Outstanding general education programs tend to have core courses organized around themes or ideas rather than disciplines. If the Drake Curriculum is to realize its potential, more such options must be available to our students. We must also carry the ideals of general education into graduate and advanced professional study so that such programs embody the same principles. Emphasize active learning, discovery, student-faculty interaction, and collaborative inquiry. Research evidence clearly supports the principle that participation in discovery learning activities produces results superior to passive experiences.
Few activities are as powerful as student and faculty collaborative inquiry efforts.
Drake has an exceptional faculty. There is already much faculty-student collaborative inquiry, but we can and must develop many more such opportunities. Encourage a study abroad experience for all students. References to citizenship in a global community have become commonplace. The probable answer is no.