Intentional Learning Goals and the Carleton Curriculum

LTC January 13 and January 14

Mary Savina, Clara Hardy, Carolyn Sanford, Nelson Christensen

Definition of “intentional learner”

• The “intentional learner” is someone who is “empowered through the mastery of intellectual and practical skills, informed by knowledge about the natural and social worlds and about forms of inquiry basic to these studies, and responsible for their personal actions and for civic values.”

AAC&U, 2002, Greater Expectations, p. xi

Color coding on subsequent slides

• Red = skills and literacies• Blue = intra- and inter-personal skills• Brown = integration and complexity• Green = global and intercultural concerns

Note: This is a first cut at combinations and comparisons. Many items on the AAC&U listing (those in black) have not yet been linked with Carleton goals.

Empowered learners should excel at, part 1

• communicating in diverse settings and groups, using written, oral, and visual means, and in more than one language;

• understanding and employing both quantitative and qualitative analysis to describe and solve problems;

• interpreting, evaluating, and using information discerningly from a variety of sources;

• integrating knowledge of various types and understanding complex systems;

• resolving difficult issues creatively by employing multiple systems and tools;

AAC&U, 2002, Greater Expectations

Empowered learners should excel at, part 2

• deriving meaning from experience, as well as gathering information from observation;

• demonstrating intellectual agility and managing change;

• transforming information into knowledge and knowledge into judgment and action;

• working well in teams, including those of diverse composition, and building consensus.

AAC&U, 2002, Greater Expectations

Informed learners should have sustained opportunities to learn

about:

• The human imagination, expression and the products of many cultures;

• The interrelations within and among global and cross-cultural communities;

• Means of modeling the natural, social and technical worlds;

• The values and histories underlying U.S. democracy.

AAC&U, 2002, Greater Expectations

For responsible learners, education should foster, part 1

• Intellectual honesty and engagement in ongoing learning;

• Responsibility for society’s moral health and for social justice;

• Active participation as a citizen of a diverse democracy;

• Respect for and appropriate use of intuition and feeling, as well as thinking;

AAC&U, 2002, Greater Expectations

For responsible learners, education should foster, part 2

• Discernment of consequences, including ethical consequences, of decisions and actions;

• Deep understanding of one’s self and one’s multiple identities that connect habits of mind, heart and body;

• Respect for the complex identities of others, their histories and their cultures.

AAC&U, 2002, Greater Expectations

Looking at Carleton curriculum – SJB, January 2005

• The First (Freshman) Year• The Senior Year• Skills and literacies• General Education/distribution• The major• Interpersonal/personal abilities• Interdisciplinary learning• Global perspectives

Looking at Carleton curriculum, ECC academic learning goals, part

1• To foster students’ ability to read perceptively

and critically at an advanced level.• To help students develop their ability to speak

effectively in English.• To help students develop their ability to write

effectively in English (i.e. the writing requirement).

• To help students learn a second language (i.e. the language requirement)

• To help students attain proficiency in a discipline (i.e. the major).

Looking at Carleton curriculum, ECC academic learning goals, part

2• To encourage students to become acquainted with

method and purpose in a variety of disciplines (i.e. distribution requirements and interdisciplinary studies).

• To foster students’ ability to think analytically and synthetically within a discipline and across several disciplines.

• To encourage students to acquire an awareness of cultural diversity (i.e. the RAD requirement).

• To help students develop basic skills for working as a member of a team or work group.

• To provide students with a variety of cultural, service, recreational, and intellectual opportunities.