Special learning / General EducatioN

Special learning / General Education



Special learning / General Education

General Education classes are designed to expand the minds of students. It helps to broaden their knowledge on many varying subjects. Most colleges enforce the general education policy in such a way those students cannot graduate without these courses. In many cases, this is one third of the total credits needed to graduate. That works out to be approximately 35 to 45 credits out of the 120 needed to graduate from most baccalaureate programs. Meaning that one third of a student's academic schedule is geared towards fulfilling theses general education requirements. Students go to school on their own will and money. People are not forced to go to college, like in elementary and middle school. The student can choose any college that will accept them. The major that one takes is also up to the student. They choose where to live and who to be friends with. The students also can choose which classes they want to take, to an extent. The student can choose which class, but it has to satisfy a certain criteria to fir into to general education category. There is only a marginal degree of choice when it comes down to what class a student should take. Students may be forced to take classes which they may know nothing about. Or even worse, students may be forced to take a class in a subject matter that they do not do well in. In turn, the student taking the class, which has nothing to do with their major, will receive a poor grade and negatively effect their GPA for all of their classes.

A drop in GPA could occur for a number of reasons. One major reason is that kids put less time into their general education classes than in their major-specific courses. Some students do not believe that general education classes are as important as other classes. This leads to students putting less time and effort into their work. A drop in GPA may stem from other problems as well. A student is required to take 12 to 18 credits per semester to be considered a full-time student. Taking this number of classes puts pressure on the students and also forces them to delegate their time outside of class. The problem occurs when a student ends up with two major specific courses and three general education courses. This means that more time and work will be put into the classes that matter the most. A student's GPA may not accurately convey their grasp and knowledge of the major, but is instead indicative of the student's overall test taking skills and time management.

The Gen. Ed. classes cost money, take up large amounts of student's time, and distract them from the very subject that they should be studying in depth. One semester at the University of Rhode Island, I decided to take three Gen. Ed. classes and two major specific ...