Michigan Tech reimagining gen-ed courses with Essential Education program

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) - Michigan Tech University has been seeking new ways to educate in the 21st century.

The school’s Essential Education program debuts this fall. The curriculum is a reimagining of the general education classes that every university student is required to take.

A symposium was held in the Memorial Union to introduce this student-centered core education program. MTU President Richard Koubek says the idea came about after he was hired in 2018.

“Anytime I’m in public, I talk about this because it is a remarkable achievement for Michigan Technological University,” Koubek said. “But even more so because the students at our campus get to experience it.”

The goal is to help students be better prepared for life after college. Maria Bergstrom is the associate dean for undergraduate education at MTU in the College of Sciences and Arts, and also serves as a co-director for IDEAhub. She says the curriculum was formulated through IDEAhub. Bergstrom adds that the school got input from students.

“Students didn’t know why they were taking these classes,” Bergstrom said. “Maybe they had to take a speaking class, an ethics class, but they didn’t really see how that was going to impact them in their career or in their major. We wanted to help them make those connections.”

This new curriculum is centered around four learning goals: thinking critically, communicating, adapting, and contributing or transforming. Each goal has three essential abilities that will help students apply their coursework to real-world experience. Cassandra Reed-VanDam, MTU’s Essential Education experience manager, says the hope is that experience will translate to jobs in Upper Michigan.

“We’ve invited quite a few community partners to kind of inform them about the program as well as to get them involved in our Essential Ed experience program, which is community-based courses,” VanDam said.

More than 40 community partners and industry leaders attended this symposium. One community member, whose son attends Michigan Tech, is excited about the benefits that this Essential Education program will bring to him.

“I think he’s going to get some really great hands-on, meaningful learning opportunities,” Ruth Gill said. “He’ll put together an e-portfolio, which is a part of Essential Education, that he can then bring to future employers.”

The real world is changing every day. MTU is trying to change with it.