Graduating Senior Survey
of General Education
Spring 1996

This report summarizes the results of a General Education Survey given to UWL seniors in spring 1996. The purpose of the survey was to examine students' views about the UWL General Education Program. Specifically, we asked students to:

1. judge how much the general education program had contributed to their skill development and understanding in liberal studies areas. These questions were keyed to the stated goals of the general education program.
2. indicate their beliefs about overall aspects of the program.
3. describe positive and negative experiences in general education and recommend ways to improve the program.

Profile of respondents. We sent the survey in March 1996 to all 627 students scheduled to graduate in May 1996. One hundred ninety-seven students (31% of the graduating seniors) returned the survey, 141 females, 53 males and 3 who did not indicate gender. The response rate of 31% is typical for mailed surveys. Respondents mean age was 24 years--155 students were 21-24 years of age. All but two students reported a GPA above 2.50, and 143 had GPA's above 3.00. The students represented majors in 27 academic departments, and minors in 20 departments. The respondents represent a good cross section of UWL seniors.

Results. We asked students to judge how much General Education had contributed to their development in various skill areas. Table 1 reports the percentages of responses to the question General Education stresses important academic and intellectual skills. Indicate how much General Education contributed to your skill development in these areas."

Ostensibly, students are more likely to acquire skills that are embedded across the curriculum, and students' responses reflect this. A majority of the respondents believe that general education contributed substantially to their skill development in writing and speaking effectively, thinking critically, and working independently and collaboratively. More than 60% of the students reported that general education helped them to work independently and collaboratively; an interesting finding since these skills are not explicit goals of the program. Writing, speaking, critical thinking and working alone and with others are explicit course goals or expectations in many courses. On the other hand, only 34% and 37% of the students believe general education contributed substantively to their ability to use mathematics and library skills, respectively, perhaps because these goals are not as well integrated across the curriculum. Students are required to take only one mathematics course and no courses in library skills as part of general education.

The results raise the question of standards--of whether a specific percentage is satisfactory or inadequate (i.e., the proverbial discussion about whether the glass is half full or half empty). For example, 57% of the students said that general education contributed substantively to their ability to think critically. Although this is a majority of students, it is important to note that the overarching goal of the general education program is to foster critical thinking. In this context, 57% seems like a low percentage.

The survey also asked students to judge how much General Education had contributed to their understanding in various liberal studies areas. Table 2 reports the percentages of responses for each liberal studies goal. Note that students' judgments are likely to be based on their experiences in one or two classes for each goal. For example, understanding the arts is a primary goal of the appreciation courses in music, dance, art, and theatre; understanding how to lead a healthy lifestyle is a goal of a single course in the curriculum and so on.

The percentages of students who report substantive contributions in the liberal studies areas range from 32% (the consequences of new applications of science and technology) to 58% (how to lead a healthy lifestyle). These results reflect the structure of the general education program--it is broad but not deep. Students are exposed to a variety of subject areas, and the majority report that this does not have a substantive effect on their understanding in any single area. The cumulative effect is that students understand a little about a variety of subject areas.

We asked students to indicate their agreement or disagreement with statements about their general education experiences. Table 3 reports the percentages of responses for each statement.

Sixty-three percent of the students agreed (slightly or strongly) that general education was a valuable part of their education, and 65% agreed that it had helped them become a well-educated person. However, only 43% agreed that general education prepared them to understand complex issues and problems in life outside the university, and 39% agreed that general education had prepared them for lifelong learning. Only 44% agreed that general education had developed their ability to think critically.

Two questions asked about the overall coherence of the program. Fifty percent of the students agreed that the program consists of a batch of unrelated courses," and only 29% agreed that courses are clearly related to one another." Clearly, students do not see general education as a well-integrated, coherent program.

Most students do not believe the program is intellectually challenging, and 54% agreed that much of their general education coursework repeated their high school classes.

Students see a difference between the quality of teaching in general education and their major. Thirty-six percent of the students agreed that the quality of teaching in general education was as good as the teaching in their academic major--and 48% disagreed with the statement.

A majority of students believe that advising in general education was not helpful.

We asked students to write about their positive and negative experiences in General Education and recommend ways to improve the quality of the program. Table 4 contains the types of positive experiences students report in response to the question, Describe general education experiences, coursework or activities that had an especially positive effect on your learning."

Most responses were brief, and 49 students (25%) did not respond to the question. There were 65 generically positive responses (e.g., Course X was good). Most of the other positive responses focused on some way that the program had affected students overall (e.g., improved their ability to write), some aspect of teaching or courses (such as small class size and group discussion), and particular instructors who had an effect on students (e.g., Professor X made the course interesting).

