Student Survey: The Future of General Education at Kansas State University (Fall 2004)

Question #9: To what extent have you enjoyed the "general education" component of your educational experience here at K-State?

· Its hard to enjoy remedial classes over information that is unnecessary.

· I have enjoyed the classes I took, and have definitly enjoyed all of the GPA boosting A's from them, but I did try to minimize the number that I took.

· while i didn't enjoy some of the classes, i see them as very necessary.

· They were my easy and fun classes

· I enjoyed the classes that contributed to my English career.

· Math Gen Ed courses need attention.

· mostly the courses were too big with general information that isn't retained over time

· I think that any general education class can be made worthwhile by having effective, dedicated, and interesting instructors. I have had some rather unpleasant experiences in general education classes, but this was not because of the subject matter - it usually involved the teaching style and practices of a specific teacher.

· I don't think all of them were worthless just most of them.

· More classes should be offered for as "UGE"

· I am only a Freshman so of course I haven't taken a whole lot of classes yet, but I think that general education classes are useful.

· Some gen ed courses are alright, others I'd rather not go to.

· The classes themselves were fine, however sometimes I felt that I did not want to waste my time on classes that seemed revelent to my major and took away from my studying of my core classes.

· I love the science courses (Biology and Geology), but everything else wasn't very exciting.

· i did worse in them than i did in my major classes, it hurt me more than anything.

· However, I do believe that they could get in other students' way. They are good for me because I am going to teach and it is nice to be well rounded. Other majors do not have that need.

· Architecture stresses the importance of GE classes, but the ability to take the class is not always an option.

· I wasn't allowed to take many classes that I wanted to take. They were all "hard" classes, when I am in a really "hard" major.

· some of them are so easy and pointless that i feel like im wasting my time (ie: agriculture orientation)

· Geology lab is a complete waste of my time but other than that my GE classes have been ok

· I like them just b/c it pertains to something of interest, pretty much an easy A in a class.

· Some of the classes I just didn't understand and didn't like at all, but other classes I have loved and I wish I could have taken more like them.

· I'm only a freshmen so I don't know whether or not I would prefer to have taken more.

· subjects always were interesting on paper, sometimes the method of teaching or actual course content was not what I expected

· Some of them are fun, but some of them seem boring, especially when in architecture you are taking classes that are so directly related to your major. You know that you have to do well and most of them are fun and interesting where as with gen ed classes, it sometimes feels like it is just something that needs to be taken, but I know a lot of times they are seen as blow off classes. I wish there was some way to change that idea of a "blow-off class" because most of the gen ed classes are really interesting.

· I added a leadership minor and a dual major because of gen. ed courses.

· They usually don't have homework, which gives me a break from engineering courses.

· Like I said, I seek out classes I find enjoyable and beneficial. I pay out of state tuition, so I like to get my money's worth and some of the Gen Ed classes were an expense I really would rather not have had.

· My MUS424 class was excellent, whereas Macroeconomics was an exercise in hoop-jumping

· I took about half of my general education classes at a community college

· Some General Education classes have teachers who would really rather teach something else, so the classes are not much fun.

· waste of my time and money

· SOme of the gen ed were quite rigorous and took away from my actual major classes

· did not take the general education at K state.

· I hate public speaking, not because of the class but because of the teacher. Just because one is a theater major does not make them qualified to teach anything.

· I have thought they were a waste of time, not because we had them but because everyone has to take them, it becomes an easy course that doesn't really effectively enable students to understand the topic, or apply it to their own lives. AKA Statistics!

· I think that the current method of restricting general education to certain classes is a bad idea.

· Most of my general education courses directly applied to my major.

· are we here for enjoyment I dont think so

· Most of the general education classes were fun and really kept my attention.

· I would rather be taking electives that pertain to my major.

· I'm not quite done with all of my gen. ed. courses.

· I was fine with math, speech, and composition. I don't understand having to take 7 hours of science, a bunch of history, etc. I can see it to understand the way cultures and societies work (the social sciences), but science has no real use to me and my major

· One example of a general education course that I didn't enjoy was Physics 113. Find some people that speak ENGLISH. My Rec. teacher is so bad at english that she can't even understand the questions we ask her. It has made my semester to this point complete hell. I'm not getting what I pay for. If tuition is going to be continually raised I request ENGLISH SPEAKING TEACHERS. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. I have talked to many people in the class and they are just as upset as I am. Everytime I go home I tell everyone about my experience at K-State, and they will be thinking a little harder before sending their students here. All of the students that I have talked to are doing the same thing. My only request is that I get what I pay for. GET ENGLISH SPEAKING TEACHERS.

