The AAC&U website describes it as an approach or disposition toward learning that stresses higher order cognitive processes like synthesis, application, analysis, and reflection. Starting in the 1990s, integrated learning was promoted via capstone courses in the major; such courses appear in early studies on high impact practices, for example, and typically required integration of knowledge and skills within a single discipline. Other kinds of integrative experiences in the major include internships, practica, and senior projects like theses. As research demonstrating the benefits of these experiences for students grew, faculty on many campuses began to argue for integrated learning in general education programs or core curricula. Such courses often take the form of first-year seminars that blend writing, critical thinking, communication, and research, but they may also be found at the upper level (in capstones) or in pathways designed to break down disciplinary silos and encourage curricular coherence. Like integrative learning in the major, integrative learning in liberal education programs encourages students to synthesize what they have learned, apply that knowledge to real-world problems, work collaboratively with others, and prepare for post-graduation transitions.

The General Education program’s 2011-12 APR noted several ways in which we could improve and remain a leader. One recommendation concerned a junior-level course that would help students connect knowledge and skills across the areas, apply them to real-world problems, and serve as an integrative, liberal-learning experience. Since that time, integrative learning has begun to play a role in GenEd programs at many universities focused on the quality of student learning. “Based on campus conversations and national models, the 2022 APR review team recommended, “incorporating an integrative learning experience.” Just as recommendations from departmental APRs are shared with their faculty for consideration, so the General Education program has invited university faculty to consider and contribute to this one.

They benefit students.

1. Integrative courses incorporate hands’ on or applied projects, and promote faculty-student interaction. National studies show that students in such courses demonstrate improved written and oral communication skills (beyond intro-level), enhanced ability to collaborate with others, and increased sense of self-efficacy for learning among other things. (NILOA, NSSE, Kuh)

2. Integrated learning helps students better prepare for life after JMU. Recent studies show that the major is no longer a guarantor of lifelong job security and that the skills most needed for post-graduation success are the cross-cutting ones associated with general/liberal education programs (AAC&U “Falling Short?,”  2015; AAC&U, “More than a Major,” 2015;  Georgetown CEW, “What’s it Worth,” 2011). Data collected in JMU’s own 2016 Gallup-Purdue study showed that only 36% of JMU alumni said they were employed in a field “closely related to their major; the other 44% said they their jobs were either “somewhat related” or “not at all related.” A similar study of JMU alumni conducted by CAP revealed that, four years after graduation, only 55% percent of alumni were employed in the field in which they majored. We also know from queries of JMU student data that most undergraduates do not complete their general education requirements in two years; rather, they pursue it across all four or five years. In other words, our students do not experience general education in isolation from their major, minor, or other degree requirements.

3. Such courses will ameliorate problems stemming from enrollment pressures, changes in progression standards and pre-professional programs, and the complexities associated with the increasing volume of transfer students.

They benefit faculty.

1. Integrative courses enable faculty to showcase their expertise, innovate curriculum, and reach a broader population. There is tremendous curricular energy on campus, but it is also a time of limited resources and rising enrollments in some areas. By collaborating in this project, individuals, units, and programs can reach new audiences and have a greater cumulative impact.

2. Integrative courses offer faculty a way to transcend traditional boundaries, promote innovative pedagogies, and pursue engaged learning that aligns with university-wide initiatives like diversity and inclusion; environmental stewardship, ethical reasoning, community engagement, or civic engagement.

In summer 2016, program faculty received a grant to develop outcomes and rubrics for a 300-level integrative general education course. In 2016-17, the program successfully piloted two courses and hosted the first of a series of formal conversations where faculty discussed this junior-level course idea. Information about the grant and initial pilots appeared on our website, in the annual program newsletters that all program faculty receive, and in all updates to freshman and transfer advisors. In June 2017, five faculty participated in a week-long JMUdesign workshop to develop additional pilots for Fall 2017-Spring 2018. Since then, scores of sections of more than 25 different topics have been offered.

Information for faculty interested in developing a pilot can be found at the bottom of this page.

Here are some possible scenarios:

• 300-level integrative courses could be added to a single area of the program where they would be restricted to certain student populations such as transfers or students with >60 credit hours (Junior-standing). [This model is currently in use.]
• 300-level integrative courses could replace existing, lower-level courses in a single area of the program and be required of all JMU students.
• 300-level integrative courses could be added as options to multiple areas within the program, especially areas where there are few choices.
• 300-level integrative courses could replace existing, lower-level courses in multiple areas of the program

These scenarios presume a desire to keep the total number of credit hours in the General Education program to 40-41. Additional scenarios are possible. However, they must be consonant with the program’s guiding principles, which have made us a national exemplar.

