Pathways-HoME Program (General Education)
Plymouth State University measures its excellence, not by the quality of students who enter its doors, but by the quality it adds to those who graduate. The University holds to this commitment by requiring every undergraduate student engage with learning experiences that help them to develop strong Habits of Mind and Pathway Skills. The Pathways-Habits of Mind Experience (Pathways-HoME) Program gives students a broad perspective on ideas, an awareness of diverse human experiences and cultures, and the opportunity to develop the skills, confidence, and ways of engaging with the world that will allow them to succeed both occupationally and personally, while making a difference in the spirit of Ut Prosim.
Habits of Mind are usual ways of thinking or ways of engaging with others. Based in part on work promoted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, Plymouth State has developed a curriculum that focuses its general education elements on four Habits of Mind that will equip students well for life and work after college. The curriculum helps students develop the dispositions and abilities necessary for academic success and lifelong learning, an understanding of the various ways scholars consider and comprehend human experience, an appreciation of the process by which different approaches to scholarship can be brought to bear on the same problem, and practice an action-oriented engagement with the world.
The Program's components cover a breadth of knowledge while emphasizing the relevance and utility of specific methods of inquiry and content to students’ lives. They utilize the Integrated Cluster model of pedagogy, which emphasizes interdisciplinarity, opens students to constituencies beyond the traditional classroom, and utilizes project-based learning as a method of achieving instructional outcomes. Throughout each of the Program's components, students focus on four specific Habits of Mind, while earning a certificate in at-least one of ten possible skills: Aesthetic Expression, Communicating Strategically, Coordinating Organizations, Creating Holistic Wellness, Engaging the Natural World, Managing Conflict, Navigating Cultures, Quantitative Inquiry, Qualitative Inquiry, and Reasoning Ethically.
Four Habits of Mind
The HoME Program focuses on four Habits of Mind: Purposeful Communication, Problem Solving, Integrative Perspective, and Self-Regulated Learning.
Purposeful Communication is a Habit of Mind characterized by the construction of meaning through interactions with texts and people and the creation of new messages. “Text” refers broadly to any communicative message including, but not limited to, messages that are spoken or written, read or listened to, nonverbal, and/or delivered through any form of media (digital, social, artistic, print, etc.). Construction of meaning and creation of messages are influenced by individuals’ prior experiences as well as cultural and historical contexts. Creation of messages involves the development and purposeful expression of ideas and is designed to increase knowledge, foster understanding, and/or promote change in others’ attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors. To be effective, messages must engage the perspectives of others and foster dialog among individuals and the community.
Problem Solving is a Habit of Mind that involves an iterative process of identifying, explaining, and exploring problems, describing challenges, envisioning possible solutions and their implication, and make decisions about how to proceed based on all of these considerations. Problem solving encompasses a broad array of activities and approaches. Problems range widely in scale and scope—small to large, local to global, well-defined to ambiguous, simulated to real-world—and problem solving may be undertaken individually or in collaboration with others. In all cases, engaging in problem solving requires the ability to think creatively, adapt and extend one’s thinking, acknowledge different contexts and incorporate different perspectives, embrace flexibility, consider potential implication, determine courses of action, persist and adapt despite failure, and reflect on the results. While the types of problems encountered and the strategies used to grapple with problems vary across disciplines, the problem solving Habit of Mind is relevant to all disciplines.
Integrated Perspective is a Habit of Mind characterized by the recognition that individual beliefs, ideas, and values are influenced by personal experience as well as multiple contextual factors—cultural, historical, political, etc. All human beings are interconnected through their participation in natural and social systems. An integrated perspective recognizes that individual decisions impact the self, the community, and the environment. Students will acknowledge the limitations of singular points of view and recognize the benefits of engaging with and learning from others in order to integrate multiple perspectives for effective communication, problem-solving, and collaboration.
Self-Regulated Learning is a Habit of Mind that encompasses the desire to learn, the ability to set personal goals for learning, and the capacity to engage in a self-monitored learning process. Self-regulated learners demonstrate strong commitment to the process of learning and take responsibility for their own learning. They take intellectual risks, persist in the face of challenges, and learn from their mistakes. They are able to organize and reorganize information, interpret information in new ways, and generate their own ideas. Self-regulated learners demonstrate metacognitive awareness (an understanding of the factors that influence their own learning) and cultivate the skills and confidence they need in order to be effective learners.
