Baldwin Wallace University is introducing an innovative — even revolutionary — approach to education this fall that school leaders believe will better prepare students for the job market. It’s called the Advantage and consists of eight “competencies,” or broad soft skills, that employers are looking for in college graduates. The competencies, including effective communication and critical analysis, will be integrated into existing courses and majors, especially for freshmen and sophomores.
“There is no curriculum in the United States like this,” says Indira Gesink, professor of history and director of core curriculum at Baldwin Wallace.
It was Gesink who, after two years of research, designed the Advantage and won approval for the curriculum from Baldwin Wallace leadership and faculty. In fact, she was hired specifically to find a new way to teach students.
“I surveyed 270 schools nationally and I didn’t find anything similar,” Gesink says.
The Advantage, which also includes a ninth elective competency, will still expose students to the traditional liberal arts education model, in which first- and second-year students are exposed to a variety of subjects like science, art, history and math, but it will also imbed these career competencies into these courses. The idea is to give students a broad perspective of the world before choosing a major or career path.
“We value that model, but the market doesn’t,” Gesink says. “So, we’re trying to find a way out of the traditional thinking about what students should take when they come to college.”
The existing courses and majors will remain for the most part, but the competencies — a term Gesink found employers use to describe qualities they value in job candidates — will be imbedded into them. Here are the eight competencies identified by Gesink:
Effective communication. Instead of just the traditional freshman writing class, writing and oral communication will be embedded in all majors. A history major, for example, may learn to write within that profession. Psychology majors may study interpersonal communication, since they would become social workers, counselors and psychologists.
Critical analysis. No matter what they’re studying, students may learn to read deeply and detect biases in written material. They may interpret complicated subject matter, apply logic to determine if arguments are sound and develop their own arguments.
Quantitative reasoning. Students may acquire basic math skills appropriate to their majors. For example, in history they may learn how to understand graphs containing historical information and generate graphs themselves.
Civic literacy. It’s important for students to grasp how democracy developed in the United States and other counties, as well as how to function in a diverse society. This is especially important as the country heads into the fall election.
Multicultural literacy. Courses will focus on the perspectives of various demographic subgroups, like Blacks and Native Americans. Students may learn to appreciate different genres of music, or they might study a language.
Scientific literacy or reasoning. Students may learn how to design an experiment or test a hypothesis. They’ll determine whether arguments they are hearing in society are based on scientific evidence.
Wellness. Good employers want workers who know how to care for themselves and ask for help if needed. The wellness competency will show students how to maintain healthy minds and a proper relationship to work, and to recognize signs of unhealthiness.
Creative arts. Students might take a performing arts course, learn how to design and market a product or simply tell a story to achieve this competency.
