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Student Perceptions Of General Education At A Comprehensive University And Implications, Kenneth E. Nuss

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Using a case study method, I investigated how students negotiate their way through the general education program at a middle-western comprehensive university, and consequently I increased my understanding of the student perspective of this portion of their undergraduate curriculum. From 34 semistructured qualitative interviews with general education science students, I discovered that they could articulate only a dim notion of the purpose of general education. I also became aware that the university structure failed to clearly communicate to students that the faculty values the general education curriculum.

The following themes for further analysis emerged from the student interviews: the purpose …