These four Habits of Mind are introduced, practiced, and mastered through curricular components which begin in the first year and build progressively towards a culminating capstone course.
Components of the Pathways-HoME Program
There are several components to the University's HoME Program. Initially, students take three First-Year Experience courses. All three lay a foundation, but one serves as the cornerstone: IS 1115 Tackling a Wicked Problem. This introduces the four Habits of Mind through project-based learning. The Habits of Mind are practiced and refined through Pathways classes: four within one track, which results in a certificate in that skill, and other Pathway skills classes of the student's choice which may lead to additional certificates. The Program concludes with a project-based class that bookends the journey begun in Tackling a Wicked Problem: an "In-Cap," or Integrated Capstone, IS 4220 Signature Project.
Components: An Overview
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| First Year Experience | ||
| IS 1115 | Tackling a Wicked Problem | 4 |
| MA 1500 (or higher) | Mathematics Foundations 1 | 3-4 |
| Writing Foundations Course (EN 1400) 2 | ||
| EN 1400 | Composition | 4 |
| 24 Credits in Pathway Skills Courses | 24 | |
| At-least 15cr to earn a Pathways Certificate outside your major | ||
| Integrated Capstone (INCP) | ||
| IS 4220 | Signature Project (INCO,INCP) | 4 |
| Total Credits | 40 | |
- 1
Mathematics Foundations is a course in Math numbered 1500 or higher, or its equivalency.
- 2
Writing Foundations is understood to be met by PSU's Composition class, EN 1400, or its equivalency.
Taught by expert scholars in the various academic disciplines, all Pathways-HoME courses are designed to excite students about learning and to give them breadth of knowledge and experience with different approaches to learning. Pathways skills help students connect their learning to some other aspect of their lives, including career development and wholistic living. The Integrated Capstone course is a culminating experience in which students from a variety of disciplines come together to demonstrate their development of the Habits of Mind while working on a collaborative project that has a real-world impact.
Components: Descriptions
First Year Experience
Plymouth State University places special emphasis on success in the first year. PSU is one of only 12 United States state institutions to hold the title of founding member of the Foundations of Excellence in the First College Year™. To achieve this honor, the University participated in a two-year study in order to develop a nationally recognized model based on a process of action: revision framed by aspiration and renewal. PSU continually improves the student experience by repeatedly refining its approach to the first-year, conducting assessments and paying special attention to the individual needs of students, student engagement, diversity, and the roles and purposes of education. Recent results of this approach have included expanding student choice: in themed Cluster-inspired Composition sections that connect writing to student activities outside the traditional classroom; in foundational mathematics sections specifically designed for majors such as those across the Humanities; and in selecting topically themed sections of Tackling a Wicked Problem, the course PSU developed as a Cluster-embracing reinvention of the traditional Freshman seminar.
Far from being merely introductory academic hurdles, the mastery of Plymouth's First Year Experience is a predictive barometer of students’ ability to make the transition from high school-level thinking (characterized by the elementary skills of merely absorbing and regurgitating facts) to college-level thinking (characterized by the ability to take ownership over and become fully engaged in one's own learning). Only when students embrace and persevere in the Habits of Mind will they have made the transition from high school to college; only then will they have taken the most important first steps toward becoming educated.
The First-Year Experience is comprised of three courses which connect students to life in an academic community and introduce them to the Habits of Mind in meaningful contexts. As the foundation of the General Education program, they begin to instill the hallmarks of a truly educated person in PSU students. All three (Tackling a Wicked Problem, Composition, and Mathematics Foundations) are to be taken in a student's initial two semesters.
Tackling a Wicked Problem (4 credits)
All new students who transfer in fewer than 24 credits take IS 1115 Tackling a Wicked Problem. It is the HoME Program's cornerstone course, through which students begin to build the repertoire of intellectual skills needed for university-level work, utilizing all four Habits of Mind. These skills are not taught in isolation but rather in the context of the problem of the course, a problem that varies by section.
Each section of the course is focused on a wicked problem, a societal issue that is impossible to solve and typically results in the creation of new problems by those who attempt a solution. A few examples of sections that have been offered recently, include: human trafficking, homelessness, food insecurity, ocean plastics, and climate change. Through working on wicked problems, students are introduced to Plymouth State University's Integrated Cluster model of education by collaboratively creating class projects that reach beyond the walls of the classroom in some way, to make a difference.
