social sciences | Distance Learning Systems (DLSI)

Why Are Gen Eds Required for My Degree and How Can I Save Time and Money Completing Them?

If you’ve never been to college, you may ask yourself that question. Most people would much rather focus on courses that relate specifically to their chosen field of study and their career choice. The reality is that colleges and universities require from 30% to 50% of coursework to be general electives (gen eds). I know when I was younger and began my degree in engineering, I was anxious to start my core classes, but I soon learned that those courses would begin in the fourth or fifth semester. Many students may question whether gen eds are a waste of time, but is that true? First of all, all university programs require gen ed courses, so you are working your way toward your final goal. Secondly, you will learn new subjects, and you may develop a new passion. Elective courses also allow you to explore topics that interest you.

Colleges and universities want “well-rounded” graduates, and gen eds provide a comprehensive education. They promote critical thinking across multiple subjects. General education is more than what it is often perceived to be. Fundamentally, the purpose of education is not to train a student for a specific job but equips them with the skills they need to live life (Walters & Bockorn, 2018).

Once I started my gen ed curriculum, it began to make sense. I was experiencing high-level learning and then saw the value of these courses. For those of you who may not have any experience with post-secondary education, and those with limited knowledge of this subject, here are some examples of general education courses by category:

English Language and Literature:

College Composition, Oral Communication

Arts and Humanities:

Arts, Music, Philosophy, Religion, Ethics, History

Social Sciences:

Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics

Natural Science:

Chemistry, Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology

Mathematics:

Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, Statistics

So, we understand that gen eds are required and why, but how can we expedite the completion of these courses and save money? I’ve found that most colleges and universities nationwide provide access to and accept virtually the same courses to satisfy this requirement. One very good and very affordable option for completing these courses in the shortest time possible and for the lowest cost is through Distance Learning Systems.

Here are some of the benefits of utilizing Distance Learning Systems to satisfy this requirement.

Distance Learning Systems provide a wide assortment of general education courses that satisfy most, if not all, general education requirements.
All courses provided by Distance Learning Systems are ACE (American Council on Education) recommended.
Distance Learning Systems has partnership agreements with over 30 of the nation’s finest universities. This guarantees the transferability of all courses completed with Distance Learning Systems into the degree-granting institution.
All courses are delivered 100% online 24/7.
Distance Learning Systems provide an accelerated path to over 450 online degree programs.
The cost of these courses is about 56% less expensive than the average cost of university tuition.
You have options when beginning a new program or returning to complete your degree. I absolutely see and appreciate the value of these general education courses, but my position has always been and will always be to maximize value and minimize time. Good luck!

Written By: Dave Christy

Humanities and Social Sciences

Scholar operators in the humanities and public sciences are essentially modifying their analysis methods to be more suitable with the behaviors which technological innovation is magnificent on us independently, culturally and expertly. There are great possibilities how this is impacting analysis and, probably, an upcoming profession as an education in humanities.

Digital Humanities can be described as the use of internet centered technological innovation in humanities and public science analysis. At the same time a relatively new area. Archives all over the globe have scanned their data resource, and sometimes even resource material. The primary example of this is the English Library’s on the internet Paper database, which features almost all released magazines in England since Jan 1, 1710. At the age of the internet it cannot argue the importance of making the things easier through digital. In making references digital, it allows the users to operate and improvised their resources.

The procedure of digitizing has not been without complications. Hand-written resources in particular have intended that some of the digitization is either imperfect or uncertain, and in situations even facetious. Here altmetrics get into the structure, at least at the material stage. By discovering which interest you the most, you can quickly make a record of material that are necessary to at least have a look at. Such material hardly ignites much press interest in comparison to, for example, those released in medication and astronomy.

Before a long time there will certainly be public scientists and other scientists who will look at the traditional and public effects of digitalization and, of course, the World Wide Web. Altmetrics will likely be a requirement important interest from scientists and other humanities and public technology students for years to come.

Problems in Humanities

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story about dropping enrollments in the humanities professions. The information is a Harvard review about decreasing enrollments in the humanities; the point they drew is that humanities enrollments are crumbling because the degrees do not instantly offer themselves to post-graduate employment (never mind that the Harvard review makes it obvious that the actual competitors are with the social sciences, not the 1% of humanities-curious first-years who major in computer science).

But to really demonstrate a crisis, you need some figures. Associated with the story was a chart acknowledged to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences displaying an amazing failure in humanities enrollments. And although it shows up in the media regularly to implement a tale of corrosion, some wider viewpoints on the information make obvious that the “Humanities in crisis” tale is seriously embellished. First of all, the chart never quite supports the factor that something dreadful is going on in the humanities right now. Anyone looking carefully will observe, as Eileen Bérubé has, that the actual failure of humanities enrollments occurred in the 1970s. There is small lull in the Great Recession, but enrollments decreased more in the mid-1990s. Sure, a few Harvard degrees have turned from history to government in the last decade, but how much of that should any of us be distressed?

But even if the fall is old, it does succeed in making the humanities appear extremely out of date. If it is not decreasing, it is still past the time of importance. And that is a powerful story for all kinds of individuals. It makes humanists experience as though they are entitled to a bigger share of the school, and that some pathology in the lifestyle at large has them under stress. It allows more traditionalist experts of the humanities feel protected in declaring that something (deconstruction, multiculturalism, etc.) has toppled the areas from their regular position. And it indicates that anyone with an equation to “fix” the humanities can guarantee a comeback in more untroubled times.