New Approaches to Gen Ed History: Tuning the Introductory Survey Course for Non-Majors

Hunter Rawlings, president of the Association of American Universities, recently lamented, “We have not done a good job of teaching the intro courses …Teaching freshman- and sophomore-level classes has not had a high enough priority, and that has to change.” We, as history educators, should begin a conversation about reprioritizing and reinvigorating our introductory courses. The Tuning project has been instrumental in changing perceptions of the history major and making explicit the skills and proficiencies we expect of the major. This Tuning approach should also be applied to the introductory courses we teach as Gen-ed requirements for non-majors. The purpose of this presentation will be twofold: to share the experience and benefits of tuning introductory courses and to prompt discussion among the audience about the questions that concern us all as educators of Gen Ed students. How can we introduce the skills that are vital to the practice of history to entry-level students who have no interest in becoming majors? How can we change the perception of the study of history among disinterested students? How can “tuning” general education promote seamless transfer of community college students to four-year history classes? The presentation will show how BCC faculty scaled the skills, proficiencies, and assessments adapted from the Tuning Project’s History Core to provide an introduction to the study of history for entry-level non-majors. It will also share efforts to link two and four year programs in the region through tuning or aligning the expectations for historical thinking skills, not content, in their entry level courses. The presentation will then turn to roundtable-style discussion with the audience about reenvisioning the structure and concept of introductory courses. If we wish to make these skills and habits of mind the focus of our introduction to history, how will this change the way we teach?