All JMU faculty share governance of the curriculum. Following the established C&I process, General Education Council must approve any proposal to change to the program (e.g. changing outcomes, adding a new course, deleting a course). A significant change, such as a change to the program’s structure, would go through the Committee on Academic Programs, too, to ensure awareness and broad agreement. But first, faculty will have to consider whether the benefits of integrative learning should be made available to all students or remain a solution for transfer students and other Madison Foundations non-compliers. This conversation is ongoing.

There are no plans to add hours to the program’s requirements, which total 40-41 credit hours. It has yet to be determined if a 3 credit, 300-level integrative course will be a new requirement for all students or if those 3 integrative hours would be re-allocated from an existing part of the program.

Yes, but since faculty have not yet determined where these courses might best fit (which area) in the program, it is premature to speculate about related changes.

True. The experiment began with the recognition that many JMU transfer students now enter the university with most of their first year, Madison Foundations requirements already met. That is, they have a writing/composition course and a human communication course, but lack a critical thinking course. Additionally, every year there are a large number of upper level students (juniors and seniors) who have not completed their first year critical thinking requirement either. The experimental, integrative courses are designed to help students connect learning acquired across multiple domains and experiences, so they are counting as substitutes for first year critical thinking courses, which are not appropriate for cognitively advanced students. How these 300-level courses will “count” in the future and for which population of students remains a topic of conversation.

All General Education courses are required to build upon Madison Foundations learning outcomes. These courses build on all elements of Madison Foundations (writing, information literacy, human communication and critical thinking). These courses have their own learning outcomes:

• Demonstrate advanced information literacy skills
• Communicate using both written and performance formats
• Engage with complex questions to achieve identified project goals
• Apply multiple disciplinary perspectives to a contemporary problem.

The faculty currently teaching 300-Level courses have all agreed to use three JMU-created rubrics (Writing Rubric, Academic Presentation Rubric, and Integrative Thinking Rubric) to evaluate student work.

Download the course template (available at the bottom of this page). Reach out for assistance from an area coordinator or Associate Vice Provost, Meg Mulrooney.

Absolutely. We currently are offering several 300-Level courses that have been modified by faculty. Mary Gayne’s UNST390/HIST150, Gretchen Hazard’s SCOM318, and Sarah Brooks’s ARTH389 are examples, so check them out. Once the endorsement committee (comprised of faculty who have taught one of these courses) determines that the course meets the learning outcomes for these integrative courses, it will be endorsed or approved by the General Education Program.

Absolutely.  New courses have run as experiments using an existing UNST designator, under an existing special topics designator in a department, and as an experimental course in a department. You might also consider the jmUDesign development workshop we run in the summer. Talk to an area coordinator for details. Once the endorsement committee (comprised of faculty who have taught one of these courses) determines that your syllabus meets the learning outcomes for these integrative courses, the course will be considered endorsed or approved by the General Education Program.

You will be asked to participate in the evaluation and assessment of these courses. Currently, students may only register for these courses if they have completed 45+ credit hours before the course begins.  As such, and in accordance with the course template and rubrics, faculty must ask students to demonstrate advanced written and oral communication skills, to build their information literacy competency, and to examine an issue from multiple perspectives.

Interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary courses are *usually* integrative, as well. That is, in interdisciplinary undergraduate courses, students typically learn how different disciplines approach the same question/problem/topic, then they integrate and apply what they have learned. In integrative courses, students are also called upon to integrate intentionally what they have learned in other (prior) courses and contexts. Such courses end up being especially transformative because students immediately grasp their value to their own development. And over a decade’s worth of research shows the efficacy of integrative learning experiences for faculty and students alike.

From a curricular perspective, we are investigating whether this particular type of course (identified in much of the literature as a high impact practice or HIP) would be beneficial for all JMU students.  We are hoping that these integrative courses improve student learning in the General Education program and help us to achieve the mission of the program.

From an enrollment perspective, it is helping transfer and first year non-compliers to meet the General Education requirement for a critical thinking course.  It also is keeping more advanced students out of classes designed for first-year students (e.g., a 20-year old transfer student in a 100-Level CT/C1 course).

Assessment results will be used to determine if students are reaching competency on the rubrics.  Additionally, course topics may provide evidence that the General Education program is enhancing the achievement of University-wide initiatives (i.e. sustainability, diversity, engagement, and ethical reasoning).  Additionally, students will reflect on their own learning in the course.