Foundational Abilities

Redesign the undergraduate curriculum to provide foundational abilities for life-long flourishing and learning

The current distribution requirements system should be replaced with a mandate and mechanism by which students acquire newly defined foundational abilities in language and writing; scientific, numerical, and algorithmic reasoning; complex creative expression; citizenship in a diverse world; reflective ethical agency; and consequential projects.

All Hopkins educational programs leading to a bachelor’s degree should include program outcomes and learning objectives clearly mapped to the foundational abilities and distribution areas. CUE2 recommends that the deans of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS) and Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) charge their departments and academic programs with evaluating and modifying existing curricula and designing new curricula, both course-based and non-course based, that ensures that every student is trained in all of the foundational abilities.

Progress

• KSAS is preparing to launch a new General Education model in Fall 2024 based on the six Foundational Abilities. Led by the Krieger CUE2 Advisory (KCA), the development of this model reflects the views, critiques, endorsements, and recommendations of over 150 faculty in more than 30 departments/majors, as well as core advisory bodies and working groups.
• The WSE faculty are in the process of articulating a set of Foundational Abilities requirements suitable for WSE majors, having carefully reviewed the CUE2 recommendations. Under consideration are a mix of required coursework common across all majors, work embedded within the WSE majors, and the flexibility for students to demonstrate their attainment of foundational abilities through coursework and/or by curating evidence of their learning in an electronic portfolio with faculty mentorship.