· I have enjoyed a few of my general education courses, but I am having a problem finding more courses that are interesting yet fit the requirements

· It all depends on the instructor. Some can be exciting and make the material interesting. Others just bore you to death with a lecture.

· They were a lot easier than classes required for my major.

· Out of the general education courses I have taken at K-State, they have been mostly electives, which I did find enjoyable.

· For transfer students entering K-State with high numbers of hours, they can be quite difficult to fit in at times.

· I wish I could take courses that I had an interest in rather than a course that is on some list.

· Gen ed classes are a break from your major classes.

· I had already taken most of the required gen ed hours before arriving, but I found the rest of them to be a welcome respite from engineering and definitely learned a lot.

· Who ever wrote this survey did not even care to read the questions out loud. Please humor me and read out loud to a coworker questions 7 & 8. They do not make any sense. Did you have to take Expository Writing I & II? If you did, how did you pass? Either way, I would like to have your job. Incompetence seems to run rampant in the upper echelons of higher education. As a full time student and payer of taxes, I would like to see some more care taken when you ask students to take a survey. Make sure the questions make sense.

· I chose my major and minor (philosophy and English, respectively) according to my tastes and strengths. I have rarely been interested enough in my Gen Ed classes to motivate myself to try my hardest in them.

· I haven't been required to take any gen ed courses

· I am a transfer student, and the gen. ed. class that I am currently in is within my major, so it will not apply.

· Whether I enjoyed them all or not, they are a necessary part of our education, and I'm glad I was forced to take them. I feel like a more well-rounded student.

· they were boring becuase it isn't what i'm interested in--i like the major-related stuff much better because i tend to sleep in general ed courses

· Some classes I thought were pointless and others were really cool. You can't really help that because it all depends on the student and what he/she prefers.

· I always felt that these were classes I had to take and that makes them not enjoyable to take.

· Boring and could have been summed up in a lump of classes

· It's sometimes fun to learn about something you enjoy, but don't want to major in.

· Macroeconomics was okay, but I really just liked the prof, and knew the subject from high school anyway.

· I wish that architecture would allow us to take more GE in the beginning semesters. It would have helped me to make the right choice in majors. I feel like I was thrown in such a strict schedule I couldn't explore. I might not have stayed in this major if I would of had more freedom in the beginning.

· The general education classes that I could apply to my own life (such as Intro to Human Development w/ Kelly Welch, and other FSHS classes) were extremely interesting, useful, and enjoyable. However most of my other gen eds felt like a waste of time and money.

· I really didn't take many of them here.

· the workload was less stressful, and it opened me up to a broader range of topics

· Thankfully I am able to find classes that I am interested in. However, I am taking Stats 100 right now and it is so easy that I hate it. I don't like math but I have to take it. I already took all the math I will ever need in highschool, why am I paying to take classes I don't want or need?????

· Depends on the teacher and the tests. The teacher should realize that their course is a general requirement and shouldn't expect all students to be intensely interested and therefore making the course much deeper. However, they should realize that students should enjoy learning about something new and furthering their knowledge in general.

· Also were they a waste of my money.

· I rarely see the need for Gen Ed classes. I am a very practical, hands on type person, so classes like these are a large struggle for me.

· Hated most of them.

· I have not taken any genreal ed courses throught KSU.

· SPCH 106 should be designed to help with public SPEAKING, not the elements of a speech. The class did not make me a better speaker, actually I dreaded it.

· The general education courses succeeded in making me feel like the dumbest person on kstate campus. Tell me, what is the point of Calculus II?

· Some of my general education courses were worthwhile, but because each major limits what they will accept as part of your general education, there wasn't a lot of room to just take classes that would be of worth to you and your life in general

· I am a first semester freshman; I haven't taken that many classes yet.

· K-State needs a new math department.

· At times it gets old.

· I have only taken 2 general courses so far, college algebra and basic nutrition.

· In the collage of engineering they restrict you options and I had to take classes that I'll never use because they were an a list and over 300 level.

· Unless they relate directly to my major - I could care less about them - I just get past them.

· I always look for the good in any course that I take and try to learn something from every professor. I appreciate that the intent of UGE classes is to cause the students to take classes outside of those they would normally have taken and to expand their horizons. However, often classes that sound new, interesting and challenging to me are not offered as UGE courses, so I have to make the choice whether to take classes that will not count toward any of my degree requirements (which is expensive and impractical to do) or to simply take a UGE class in which I have little or no interest.

· It's nice learning about a range of subjects outside my major.

· They are easier classes but don't provide much knowledge for a major and are usually of little to no interest to me.

