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Article Excerpt
A CLASSIC COMING-OF-AGE ritual in Latin culture is the quinceanera, an elaborate fifteenth birthday celebration held to announce the arrival of a young woman. The quinceanera not only honors girls for having attained a certain level of maturity, but it also raises expectations for their further development and prosperous futures. Miami Dade College recently held a similar celebration for a set of youthful ideals that have, metaphorically, moved out of the faculty house. Spelled out in a new set of learning outcomes (see p. 32), these ideals are expected to raise levels of achievement and awareness throughout the college.
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On October 19, 2007, students and faculty signed a covenant of engagement with ten outcomes that had been adopted the previous year. A wide range of interested parties gathered in Miami's Freedom Tower to pledge their support, including the leadership of the college, the president and CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, and U.S. Under Secretary of Education Sara Martinez Tucker. Fittingly, we were surrounded by history and art. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the golden Freedom Tower is a beacon of hope well known for welcoming Cuban refugees in the 1960s--myself included--and at the time of our event, it was hosting a landmark exhibition of etchings by Francisco de Goya. Thus did not the event itself evoke learning outcomes five and nine, which address diverse cultures and aesthetics, respectively.
Like the etchings on the walls, the Miami Dade College Learning Outcomes are becoming etched and framed in our collective mind. They are also taking root in every course. For example, students taking Biology and Environment with Professor Chris Migliaccio receive an extensive syllabus, a course study guide, and a chart of what he calls "Gen Ed Vitamins" that delineates how the ten learning outcomes align with the objective and enriching activities of the course....
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