Some comments about the general education program per se:

"In some classes, I learned a lot about the world that I never got to see in a small community."

"Learned many different ideas and theories from various courses. Learned a little about many things."

"General Education helped me to become more well-rounded in my education. It also helped me choose my major . ."

"I feel that the general education courses at UW-L made me a well-rounded individual. I learned a great deal about a lot of different subjects, an extension of what I learned in high school."

"It gave me a more rounded outlook on things--knowledge in all areas is important not just what the student is interested in. I believe general education helped me to be able to talk to a wide variety of people on many different subjects and not feel ignorant."

"I enjoyed my general education coursework as it provided a variety of material. Since many of my courses were similar to high school courses, it created a smooth transition."

"I feel much more well-rounded . . . I feel I now at least have an understanding of the sciences, and math, and could carry on a decent conversation with someone in that field."

Students commented on how individual instructors had influenced them. It is fair to say that students view the instructor as the key to a positive or negative general education experience.

"The only general education course I liked was History 151. The professor was very enthusiastic and I actually considered becoming a history major because of him."

"Nothing stands out in my memory. A small number of professors seemed to be truly concerned about what they were teaching and how well the students were learning the material."

"The professors opened our minds to subjects that we didn't have experience with before and helped us learn to focus our study habits when we were freshmen."

"Most general education instructors were helpful and concerned about their students and helped them when they needed it."

"I got lucky. I chose classes that helped me decide my major. Luckily, I had a great professor who encouraged me to continue."

"My math professor talked to me as if my success was important to him."

"The only positive experience was in the Political Science Department. The other classes did not contribute to my education in any significant way--95% of the information was a repeat from high school."

"Teachers who approached the course with the attitude of--I will teach you something that is relevant to real life."

Students also described certain experiences and teaching approaches as beneficial to their learning.

"Some classes were excellent. These classes. . . gave real life experiences/solutions."

"Classes with discussions where the professor knew your name."

"I really enjoyed going to different cultural events. I felt I learned a lot."

"Hall Council, hall activities, music and art appreciation, lectures and concerts and multicultural diversity activities."

"Class discussions rather than being lectured at all the time, have students become involved in what is being taught."

"I learned about the resources that were available to me, and how to effectively deal with others due to group work that I did . . ."

Students' negative experiences focused on teaching approaches (e.g., too much lecture and rote memorization), and on instructors (e.g., condescending attitude toward students, uninterested in the class). Twenty-three students singled out specific courses as negative experiences and gave reasons for their criticism. Another 14 simply gave a generic negative criticism for courses (e.g., Course X was poor.) Students also commented on the lack of challenge in general education courses, and a few said the challenge and difficulty was too great for 100 level courses. Eleven students identified the lack of connection among courses or lack of relevance of general education courses as problems.

Some comments were globally critical, and reflect a negative attitude toward the program.

"General education classes keep us here longer, cost us more money, and can bring down the GPA because if not interested in the class, you're not going to study or do well."

"The general education classes are a waste of time. Once I got my major classes I really enjoyed my classes and really learned a lot. General education classes are boring and did nothing for my major."

"Struggling through the courses almost made me quit school; I didn't find most of the classes very beneficial."

"To be honest, they were a nice break from my more challenging major and minor courses. I had only a few general education courses that were both challenging and interesting, the rest were pretty much a waste of time and money."

"Mostly general education courses were a waste of time. They either taught something I already knew, or forced me to cram uninteresting information in my head which I promptly forgot anyway. The same amount of material I actually retained from my general education courses I could have picked up by watching 'Discovery'."

"For any high school graduates that score 25 or above on the ACT, basic studies become busy work. The issues they set out to teach are important, but the ways in which they are taught are boring, and lack stimulation. Find new ways to teach the same curriculum."

Students identified certain teacher behavior and instructional practices as having a negative effect on their learning.

"I felt as if the goal of the teaching of some of the classes was to cover a set of material, not an emphasis on student understanding."

"Some of the professors I had just didn't care about what they were teaching which in turn made the classes boring."

"I had a chemistry class where the instructor taught above everyone, had to have a huge curve so people would pass, and was always negative. He made everyone feel stupid because we couldn't do well on the exams."

"The overfed egos of some professors seemed to interfere with a good learning environment. I witnessed this manifest itself in the form of blatant condescending attitudes as well as in the act of increasing the level of difficulty in a simple general education class only to force students into a false respect for the professor's given area of interest."

