but the employers also are asking for when we're looking at this. So when we talk about the Mason Core, and as we wrap up for today, you know, some of the things that the Mason Core helps our students do and be are really being better thinkers, you know, having that opportunity to explore ideas within different subject areas, you know, outside of their major or minors or something like that, and really help with their critical thinking skills. The Mason Core also helps our students become better communicators, you know, how they share their ideas, how they analyze arguments, whether that's verbally or through writing. It also helps meet some of the university's goals, you know, having our students, having the Mason graduates, become better citizens, you know, how they engage with a variety of perspectives and ideas that really help them to cultivate a more rounded worldview. And so this also helps, just in general, have a better future. Our students are gaining skills that are useful for work, for engaging in the world around them, and for life, broadly. And so with this, I think here, we're really looking at our keystone concepts being how we, as educators, understand how our courses fit into bigger picture learning. Some of the things, whether we are or are not teaching in the Mason core, our students are having these experiences and they're bringing information into our courses and going out from our courses with additional information, additional skills and knowledge to build into that Mason graduate. And so with this here I really see our keystone concept being how we understand, how we conceptualize, not just our single course that single semester for the students, but how we all fit in, how we work with or for the Mason Core, no matter what we're teaching in these different spaces. So with that, I really want to thank you, Laura, for joining us. This was a great conversation. Thank you so much for talking to us about the Mason Core and some of the exciting opportunities.

Laura:

Thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity.

Rachel:

Please make sure to catch our next episode as we continue to talk about keystone concepts in teaching. We have our episodes every two weeks, and I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast on the platform on which you listen. And we're happy to have you join us in whatever space that you would like to listen. So thank you again.