· some of the courses are in areas that my interest level was low in, and this of course effected my level of enjoyment. however, some classes that i didn't expect enjoying i did.

· most or all classes should be approved for general educction, it is difficult to find something you will not only enjoy, but also find useful, I foundmyself taking classes only b/c of the gen-ed requirement and had no real interest in them

· The only general education courses that I enjoyed taking were basic nutrition and family relations and gender roles.

· The majority of the UGE courses offered did not interest me.

· I'm sure I'll enjoy them if they're challenging enough.

· A general education course. Wow that sounds interesting. Maybe someone in the engineering department should open up more electives to students so that students could have more of a general education exposure and actually learn something else besides the 160 credit hours of nothing but core engineering classes. That would sound like a good idea to me, but who am I to speak: ohh yeah, just an engineering student without a voice. But on a serious note, I think general education classes really do help expose the average student to new ideas in the world in which we live in.

· My biology class was very boring and unimportant in my future career.

· i didn't like that a math major must take advanced literature.

· Only one problem: finding General Education classes that satisfy the 300 and above UGE credits. More classes/more hours need to be offered. They're a pain to work into one's schedule.

· I feel like the general education classes are very basic and only touch on issues instead of analyzing them in depth. Although occasionally, I have taken a beneficial gen. ed, typically they just take away from the time and energy I have to spend actually learning in other classes.

· I believe it really depends on your previous high school education. I had the priviledge to attend private school so some of the courses were too basic.

· it's easy to fall into a slump when taking a lot of classes that don't seem to pertain to your major

· I entered with 18 hours which mostly counted as elective coursework. Therefore I did not get to take as many courses outside of my major as I would have liked. I felt like my classes were all very geared towards my business degree and not as much towards expanding my general knowledge as a person.

· The quality of the general education classes vary GREATLY, depending on the instructor, so this is a difficult question to answer. Some of the classes that I may not have enjoyed as much as others, could have been more enjoyable with a different teacher.

· hated the basic ones- econ110

· I wish I didn't have to wait unitl I was a junior to begin taking classes such as marketing and other marketing classes.

· Most students taking the general education courses are disinterested and merely trying to meet some arbitrary requirement. These courses, then, are taught "down" to that level; they are stripped of any rigor, the most appealing subject areas are avoided, and those that may have taken the class because they were actually interested in it are sorely disappointed. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of uselessness.

· it would be nice to take classes that pertain to my degree and help prepare me for my future career, instead of other classes that do not help at all.

· The classes are just set up to make you adjust to college life it seems like to me. Some are easier than others that are set up to 'make you' or 'break you'.

· I've taken corses that I'm interested in, so it's been beneficial for me. However, I don't think everyone shares the same experince.

· I enjoyed most of them, but that doesn't necessarily mean.. the class. I enjoyed learning the information in class, but I thought some of the tests were too hard. (ie. BIOL 198)

· More freedom in choosing my gen ed courses would be nice. Example: rather than saying I have to take specific humanities courses, I liked having choice, even if it was "choose two of the following three" or "this OR that course."

· I really wish it wasn't so specific. There are so many classes outside my major that I would love to take, but because I have to fill my A&S requirements with a small class selection, I do not get to.

· So far I'm only taking expos 1 - Diversity writing. It's okay, I'm not a great writer so it's not exactly for me.

· I greatly enjoyed all general education classes in which I had an adequate instructor. I believe that all of the general education classes are very important whether or not you go on to obtaining a degree. A HUGE problem, though, here at K-State, is the fact that many of the instructors are WAY BELOW PAR!!!! It's very frustrating to be paying thousands of dollars for poor instruction. Fix this!!!!

· I understand why we are required to take gen. ed. classes, however, most of them are uninteresting to take. Principals of Biology is especially rough since the students mainly teach themselves. If I wanted classes like that I would have just checked out a biology book from the library. Also, many of the general education classes I've taken have been taught by people who are more interested in the research they are doing here instead of helping students understand the material.

· Usually these classes were pretty boring, since they were required of everyone and a class of several hundred doesn't have much of a chance to be exciting and fun. And the subject matter was outside my major; there was a reason I didn't choose it as my major: I don't like it.

· With all of the different requirements, group projects, computer projects, ect. It seemed to me that teachers had to stretch assignments to make them actually fit the general edu. requirements rather than creating assignments which helped the students to learn more

· i believe there could have been a better range of general classes available, some of the classes i took will never be applied to my personal life or help me in my career

· I came in with many of my UGE credits from highschool

· Do you enjoy things that are rhetorical and mundane? But they were still a waste of my time. These courses are for people who are not mentally or culturally developed enough for a university education.