"Too much lecturing and lazy instructors giving the same tests year after year. I learned nothing, and saw no reason to challenge myself. Instructors go through the routine, I'll go through too."

"Boring classes. Uninterested instructors. No relationship to major or relevance to life in general. Repeat of high school courses to some extent."

"Classes were usually boring and impersonal; rarely tailored to fit variety of learning styles."

"Profs who did not help students and didn't enjoy teaching lower level classes."

"A professor told the class he didn't want to teach general education courses because we weren't excited or interested in learning."

"I don't find a place for memorizing that is done in college. No one is going to remember things memorized later in life. I think higher education should stress library research. Later in life, in our careers, that will be the skill that is important."

"TV lectures. Large classes. No discussion."

"The professors teach the general education courses in a way that students feel they don't care about the class. They get much more involved when the classes are in the major or above the 300 level."

"Large auditorium classes with multiple teachers and teaching methods and then having to take a computerized test."

"The only negative effect I had in my general education experiences was with professors who did not care whether I learned the material or not because they knew the class was a general education class. I wanted my professors to be excited and energetic about teaching these courses."

"Being in my first semester of college and having professors who seemed to care very little who I was or what difficulties I was having in their classes."

"Profs were never accessible, advisors were not helpful; some profs seemed to teach in their sleep with boring, non-energetic attitudes."

"Some of the general education courses . . . were taught by professors who really enjoyed what they were doing. A couple were taught by professors who clearly wanted to be somewhere else. I'm not sure that this problem can be remedied easily. But it certainly leads to negative experiences and attitudes!"

The last question asked students to recommend ways to improve the general education experience. Table 6 reports the types of recommendations, the most frequent of which focused on improvement of teaching and advising and reducing the number of credits in general education. There were also a variety of specific recommendations about adding, eliminating or revising certain courses and areas of general education. Some students also wanted more choice and selection in general education.

Students also suggested connecting and integrating courses with one another as well as relating coursework to the student's major and to life beyond the university. This may be interpreted as a request to make general education a more coherent, meaningful experience as a program.

Students' recommendations about how to improve general education convey some frustrations and difficulties in the program. Typically, their recommendations are global requests to do something about a problem rather than specific ideas about how to improve the program.

Thirty students urged the university to improve advising.

"Get some real advisors who are there to help the students."

"Better advising. . . hurt students too much if they have bad/uninterested advisor."

". . . The advising I received was terrible. My first two years, I did not have a major decided so my advisor was just given to me. This person just signed my sheet and left it in a box outside his door. Other times I would ask advice from three or four other advisors and they would each tell me different things. This has cost me two extra years at school."

"Faculty advising needs to be greatly improved. The advisors need to know what courses you need to have and not just sign your form and tell you to take whatever you want."

"Get better advice about classes and professors. Advisors should have knowledge in areas outside of the major or send students to places for help. Advisors should not just hand out SNAP and then leave. . ."

"Have advisors that can advise students about which classes would be most helpful to them--related to career goals, personal interest, major or minor, and overall quality of class. Possibly use more peer advising for this."

"Good advising is definitely needed I've never had good advising and I have been forced to make all decisions on my own."

"Advising. I think the advising I received was poor. I think this is partly due to the ineptness of advisors. Perhaps a closer knit advising program would be more beneficial for students."

"If the advisors gave better advice and cared back when I was a freshman or sophomore it probably wouldn't have taken me five years to finish."

"Be sure that all students know where they can go for help if they are having difficulties. Older students could act as peer advisors on what courses students need to take, in what order, where to get help, information on what courses are like."

"The things you learn in general education should have been and were covered in high school. It's high school that should make you a better rounded person. I feel that the first two years were a waste of my time and everyone else's. I guess my recommendation would be to do away with general education."

"Decrease the number of classes required for graduation in general education. I feel that the classes taken are classes that a college student should know about already or does not care about. Either the student is going to go through lackadaisical or not care about it, thus lowering the GPA."

"Lower the general education requirements. This would help students graduate in 4 years and they will not miss anything important."

"General education is designed for those students who have not chosen a major. I believe that if someone comes to UW-L with a specific major in mind, those students should be entered into a program that begins preparation, from day one, for that specific major. My first year was a repeat of high school. I would have appreciated beginning my study of my major right away and would probably have felt more focused and prepared, had an immediate immersion program been available to me. I would have graduated quicker and learned more effectively."

"Eliminate general education courses to a small core and require more electives to make up the difference."

