Students/professors opinions on the core curriculum.
Freshman Kate Norek came to CSU this year and declared speech
communication as her major.
But like many other incoming freshmen, she was unsure of her
chosen major, so she signed up for a few of the core curriculum
classes required at CSU in addition to her speech communication
classes.
“I took a really good health class and I’ve been thinking I
might change my major,” she said. “I would have never been
interested in (the health) field if I hadn’t taken that class.”
Norek is a student who feels that the required All-University
Core Curriculum is a necessary part of the college experience.
“The majority of kids don’t know what to do (in college) and the
core curriculum helps them figure it out,” Norek said.
The 2004 Core Curriculum report on objectives and criteria
states these classes are designed to improve students’ academic
skills and present them with different areas of knowledge. It also
states the classes are important to the overall undergraduate
education experience.
With the intention of receiving a well-rounded education,
students are required to take classes focusing on biological and
social sciences, humanities, history, cultural awareness and
health.
Junior Kyle Babsler knows his computer science major will
prepare him for his future career, and said the core classes he has
taken were not needed.
“Why do I have to take all these other classes when I know what
I want to be?”
Frank Towers, a U.S. history professor, said these classes do
more than educate a student on a subject.
“Taking a general set of classes about things like society,
nature, economics and science give an overall knowledge of the
world you live in,” Towers said. “And that’s really valuable.”
Towers also said these classes are important to increasing a
student’s writing, reading and critical thinking abilities.
Kathy Hutcheson, a professor who teaches EXCC145, a core
curriculum health and wellness class, said a variety of classes are
needed in a university system.
“It’s very important that students are exposed to a variety of
things – that’s what defines an educated person,” she said. “(Core
classes are) what really separates a specialized school from a
university.”
Brent Kaslon, a sophomore landscape and horticulture major, said
many of the subjects he learned in high school were repeated in
core classes he took at CSU.
“We’ve learned them all in high school, they’re not really
needed,” he said. However, Kaslon also said the core classes are a
good idea to give students a broader outlook on college, adding
that when students take these classes, they “get a taste of
everything.”
Some students, like Jessica Rossman, a junior graphic design
major, do not take the core classes as seriously as they do ones
for their major.
“I don’t pay as much attention in (the core curriculum) classes
as I do to the ones in my major,” she said. Rossman said the
classes that pertain to her major are her priority, and the core
classes come second.
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