Writing Foundations [Composition (4 credits)]
The Writing Foundations requirement is satisfied by the course Composition (EN 1400) or its equivalency. In Plymouth's Composition classes students learn to read comprehensively and effectively, in order to relate ideas and arguments to their writing and thinking. They are expected to summarize different kinds of texts, paraphrase the ideas of someone else, analyze others’ arguments and positions, compare and contrast ideas, and generate their own thoughts and ideas following research and observation. Students are required to engage in library research and to write papers based on their research.
The course helps students become responsible writers who can take charge of their own writing process. Students learn how to draft, respond to feedback from peers and instructor, revise, and edit successful college prose. By the end of the course, they should be able to write essays that are unified by a central thesis, well-developed in carefully organized paragraphs with vivid details, and grammatically appropriate with effective sentence structure and correct mechanics. To these ends, student choose from a range of Composition sections that embrace Plymouth's Integrated Cluster pedagogy by allowing them to connect real-world interests and concerns to their academic journey, inside and outside the traditional classroom. Recent Composition sections have included: Pottery, Paddle-boarding, Skiing, Pets, and even the phenomenon of Taylor Swift.
Mathematics Foundations (3-4 credits)
Through the Mathematics Foundations requirement, students become aware of the importance of mathematics and its application to fields as diverse as art, music, and science. It enables students to make connections between mathematics and their own lives and to explore the roles of mathematics in society, culture, and politics. It is satisfied by a mathematics course numbered 1500 or higher, such as Mathematics and the Humanities (MA 1500), or by a mathematics course that is its equivalent, including credit-by-exam as explained below.
Mathematics Foundations courses focus on problem solving using the language of mathematics and on developing students’ ability to reason quantitatively in diverse contexts. Students learn to reduce complex problems to their fundamentals using algebra and geometry. Students may demonstrate proficiency in mathematics by recording under the credit-by-examination policy, credits for a satisfactory performance on an AP, CLEP, DSST, or IB examination (see Transferring Credits). Mathematics coursework for which equivalent AP, CLEP, DSST, or IB credit has been received will not be granted credit.
Transfer students may demonstrate proficiency in mathematics by recording mathematics transfer credits that are equivalent to Plymouth State University courses. In cases where there is no equivalent course, the transfer credits must be deemed to be at a level equivalent to Mathematics and the Humanities (MA 1500) or higher by the transfer and articulation specialist and the mathematics faculty. Mathematics course work at PSU for which equivalent transfer credit has been recorded will not be granted credit.
Mathematics Placement Assessment. The Department of Mathematics offers an online placement assessment. The goal of the placement assessment is to help students enroll in the math course most suited to their background. Students may take the assessment a total of two times. Students are encouraged to study before they take the assessment a second time. The placement level is primarily used to determine placement in the algebra/precalculus/calculus sequence, although not all students are required to take courses in this sequence. Students may also receive a recommendation to complete Elementary Algebra (MA 1200) before taking any other required Mathematics Foundations course. The mathematics placement assessment is scored at four levels:
- Level 0: The mathematics faculty recommends students who score at this level complete Elementary Algebra (MA 1200) prior to any other math courses. Students may not be prepared for success in their Mathematics Foundations course and should consult with their academic advisor and the mathematics faculty before enrolling. Students do not meet the prerequisites for Precalculus (MA 2130) and must take College Algebra (MA 1800) before taking PreCalculus.
- Level 1: Students are generally prepared for a variety of Mathematics Foundations courses, including Math and the Humanities (MA 1500), College Algebra (MA 1800), Statistical Literacy in Today’s Society (MA 1900), Finite Mathematics (MA 2200), Finite Math with Statistics (MA 2210), or Statistics 1 (MA 2300). Students whose majors require Precalculus (MA 2130) and/or Calculus I (MA 2560) do not yet meet these prerequisites and must register for College Algebra (MA 1800).
- Level 2: Students meet the prerequisite for Precalculus (MA 2130) and all other Mathematics Foundations courses mentioned in level 1.
- Level 4: Students meet the prerequisite for Calculus I (MA 2550) and all other Mathematics Foundations courses mentioned in level 1.