"I recommend that the general education requirements be cut. Students are required to take too many of these courses. I think general education is important to the college experience and personal experience, but it is in moderation where it will have its greatest positive effect on learning. I think this institution has taken a good idea with potential for positive experience and run amuck. The general education requirements must be reduced in order for students to appreciate this learning. It has become a frustrating, negative experience for all students. It seems absolutely ridiculous that it should take as long to fulfill general education requirements as it does to fulfill those of a major and minor. Where is the sense in this? Shouldn't students have more opportunity to concentrate on subjects on these subjects and those related to them, rather than spend a tremendous amount of time taking 101 classes about everything else."

"Maybe not so many, or else make them fewer credits. It's good to take these classes, but they really add to your time here. I would have much rather taken more classes within my majors instead. After all, that is the real reason I am taking classes in the end."

"It needs to be restructured. Don't get me wrong, there were some valuable general education courses, but the majority were useless. More emphasis should be put on your major and minor coursework. Because of general education it was impossible for me to graduate in four years. With the cost of tuition increasing every year, this puts a real hurt on students financially. Didn't have the luxury of just taking classes, had to incorporate my job into the equation and general education just prolonged my stay at college. To put it bluntly, general education requirements should be reduced, I guarantee that this would greatly help future students, rather than hurt them."

"Find new ways to reach out to students unprepared for college life.If I would have had professors that cared about my success in their classes I would have studied better and got a lot more out of the classes than I really did. It seemed to me that professors didn't care much about the success of the student--if they failed--Oh Well. That gave me absolutely no motivation to work at all. When I finally learned to study and to care about my education, I improved my grades and enjoyed my education. One professor that really encouraged me was my math professor. She really went out of her way to keep me and others interested in the class. She really cared about the success of her students and always had an enthusiastic attitude towards the subject area."

"Many of the general education courses are taught as though we are not interested and are there because we have to be. But the profs who teach 100 level classes seem to lack enthusiasm in the subject. This is when many students are deciding on a major and it's crucial to make the classes fun/interesting, etc. General education also needs to incorporate more critical thinking rather than just lecture-test format."

"I think the profs need to be more excited about what they are teaching. They need to vary their teaching techniques to allow for better variety and more interesting classes."

"Encourage professors to be more involved in their general education courses; be more personable with the students. Encourage fewer lecture-based courses, and increase the number of experiential learning activities."

"Have it mandatory that professors can't use the same tests year after year. I've heard of lots of old tests getting passed around. Try to persuade more interactive discussions rather than 55 minute lectures without any interactions between students and teachers."

"Make sure all professors give out evaluations. Read the evaluations."

"Professors shouldn't be negative and act like they have more important things to do."

"Require more 'thinking' in general education classes. It often seems the professors are rushing to get through the material and give about three exams that are multiple choice for the entire semester. I think students should be required to do more writing after analyzing course contents and topics."

". . . Teachers need to explain 'why' we are learning and how it will help us later in life for every class taken. Make all of the classes related to real life and important for us to know."

"Make learning more meaningful to the students."

"Somehow make the class content more interesting, because some of it was incredibly boring, and difficult to relate to!!!!"

"Integrate it more using environmental education as the basis or common point."

"Somehow relate certain classes with others. . . The closer a student can get to actual real life situations will allow a student to gain more out of class and out of his or her college career."

"Make the connections between the different areas of general education a little more clear. Show the student how math and science relate and they influence history, literature, society, etc."

"You asked the question about general education courses being related, maybe that is what needs to be worked on. I can understand having a variety of courses to provide a well-rounded knowledge base, but most of them don't relate well at all."

"Integrate the departments so they can work closely at developing students that comprehend the interconnected nature of social and economic institutions. The students should also develop an ability to understand their interrelations with the rest of the world."

"More interactive, communication skills, more related and meaningful, more diverse activities."

"Need more integration between different fields of study. One example a week would even help most people know math and computers are related but what about an example of math and sociology working together? Or math and art?"

"I think that most of the classes need to focus on how the classes relate to real life and any major."

"Make specific ties--subtlety does not work."

". . . have more classes that offer field experiences 'real life'."

"Make science and math be taught in ways that relate to the average person's life. Who cares about how a plant cell makes food--that's of no importance."

