As teachers, most of us have goals for student learning that go
beyond the mastery of discipline specific facts and principles.
We want to help our students to become critical thinkers and
adept writers, to make connections between different fields of
knowledge, and to prepare for future careers. To these somewhat
elusive yet practical objectives many faculty add a number of
holistic goals such as helping students grow as individuals,
become engaged citizens and develop skill and enthusiasm for
life-long learning. But how do we incorporate these broader
objectives into the fabric of our course? How do we translate
what’s essentially a shaping of attitudes and dispositions into
assignments and classroom interactions? And finally, how do we
assess that such learning has taken place? One way of addressing
these larger goals is to make them explicit and to encourage
students to consider the larger purpose of their education. One
can ask them periodically to reflect on their personal values
and priorities and on h