Executive Summary, Spring 2001
prepared by
John A. Muffo, Director, Academic Assessment Program

Two focus groups on student attitudes toward the core curriculum were conducted. The first group consisted of students from the Student Senate, and the second group consisted of students from the College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Advisory Committee. In both sessions, students spent more time espousing the disadvantages of the core curriculum, and less time espousing the benefits of the core curriculum. These are the major themes that emerged from the sessions:

- The major benefit of the core curriculum is that it helps students to become well-rounded individuals.
- Students are having difficulty fitting core requirements in their schedules.
- Students select core courses based on whatever they think will be the easiest "A."
- Students feel they are not getting much value from their core courses.
- Students feel that the professors are not enthusiastic about teaching the core courses, and that professors do not adequately communicate the area goals.
- Early in their academic career, students want to receive more guidance on how to choose core courses that will be most beneficial to them.
- Students feel that there should be some sort of capstone course that helps tie everything together (i.e., they want the "big picture").

1. What is the purpose of the core curriculum?
- To expose students to areas outside of their major.
- To prevent students from isolating themselves.

2. What are the benefits of the core curriculum?
- The core curriculum helps students become well-rounded individuals.
- The core facilitates getting a double major and/or minor.
- It helps students relate to people from a variety of backgrounds.
- It gives students a chance to take “fun” classes that they otherwise would not take.
- Students like that they can get A’s in their core courses with minimum effort.
- It is especially beneficial for those students who come from rural high schools where they do not have the opportunity to take a wide range of classes.
- It enhances the university’s reputation amongst employers.
- If students decide to switch majors, then having taken core courses facilitates that change.
- It overlaps with a lot of classes in the major.
- Students like that high school credit and advanced placement tests can be used to test out of core classes, although there is some sentiment that students are able to test out of classes that deep down they know they should take (e.g., math and English). Also, students expressed concern that there seems to be no consistency in deciding how to “count” high school credit.

3. What do you dislike about the core curriculum?
- Several students commented that the core classes are either so easy, or so irrelevant that students do not get anything out of the classes.
- Students are not getting much value out of the 1 credit courses that meet for an hour a week.
- When the course is offered on a Pass/Fail basis the students do not take it seriously.
- There is not enough selection, particularly in Areas 6 and 7.
- Class sizes are too big, particularly in Area 6.
- Students are frustrated that oftentimes there are two classes that appear very similar, but one is a core course and the other is not (e.g., religion).
- Students find it difficult to find the time to fit core courses into their schedules.
- Some students do not like core courses that require prerequisites.
- Others commented that they liked the upper-level courses because they got more out of those classes than the 1000 level classes.
- There is some frustration with Writing Intensive courses. Depending upon one’s major (e.g., English), WI courses are redundant.
- There are several classes that require just as much writing as the WI courses, but are not considered to be WI classes.
- The WI courses make students write, but they do not teach students how to become better writers.
- There is some sentiment that the core courses are too easy, and therefore students do not take them seriously. Others like that the core classes are easy because if the classes were more difficult, then it would get in the way of their major classes.
- There is a strong feeling that students do not understand how to use the core courses to their benefit. It is not until their junior or senior year that they look back and realize that they should have done it differently.
- There are certain highly sought after core courses that are always full. Typically, these are the courses that have the reputation for being “blow-off” classes. Nonetheless, there are students who have a genuine interest in taking these classes, but have difficulty getting into them (e.g., Introduction to Acting).
- There is some sentiment that students should be required to take only those courses in which they are interested; “I’m paying to go to this university and I’d like to get the education that I prefer . . . I don’t want to pay to take courses that are not useful to me.” Others disagree and maintain that the purpose of the core is to expose students to a variety of issues outside of their primary interests.
- There is some sentiment that core requirements should be the same for all students regardless of which college they are in: “It’s not fair that students in the College of Arts & Sciences have to take 3 credits in Area 6, but students in the College of Engineering only have to take 1 credit.” Others disagreed and maintained that their “path” in the core curriculum should be tailored to compliment their major.

4. What is missing from the core curriculum?
- A civics course.
- Should include a section on students’ rights.
- Should go over the Honor Code in this class.
- A community service program; something similar to the existing Service Learning program. Others disagreed saying that they should not have to pay to do volunteer work: “forced volunteerism is not volunteerism at all.”
- A public speaking course.
- A capstone course that ties things together.

5. What should be removed from the core curriculum?
- There is some sentiment that the foreign language requirement should be taken out because students do not become fluent in a foreign language by simply taking one or two courses.
- There is some sentiment that the areas should be combined so that there are fewer areas.

6. What can be done to enhance the value of the core experience?
- Students emphasized that early in their freshmen year they need to be educated about why the core is important. If this were done, then they feel that they would make better course selections, and thus get more out of the core curriculum. Right now they just take whatever is easiest.
- Provide guidance to students on how to use the core to get more out of the core (e.g., “as a political science major, here are the core courses that would be most valuable to you.”).
- Students want to be better informed about changes in the core curriculum.
- They want to know when certain classes are added and others dropped.
- Students suggested that they should be emailed such changes and/or that it be posted on the Virginia Tech homepage.
- Students need to be better informed that they have the opportunity to take placement tests to test out of core classes.
- Students want to get rid of 1 credit courses and Pass/Fail courses.
- However, they caution that the 1 credit courses should become 2 credit courses and not 3 credit courses, otherwise students become frustrated for having to spend too much time and effort on a class that is not directly relevant to their major.
- The professors teaching the core courses need to do a better job of communicating the area goals.
- There needs to be greater selection in the core courses.
- Classes need to be smaller so that professors can give students more individualized attention. This is particularly important for Writing Intensive courses.
- The professors need to be more enthusiastic about teaching core courses (the students thought that if class sizes were smaller, then this would help).
- There is some sentiment that core requirements should be less specific. For example, the core requirement could be something like taking 3 credits in liberal arts, instead of specifying which classes students should take.
- The core experience would be more valuable if there was some sort of capstone course that helped to tie everything together.
- There should be more creative ways to satisfy core requirements. For example, if a student is a double major in two very different areas, then that should count toward core credit. Also, summer internships and volunteer work should count toward core credit.