Summary and discussion. The following 10 points highlight major findings:

1. A majority of students believe that general education contributed substantively to their skills in writing, speaking, critical thinking and working independently and collaboratively.
2. A majority of students believe that general education did not contribute substantively to their understanding in most liberal studies areas--giving the impression that the program teaches students a little about a lot of different things.
3. Critical thinking is the overarching goal of the program, and two questions asked students about it. Fifty-seven percent of the students said that the program contributed substantively to their ability to think critically. On the second question, only 44% agreed that general education developed their ability to think critically.
4. A majority of students (65%) believe that general education is a valuable part of their education. Only 44% believe that it prepared them to understand complex issues and problems in life outside the university. And, only 39% believe that it prepared them for lifelong learning.
5. A majority of students believe that general education courses are not intellectually challenging, and that much of general education repeats their high school curriculum. A majority of students see the program as consisting of unrelated courses that have little to do with one another.
6. A majority of students believe that the teaching in their academic major was better than the teaching in their general education courses.
7. A majority of students believe that the advising they received for general education was not helpful.
8. When asked about general education experiences that had a positive effect on their learning, students singled out individual instructors, stimulating and engaging teaching approaches, and personal changes that happened due to general education.
9. When asked about general education experiences that had a negative effect on their learning students also singled out individual instructors, classes in which students are expected to be passive recipients of information, lack of challenge, lack of connection and relevance of the curriculum, poor advising, and the size of the program.
10. In order to improve the general education program students recommend that the university should do something to improve advising and teaching, reduce the number of required credits, increase course selection and student choice. Students also advocated making the program more meaningful" and relevant" by connecting courses to one another and to issues and problems related to life outside the university.

Overall, the results tell us that too few students view general education as an essential, compelling, challenging, valuable, coherent, meaningful part of their undergraduate education. Only 17% of the students strongly agree that general education has been a valuable part of their education, and, except for a handful of examples, few students described ways that general education contributed significantly to their learning and development.

Several factors contribute to this rather weak positive regard. First, some students view a college education primarily as a path to a career. They believe that general education does not contribute to their career goals and therefore it is not a high priority. Second, students see the program as lacking in purpose--other than in some way exposing them to different subjects and broadening" them. This suggests that the university has not effectively oriented students to the aims and values of general education. More troubling is the fact that even as seniors, many students see little point to general education and view it as an obstacle and a drain on time and resources. This means that general education itself was not an especially compelling, positive experience.

The issue of clear aims and purposes is a vital one. In Strong Foundations: Twelve Principles for Effective General Education Programs, a national report on general education, the authors argue that, Strong general education programs explicitly answer the question, 'What is the point of general education?'" and go on to say

The issue is a philosophical one: general education programs are intellectual projects. They ought to be based upon a coherent rationale. For example: How does general education function in the undergraduate program? How is its role different from the role of the major or the role of free electives? What is the relation between general education and the specialized education of the major? What is general education preparing students for? Such questions need to be asked and answered up front in curriculum design and implementation. (p.3)

We need to answer these questions for UW-La Crosse students. In part the failure of students to get the point of general education is due to our failure to articulate a compelling vision for general education.

Instructors play a key role in communicating a compelling vision for general education. One student highlights the essential relationship between the professor and student learning.

"I feel that general education is extremely valuable. It contributes to a well-rounded education for UW-L students while allowing them to choose a major. Some courses that I took were extremely valuable, others were not. I truly believe that the sole determinant is the professor. All the options in general education are valuable, unfortunately a few of the professors are lazy, boring, or simply do not know how to effectively convey information to students. One professor like this can give a student a negative attitude toward the entire department."

This senior is absolutely correct--instructors make or break general education. Students can be told about the importance of general education through orientation programs, brochures, university catalogs and convocation speeches. But, they learn the value of general education everyday in the classroom. And, if their experiences are, as many have said, not as good as in their academic majors then faculty have taught them that general education is not especially important.

Students expressed at least four important ideas about how teachers and teaching influence their learning:

1. Students see teacher enthusiasm as a key factor in their learning, a finding consistent with research on teaching. Students are not asking to be entertained in the classroom, they are asking teachers to give life to the subject and show them why it is worth learning. Studies indicate that influential teachers generate enthusiasm for learning through personal involvement with the subject matter and skill in teaching it" (Csikszentmihalyi and McCormack, 1986).
2. The relationship between teacher and student is important. At minimum, students want a personal connection to their teachers so that they can ask questions, discuss difficulties, and so on. They are not asking for professors to be their friends, but rather to have a relationship with their professors through the subject. The idea is well illustrated in one student's comment about a very positive experience with a teacher, My math teacher talked to me as if my success was important to him." It is very clear that students highly value experiences where instructors show concern about their learning and create a classroom climate in which students are free to voice their ideas and ask questions.
3. Active involvement in learning is important to students. Not a single student said they were excited by classes that involved lecturing, rote memorization and multiple choice tests. Instead, students want to be able to talk about ideas and be involved in projects--especially projects that connect the course material to real-life contexts."
4. Students want to understand the relevance and importance of what they learn. As one student put it, Teachers need to explain 'why' we are learning and how it will help us later in life for every class taken. Make all of the classes related to real life and important for us to know." This may be especially critical for general education where students take courses from many different areas. But, as scholars argue, students