· During semesters that I was really buried in core coursework, I hated gen. ed. classes because I didn't care as much about them. However, during less hectic semesters, and when I had more freedom in choosing the gen. ed. class I was taking, I enjoyed them much more.

· I enjoyed it because they were easier, basic, some included much common sense and common knowledge in order to be successful to get an A. They balanced out other courses that carried a heavier or harder load during that given semester. For me, I think many courses were a waste of my out of state tuition.

· I don't enjoy the classes that are worthless to my career such as advanced math or biology.

· and some of them were a waste of my time!

· Sometimes I don't understand the delineation of it, why some classes count and some don't. I might suggest an expansion of the list of possibilities...but I have enjoyed the classes I have chosen.

· english 2 was pointless (i am still stupid when it comes to writing papers), biology was nothing but computer work (helping and teaching are two different things), and everything was either too crowded, too run down, or too bleak to be enjoyable

· Sometimes the classes I have to take to full fill this requirement seem to be busy work that my time and money would be better spent on a class that will help me for my major.

· it improves overall GPA, but costs more money, and delays graduation.

· I am usually bored in the classes, they seem like too much busy work at times, and not enough deveolpment of my education and mind.

· Many of the gen ed classes seem to be a waste of time. I do not think that Expository writing I is very beneficial to anyone but the most uncoordinated of writers.

· I enjoy it because it gives me a break from all my engineering classes. General education courses are usually less difficult and more interesting.

· When a professor assigns an assignment, then later tells you that assignment has nothing to do with anything that will be on a test, I feel that it wastes my time and effort. I hate to use the term "busy work", however, in many of my general education classes, I feel that "busy work" is all that we do. The tests rarely cover material that was assigned to us in class. I feel that more time and effort should be put into the area of your major. There are many times that I ask myself why it is required of me to take certain classes that have nothing to do with my major.

· Public Health Biology, Biometrics, and General Organic Chemistry have proven to be good courses...and the teachers this semester are to thank.

· The courses I took were useless and had no affect on my major.

· Some of the classes were boring, but some were really interesting!

· i wish i had to do less to get to the work that is actually a part of my major, that's what i'm here for

· There are many Gen Ed courses that I feel are useless for my degree.

· I really enjoyed the classes that I felt had an impact on my degree. Such as the English and Public speaking requirements.

· I transferred in most of my general education courses, so I'm not sure what the courses at K-State are like.

· I would have much rather just focused on my major instead of taking classes that don't help me at all

· The teachers need to be actual professors instead of graduate students. Gen Ed classes are supposed to provide building blocks for fresman which is the most important part, if you dont have a good educator they arent going to get what they need from these classes

· Some of these courses damn near screwed over my gpa, and I can guarantee they aren't any harder than organic chemistry, for which I am currently receiving an A.

· Almost all of my gen ed classes were also taught by graduate assistants not even actual professors. Why do I pay as much tuition to take classes I don't want taught by people that don't want to be there.

· I didn't have to take many, because so many of my credits transferred from high school

· just the math, cause they applied to me

· some were important but others felt like a waste of time and money. Employers today are much more interested in training you have that will directly impact your ability to work for them - that is, for the most part, classes pertaining to your major. They don't care about things like how much art history you know. With the exception of things like written and verbal communication and computer skills. I've heard that from MANY perspective employers. They're starting to look more toward technical schools, etc, that provide you with real worldjob training instead

· It depended on the class as to whether i enjoyed it or not, I definitely do NOT enjoy the new pilot class called Diversity Writing (a replacement for Expos I) that I had no say in whether I took it or not.

· One thing I enjoyed was the experience of meeting new people that I do not see in my usual biology courses. In UGE courses there is a much wider range of people.

· A lot of busy work that had no direction

· I attained most of my "gen-ed" courses before coming to Kansas State University.

· Some gen ed classes are harder than some of my 500 level courses that is ridiculous.

· All of my courses have been general education thus far

· I thought the majority of classes were, I hate to say, a somewhat waste of time and money. I understand that a couple will help me in the future, but there are a lot that will not.

· Many of the science courses were very difficult. I can't say that I enjoyed them while I was completing them, but I understand their importance in the whole dynamic of my profession. Some courses such as speech and math (algebra) were very easy, but I always ended up at the end of the course feeling that I had learned something that was a "keeper."

· Waste of time, energy, and money for the most part, although the classes were fairly enjoyable.

· I do not feel ALL general education courses were a waste of my time, but many were a waste of my time and my money. College is expensive, and I did not appreciate entry-level classes where professors and students did not take the material seriously.

· I am not required to take any of these courses because of the grandfather clause.

