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  ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
 

Posted by ARC

Friday April 05, @03:27PM
  Having reviewed the list of proposed markers, do you feel any are expendable? Should any be dropped? Which ones? Why are they unnecessary?
 

 
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SHOULD PSU INCLUDE ADDITIONAL MARKERS?


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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by Bob Tinnin on Thursday May 02, @02:01PM
If students get through PSU without some facility at oral and written communication then we would be well advised to quietly "fix" the problem. To list such fundamental elements of education as a marker calls the quality of education at PSU into question. If we must list them, then as least we can expect more than the ability to "articulate meaning".

The other markers seem OK but I would modify some slightly. To the following markers I suggest we add the all-cap words and omit the bracketed words:

Quantitative Reasoning and Representation - ...the ability to understand AND INTERPRET the graphic ... transform information into MEANINGFUL quantitative ...

Use of Technology - The ability to use [computers and related] MODERN technologies ...

Ethical Reasoning - The ability to make decisions founded upon (what kind of???) values and ...

Creative Synthesis - (we need a different word for "anew")
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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by garrison greenwood on Sunday May 05, @08:51AM
I'm not sure how some of these markers are going to be evaluated. For example, the "sustainable environment" marker sounds good, but how is this marker met?

I sincerely hope people don't advocate another course be added to the cirriculum to ensure markers are met. Engineering programs are already tightly controlled by the ABET accreditation requirements, which means adding another course would be extremely difficult.
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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by Sandra Rosengrant on Monday May 06, @02:44PM
I would combine markers 1-2 (Oral and Written Communication). I would eliminate markers 7, 8, 12, and 13 (Ethical Reasoning, Social and Civic Responsibility, Collaboration and Working in Teams, and Importance of a Sustainable Environment). One would like to think that students who are skilled in critical inquiry and dialogue, problem solving (no hyphen), and analytical thinking will use those skills to make decisions founded on values and ethical principles, and one would like to think that one of the purposes of higher education is to create citizens who are better prepared to function in a democratic society, but I would hate for this institution to be the one who says what those values and principles should be. I would eliminate collaboration and working in teams because it is a pedagogical tool and not the hallmark of every educated person. (By the same token, I would oppose adding a marker regarding community based learning, which, although a useful too,l is not an end in itself.) And I oppose # 13 because it seems too closely related to specific subject matter rather than being a “transferable ability.”
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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by Faryar Etesami on Tuesday May 07, @11:21AM
I find the last marker convoluted and difficult to grasp. I also have difficulty with "Analytical thinking", can be combined with "Problem Solving". Anyone wants to comment about the word "Marker"? Would "Indicator" be more expressive?
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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by Gina Greco on Tuesday May 07, @04:23PM
I agree with previous comments, but will express them again so that you have it on record. The first two markers are far too low to set even as a minimum. I also agree that the markers about ethical reasoning, social and civic responsibilty, collaboration and the environment, are perhaps not appropriate to this list. Critical inquiry, analytic thinking and problem solving combined with an understanding of the variety of human experience should give a student what s/he needs to make responsible and ethical decisions about the environment and society. Critical thinking and analytical thinking could perhaps be combined, although I realize that there are differences and both activities are important. I've said it before, but I will say it perhaps a little differntly--the last item should be clearer, more focused, and I would include research.
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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by garrison greenwood on Wednesday May 08, @02:26PM
After reading the last marker (engage with important areas of investigation) I must admit that I honestly don't have any idea what this says. Maybe someone can explain to me

1. how does someone investigate human imagination?

2. what is the definition of a "cross-cultural" community and who decides which communities fit the definition?

3. what is a mutual support of theory and practice? can someone give me an example?


I believe this marker is entirely too vague to be of much use. It means pretty much whatever the reader wants it to mean.
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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by Mel Gurtov on Monday May 13, @02:17PM
I think they all belong. As one colleague has mentioned, the ability to do research -- to develop a written, evidenced argument based on a clearly stated purpose -- should be part of critical inquiry.
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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by Richard Clucas on Wednesday May 15, @10:45AM
I support the idea of civic engagement and sustainability, but they are not appropriate as markers.
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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by Mary King on Thursday May 16, @03:03PM
I think that the "technology" marker is inappropriate for an institution of higher education. We expect our students to master the tools required--the end. There's something sort of passe, and even insulting, about framing using computers as "difficult" and "something to be learned in college."
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Re: ARE ANY OF THE PROPOSED MARKERS UNNECESSARY?
by Stan Hillman on Thursday May 16, @03:27PM
I feel the markers dealing with ethics, sustainability and diversity begin to border on religion and political correctness. There are no right answers in assessing these markers, these topics require political solutions, hence they become impossible to assess.I do not want to see a lithmus test of political orientation become a marker for graduation. It appropriately leaves us open to ridicule on political grounds.
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