Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles for University Foundations GEM Courses

University Foundations GEM courses introduce non-majors to a variety of Ways of Knowing as defined within the State Board of Education’s designated General Education Matriculation (GEM) categories.* The breadth of these introductory courses establishes a basic framework for subsequent interdisciplinary, applied, or advanced studies.  Notably, this portion of the UF curriculum is designed to ensure that students receive a foundation in the six GEM Ways of Knowing, not as a home for every program’s or department’s introductory course.  This approach provides students with the opportunity to develop what they know, what they can do, and who they want to become.

• Alignment – Departments or programs are eligible to offer courses only within a GEM category that fits naturally within their field. That is, departments or programs should not have to hire experts outside their field/s to offer these courses.
• Choice – To foster breadth of knowledge and reduce barriers for our students, GEM courses generally should not be prescribed by a given program.
• Expertise – Instructors of GEM courses ought to be able to demonstrate expertise (typically defined as having earned a graduate degree in a disciplinary area) with regard to the content and theories of the discipline in question.
• Fidelity – GEM courses must align with both the state’s and the university’s rubrics for each disciplinary learning outcome.
• Focus – Departments or programs, with few exceptions, will offer courses in only one GEM category.
• Fundamentality – Content in GEM courses will be devoted to the breadth, context, and analysis of the many fundamental principles, concepts, or theories within a given GEM field. Emphasis is primarily on the introduction to the disciplinary area to ensure these core ideas receive substantial focus prior to students’ application of more specialized disciplinary knowledge.
• Service –  majority of registered students in a GEM course should be from outside the program offering the course.
• Terminality – GEM courses are typically designed for non-majors with the assumption that they may be the only course a student will take in the field.

*The State of Idaho’s six GEM categories align to the following University Foundations course categories at Boise State: Foundations of Written Communication (FW), Foundations of Oral Communication (FC), Foundations of Mathematics (FM), Foundations of Social Sciences (FS), Foundations of Natural, Physical & Applied Sciences (FN), Foundations of the Arts (FA), and Foundations of the Humanities (FH).

Additional Criteria

KNOW-DO-BECOME FOCUS

“KNOW” FOCUS

The content focus of courses will be both appropriate for and relevant to most college students, providing foundational historical or cultural context, transferable concepts, big ideas, or theoretical frameworks of high value to any well-educated non-major.

“DO” FOCUS

Students will have the opportunity to actively practice achieving the University Learning Outcomes associated with the course at multiple times throughout the semester and receive formative feedback about their progress.

“BECOME” FOCUS

Because every Boise State student should graduate equipped to engage in independent learning throughout their lives, the course will provide explicit opportunity for self-assessment designed to encourage attitudes or habits of mind common to self-regulated learners.

INTELLECTUAL RIGOR

The University Learning Outcomes will be practiced at a level that is suitably challenging while still being appropriate for non-major, entry-level college students.

CONTRIBUTION TO OVERALL CURRICULUM

The course will help University Foundations provide a balanced list of general education course offerings that supports the core educational needs of the student body as a whole. 

PREREQUISITES

As Foundations of the Discipline courses are meant to be relevant and available to any college student, they should not have prerequisites unless those prerequisites fall within one of three special foundational skill categories: 100-level Mathematics, 100-level Writing and Rhetoric, or 100-level World Languages courses. (Limited exceptions to this rule are necessitated by State of Idaho transfer requirements. See below.)**

A general education course may be a prerequisite for other courses. However, if a course is the first part of a sequence, it should completely fulfill the relevant learning outcomes by itself.

SCHEDULE OF OFFERINGS

Foundations of the Discipline courses should be at least three credits. The courses should be offered on a continuing and regular basis, at least once every academic year. With the exception of World Languages courses, no Foundations of the Discipline course may be offered less than once every two academic years.

ASSESSMENT AND REVIEW

A department offering an approved general education course is responsible for assuring that the course fulfills University Foundations guidelines and supports University Learning Outcomes. To assure the ongoing improvement of Boise State’s general education courses, departments must participate in outcomes assessments or course reviews led by University Foundations or the General Education Committee. A course’s summative assessments should allow faculty to compare student achievement across sections and report on achievement to University Foundations.

APPEALS

Primary review of course proposals is performed by the appropriate GEC subcommittee. Departments who wish to appeal subcommittee decisions or recommendations may contact one of the General Education Committee co-chairs to request a hearing and further review of their proposal by the full committee.

**Due to State transfer requirements, the following Foundation of the Discipline courses may have prerequisites beyond those usually allowed: PHYS 112, CHEM 102.