Bookends

Bookends

The Bookends are a pair of 1-credit courses that start and finish the General Education (GE) pathway for most Buckeyes. The opening course, "Launch" for first-year students, introduces the broad goals of the GE program and key skills needed for success. The closing course, a "Reflection" seminar, provides opportunities for students to document and reflect on their academic and personal growth. Transfer students who have completed most of their GE requirements prior to starting at Ohio State contextualize those academic experiences in relation to their developing plans and goals in a combined course "Connection."

  • Understand the purpose and structure of the GE.
  • Begin to develop critical skills and habits to navigate the academic environment.
  • Articulate students' academic and program goals and find opportunities to express those goals within the GE from various disciplinary perspectives.

Successful students will be able to:

  • Describe the integrative nature of the GE's structural elements.
  • Exhibit comprehension of the GE's purpose.
  • Use technology effectively to accomplish academic and personal goals.
  • Demonstrate basic familiarity with the ePortfolio system.
  • Critically consider implications of information and technology use.
  • Articulate one's academic identity, motivations and curiosity.
  • Develop a plan to investigate a personal, societal or global question within the GE from various disciplinary perspectives.
  • Understand the purpose and structure of the GE.
  • Extend and enhance the critical skills and habits to navigate the academic environment.
  • Articulate academic and program goals.
  • Demonstrate the intellectual and cognitive skills to be engaged citizens and leaders for life by reflecting on a range of important modes of human thought, inquiry and expression.
  • Demonstrate engagement as interculturally competent global citizens who can engage with significant aspects of the human condition in local, state, national and global settings.
  • Establish skills and abilities needed for engaged citizenship and personal and professional growth.

Successful students will be able to:

  • Reflect on their developing academic motivation as well as emerging professional or disciplinary identities.
  • Critically evaluate their experiences as engaged citizens and leaders with significant questions spanning a range of important modes of human thought, inquiry and expression.
  • Describe the integrative nature of the structural elements of the GE and purpose of the GE at Ohio State.
  • Reflect on their developing intercultural competency.
  • Critically evaluate one's understanding and awareness of the global context, and to recognize opportunities to contribute to and shape the larger world.
  • Reflect on personal development in the areas of curiosity, imagination, adaptability and intentionality to achieve personal and professional goals.
  • Critically evaluate the skills needed to maintain personal wellbeing and resiliency.
  • Demonstrate basic familiarity with the ePortfolio system.
  • Use technology effectively to accomplish academic and personal goals.
  • Demonstrate the intellectual and cognitive skills to be engaged citizens and leaders for life by reflecting on a range of important modes of human thought, inquiry and expression.
  • Become interculturally competent global citizens who can engage with significant aspects of the human condition in local, state, national and global settings.
  • Establish skills and abilities needed for engaged citizenship and personal and professional growth.

Successful students will be able to:

  • Reflect on their:
    • developing academic motivation as well as emerging professional or disciplinary identities,
    • developing intercultural competency and,
    • personal development in the areas of curiosity, imagination, adaptability and intentionality to achieve personal and professional goals.
  • Critically evaluate:
    • their experiences as engaged citizens and leaders with significant questions spanning a range of important modes of human thought, inquiry and expression,
    • one's understanding and awareness of the global context, and recognize opportunities to contribute to and shape the larger world and,
    • skills needed to maintain personal well-being and resiliency.

Contact

Dr. Melissa Beers
Senior Director of the Bookends program
beers.3@osu.edu