don't need just information; they need meaningful information. They don't need just knowledge; they need knowledge that makes sense and inspires belief. They need knowledge that helps them understand why learning and living are worthwhile. (Csikszentmihalyi and McCormack, 1986, p.419)

None of these perspectives about teaching and teachers is novel. Students recognize the kinds of academic experiences that promote their learning. By their own account they have had too many experiences in which instructors were unenthusiastic, disinterested, uninspired, distant, and even openly negative toward students and general education courses. As our student said earlier it does not take many of these experiences to change a student's view about the value of learning.

Another aspect of general education that students view negatively lies beyond the influence of the individual instructor. It is the lack of educational coherence in the curriculum. Students have said they do not understand the point of general education and they do not understand how the curriculum fits together--the way that individual courses add up to something larger, the connections among the parts of the curriculum, the cumulative effect on students. As the authors of Strong Foundations argue

Undergraduate education often strikes students as a bewildering introduction into diversity: different bodies of knowledge, modes of inquiry, ways of knowing, voices, historical periods, and cultures. This centrifugal exposure to diversity is an essential component of the point of general education. And yet an equally essential component is the counterbalancing centripetal pursuit of coherence. Thus general education starts with diversity but aims at coherence. (p.13)

Increasing general educational coherence requires collective faculty action across the disciplines. Unless faculty work with one another to create links, connections and integration, students will continue to experience general education as a batch of unrelated courses. Despite the quality of individual courses, the whole will remain less than the sum of its parts.

Finally, if there is a single, unifying idea from this survey it might be that we, as faculty and administrators, need to work on connecting learning". A report by the Association of American Colleges argues that

Connected learning calls for actively making relationships between fields, applying knowledge from one context to another, and taking seriously students' interests in relating academic learning to the wider world of public issues as well as individuals' experiences and goals.
(The Challenge of Connecting Learning, 1991, p.19)

Based upon what students have told us, general education would be a stronger, more vital program if faculty fostered more connected learning. This means promoting connections between:

1. ideas learned in the classroom and real life" contexts,
2. ideas across different subject areas,
3. students and what they learn.

Ultimately, achieving this depends upon promoting connections among instructors from different disciplines, among instructors and students, and in the classroom among students.

A final quotation by a serious student echoes many concerns expressed in the survey.

"I loved UW-L but I don't feel like I got a quality education. The coursework was not very challenging, especially general education and by no means was I a great intellect. After four years here I find it hard to remember more than a few classes in which I really learned. Part of the problem is multiple choice testing. That is so high school. Students memorize what they need to and forget the day after the tests. I personally hate essay tests, but I feel they are necessary in order to evaluate whether or not students have a thorough understanding of the material. Profs know this, but continue to give multiple choice tests for their own convenience. This brings me to my next point. Too many profs don't seem to care. I can count on one hand the number of profs I had in the past four years that genuinely cared whether or not their students left their class with anything more than a good grade. Something is wrong there. Students can sense when a prof is going through the motions. These feelings may not be reflected on the teacher evaluation forms because at the time the students think it is great to have an easy class. It is not until they are about to graduate (like myself) that they look back and say, Boy, I wish that prof would have been a little tougher so I would still remember some of what I learned." I am going to grad school and I thank God because I don't feel that I have the skills necessary to enter the work world. Part of that is due to a weak (omitted) major, but also the lack of applicability of general education courses. I hate to dump on UWL and I really don't have anything to compare it to. Part of my frustration stems from the fact that I neglected to take advantage of the educational opportunities that surround Even though my profs didn't challenge me, I could have challenged myself. I realized that too late, I'm afraid. Part of the problem was being young and unaware that I was here to learn, not to have fun and get through as fast as possible. How did I get a 3.77 GPA without caring? That says something about the quality of the curriculum. Sorry about that little tirade. Maybe once I get out in the real world I will realize how much I really did learn. Regardless, I know I will look back on my years at UWL as a somewhat blurred, but positive experience."