The mathematics placement assessment is available online for all registered students through Canvas.
Note: Elementary Algebra (MA 1200) does not satisfy Mathematics Foundations or any General Education requirement.
Pathways Certificates
Plymouth State offers ten skills-focused Pathway Certificates. Each builds upon the four Habits of Mind that inform the structure of the University’s General Education Program, allowing a student to broaden and deepen their preparation for professional and community life after graduation.
A student must complete one Pathways certificate outside of their major to graduate. A certificate is earned by taking at least 15 credits of coursework in one of the ten Pathway Pathway tracks – eight of those credits must be at the upper-level (numbered 3000 or higher); because classes in the Pathways may vary in credit, no more than 18 credits are required to earn a Pathway Certificate. Only one certificate is awarded per Pathway, but more than one certificate may be earned by taking additional Pathway courses.
In addition to those Pathway courses that are used to meet the requirement of earning a Pathway Certificate, a student must complete enough to reach a total of 24 credits in Pathway courses. For example, if a student took all 4-credit Pathways classes, they would complete 6 courses: 4 in one Pathway that resulted in a certificate and 2 additional courses in any of the ten Pathways. Those used outside of achieving a certificate may be taken in the student’s major, minor, a second Pathways certificate, and/or in their choices for electives.
For a Pathway certificate to be earned, at-least 8 credits must be at the 3000-level or higher.
Students can choose from the following Pathways:
Aesthetic Expression Pathway
The Aesthetic Expression Pathway focuses upon expressive presence through performance across art and media skills. People’s understanding of the world, sense of identity, and motivation to action are shaped by belonging, emotional experience, and imagination. Aesthetic Expression develops the capacity to understand the role of creative work in society and to connect others through its expression. Through the courses in this Pathway, students learn how to engage in creative expression to build confidence and adaptability under pressure.
Communicating Strategically Pathway
The Communicating Strategically Pathway focuses on the skill of narrative framing and persuasive communication across platforms. Successfully conveying one’s own ideas and evaluating the communication of others is necessary for personal and professional effectiveness. Communicating Strategically prepares students to craft persuasive, ethical narratives that shape public understanding and drive collective action. Through the courses in this Pathway, students learn the deliberate use of one’s own expressiveness, language, and voice to influence audiences across communal and professional domains with strategic outcomes in mind.
Coordinating Organization Pathway
The Coordinating Organization Pathway focuses on the skill of systems analysis to promote group and institutional effectiveness. Significant outcomes in society, for good or ill, are created by groups of people working in institutional structures, making this skill a prerequisite for making a difference in one’s profession and community. Coordinating Organization prepares students for leadership in settings where outcomes depend on coordination by teaching students how organizations function and how to manage institutional constraints. Through the courses in this Pathway, students learn the ability to see complex systems clearly and respond decisively whether leading in government, the private sector, or in nonprofits.
Creating Holistic Wellness
The Creating Holistic Wellness Pathway focuses on the skill of treating self and others by addressing the mind, body, and spirit. The process of understanding and practicing holistic wellness though collaboration and introspection is necessary for effective leadership, mentoring, and personal development. Creating Holistic Wellness develops the capacity to consider the whole person across professional and personal life. Through the courses in this Pathway, students learn to treat themselves and others with an eye toward compassion and equity.
Engaging the Natural World
The Engaging the Natural World Pathway focuses on scientific, ecological, and Earth systems literacy and problem-solving skills because all human beings live and act in a world not of our own making. Engaging the Natural World trains students to analyze and respond to the forces and phenomena that shape our physical world and the conditions of our lives, whether at the cosmic, planetary, local, or microscopic level. Through the courses in this Pathway, students learn to shape human responses to nature for a more positive, sustainable, and innovative way of living.
Managing Conflict
The Managing Conflict Pathway focuses on skills of analysis and resolution of interpersonal, systemic, or political conflict. Conflicts ranging from interpersonal disagreement to violent clashes between groups are recurrent, unavoidable aspects of human society. Managing Conflict prepares students to lead ethically and constructively through perceived differences and disagreement. Through the courses in this Pathway, students learn to analyze the causes of conflict, how conflict is sustained, and the means by which they are resolved.
