Liberal Education Academy  

Purpose:

To increase the number of Grand Valley faculty who apply the principles of liberal education in meaningful ways in their teaching, thus also contributing to the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Participating faculty benefit by enhancing their teaching and being recognized as a teaching expert by their colleagues. Students benefit by a richer learning experience.

The Liberal Education Academy (LEA) is co-sponsored by the Pew FTLC, the Center for Creative and Scholarly Excellence, and University Libraries.

1. Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World
   • Through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts.
2. Intellectual and Practical Skills, including
   • Inquiry and analysis
   • Critical and creative thinking
   • Written and oral communication
   • Quantitative literacy
   • Information literacy
   • Teamwork and problem solving
3. Personal and Social Responsibility, including
   • Civic knowledge and engagementlocal and global
   • Intercultural knowledge and competence
   • Ethical reasoning and action
   • Foundations and skills for lifelong learning
4. Integrative Learning, including
   • Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies

--College Learning for the New Global Century, American Association of Colleges and Universities, 2007; www.aacu.org. Grand Valley is a member of Liberal Education & America's Promise (LEAP), an AAC&U initiative that developed this definition.

Liberal Education Academy

Contact Info:
Faculty Teaching & Learning Center
324 Lake Ontario Hall
Phone: 616-331-3498

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Links:
Website