· I just hate speech but it did help me

· There are some classes that are just plain pointless, in my opinion.

· Large lecture classes somehow make the information taught less pertinent to life.

· Not time in my normal curriculum to add general education classes, may have to stay extra semester to complete them.

· i liked my science courses, econ class, and things that have to do with my major and what i'm interested in and that will help me. art, however, is not part of anything that will help me.

· I really don't enjoy Technical Writing. I feel that everthing the class teaches, we all have learned in igh school or on our own. The concepts in the course were taught in Expos 1 and Expos 2. I feel the Technical Writing course is unneccessary, and a waste of the University's time and money.

· It was a nice break from engineering courses but I felt I could have better utilized the hours spent on those courses by taking more classes related to my major.

· I think that students aren't able to take as many gen ed classes as they would like (because they may be higher level), and that they don't often get to take the gen ed classes that interest them because of the large number of requirements within their major. Students don't have a lot of free space in their schedule to fit these courses in and still graduate on time. It is way too expensive to stay any longer than needed in college.

· I could not describe them any better than "waste of my time." They are a shameful part of the K-State curriculum, and they should be eliminated.

· This is difficult - I enjoyed alot of my gen eds... I didn't always get good grades. In fact, some of the courses that I didn't get good grades in were some of the classes that I was most interested in and worked the hardest. It felt good to be done with the classes that were hard. Not because they were over; rather because you had a sense of accomplishment: you had done it, barely survived, but you did it.

· General education is usually a mixture of likes and dislikes; it's difficult to like everything.

· Although there have been gen ed classes I have enjoyed, I would have prefered to taken more electives in my own major.

· I have not had enough general education classes at k-state to say if I have had a good experience. I am a transfer student in my first semester.

· Students have a poor idea of course material covered when they choose they Gen Ed classes.

· Most General Education requirements are 100-200 level courses. That poses several problems. For one, the teachers in these classes are TA's or Teachers who either expect their students to work at a 500 level in a 100 level class, or they are extermely disorganized, or both.

· I would rather be taking the classes that I really need to teach children with special needs than pointless classes like history and geology.

· There should be more opption in life science and physicla science. Some of the classes are to hard for those that do not understand science but must take it anyway and struggle instead of learn and enjoy at the same time.

· doesn't apply to my situation

· I rarely enjoy the classes I'm required to take, but i understand the importance of them in giving me a diverse educational background.

· I enjoyed the gen ed classes more than my journalism classes, for the most part.

· I would have liked to have the option to focus my general education classes sooner to my field of choice, so that I would have been able to get more out of my time here, (possibly 2 minors)

· I have only taken one general education course since I've been here and was not that thrilled about it.

· I made the best of a bad situation, and worked for 2 more minors than I would have had otherwise.

· I think the reason I enjoyed these GenEd courses was because of the difficulty of my classes towads my Engineering Degree. They didn't seem to be as difficult and offered a break from all the math and science.

· I'm only taking two this semester and I only enjoy one of them, i dislike psych because of the people that are in my class.

· Public Speaking (Speech 105?) was a waste of my time. The graduate students don't know what they're doing. I wish I could have been given more of a challenge.

· I have yet to experience a class that really motivated me. I feel that teachers here on campus are not excited to be teaching us as students. As a teacher is it their responsibility to empower us and make us better people. Isn't that why I came to college. To be independent and empowered to want to do something great. Some teachers on campus are lazy and they act like we the students are to blame for thier miserable lives.

· I would rather spend more time taking courses in my major.

· I really like Psychology and Intro to Human Development but other than that I wasn't very impressed. I wish I could take more Family Studies and Human Relations courses because I think that I would really benefit from those but I can't because that isn't my major.

· none.

· Some gen. ed. classes just really interested me while others bored me to death, it really just depends on teh class.

· I hated them all. Nothing drops a GPA faster than a bunch of bullshit classes you don't want to take, and have no interest in.

· i currently haven't taken enough to answer.

· To me, it just delays graduation. The requirements I have are diverse enough without me having to take even more classes.

· Again, I enjoyed just the ones that interested me, the fact that I had to take some classes that I had no interest in and didn't need for my major,,is upsetting.

· I have never taken a course I didn't at least start out wanting to take.

· Actually, I really did enjoy the classes, however, I don't wish I could have taken more, I think I had just enough to quench my thirst for general knowledge.

· Speech seems like a waste of good time that could be spent doing hours of studio work.

· Most of the subjects in the Gen. Ed. curriculum are objective; if the teacher doesn't like your viewpoint, they can grade you down. They aren't supposed to, but they do.

· A lot of GOOD professors are hidden away under Gen-Eds