Navigating Cultures
The Navigating Cultures Pathway focuses on skills of understanding and relationship-building across domestic and international cultural differences. Human communities produce a rich variety of differing values, ways of life, and forms of expression, both domestically and globally that all must be understood. Navigating Cultures develops the analytical, linguistic, and relational skills students need to lead in an interconnected world, teaching students to navigate cultural differences and engage with the lived complexity of inter-cultural exchange. Through the courses in this Pathway, students learn to work ethically and appropriately with other cultures.
Qualitative Inquiry
The Qualitative Inquiry Pathway focuses on the skills of qualitative research, analytical interpretation, and presentations of human meaning. Much of human social life entails sensory and subjective experiences that defy quantification yet still require systematic study. Qualitative Inquiry teaches students to observe, interpret and convey the lived meanings embedded in people, texts, places, and objects. Through the courses in this Pathway, students are trained to make meaning visible across generations in service of a more reflective public.
Quantitative Inquiry
The Quantitative Inquiry Pathway focuses on data driven reasoning, technological problem-solving and empirically-grounded decision-making skills. The overwhelming complexity of our interconnected world requires quantitative tools to make sense of it. This Pathway prepares students to make decisions grounded in measurable information, including the employment of technology to process and interpret reality and implement solutions. Through the courses in this Pathway, students learn to model complexity and interpret data in order to effect policy and enable action.
Reasoning Ethically
The Reasoning Ethically Pathway focuses on the application of ethical analysis to decision-making. Regardless of role or occupation, all persons and professionals will eventually be confronted with impactful decisions that must be made under systemic constraints. Reasoning Ethically teaches leadership in these contexts as responsibility to others rather than mere status. Through the courses in this Pathway, students learnt to act with intention and integrity in complex environments.
Integrated Capstone - The "In-Cap" (INCP) (4 credits)
The Integrated Capstone (INCP) component of the General Education program provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their development of the Habits of Mind through a signature project. It is the capstone to the Program and, as such, is separate from any capstone experience in the major. Because it belongs to no single major, it brings together students from different disciplines to work on interdisciplinary, integrated projects that make a difference outside of the classroom.
The INCP is satisfied by the course IS 4220 Signature Project. Each section has a topic assigned to it, allowing students to choose the types of issue or problem their signature project might address. Some recent INCP classes have been titled: Advocating for Play, Rural Storytelling, Responding to Climate Change, Balancing Life & Career, Corporate Social Responsibility, Fashion Futures, Public Lands, and What is Art For?
In IS 4220 Signature Project, students use disciplinary expertise from their major and their mastery of the Habits of Mind, to collaborate on articulating, developing, planning, and implementing a signature project that addresses a significant problem, issue, or question. A signature project:
- Is student-driven: While faculty, staff, and community partners provide guidance and coaching, student agency and independence move the project forward.
- Is completed collaboratively: The project is large and complex enough that it requires input and work from more than one person to be successful.
- Is transdisciplinary: The project integrates knowledge from multiple disciplines and sources to create something new that could not be created without all of them.
- Reaches beyond the walls of the classroom: The work of the project touches the world outside the classroom in some way.
- Has an external audience for project results: The results of the project are presented to someone who is outside of the class.
- Is completed ethically and respectfully: Work on the project engages internal/external audiences and/or partners with mutual benefit.
- Requires metacognitive reflection: Students reflect on what and how they learn and how their learned knowledge, skills, and dispositions might be transferable to other contexts.
Transfer of General Education Courses
A course, or courses, must fulfill the transfer criteria established by Plymouth State University. When discrepancies occur, the transfer and articulation specialist shall consult with the department chair for clarification on details of course description or the amount of credit to be honored. In cases where a clear decision is not apparent, or where students make a challenge of a decision, it shall become the responsibility of the academic affairs office to make a decision.
Courses that are transferred into Plymouth State University receive a HoME or general education designation in one of the following ways:
- The appropriate department declares the course to be equivalent to a PSU course that carries the General Education designation.
- The transfer and articulation specialist assigns the designation as part of the initial evaluation of transfer credit or as part of the review of the Transfer Credit Approval form.
- The academic affairs office approves a Student Request for such designation (this option provides a mechanism of appeal of the first two).
Writing Across the Curriculum
Plymouth State University believes in Writing Across the Curriculum, activities that engage students in the process of writing in many places throughout the curriculum. As students write to learn, they learn to write.