COMMON ACADEMIC GOALS & SOCIO-CULTURAL VALUES IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

Information Gathering and Synthesis
Goals:
(1) To understand American socio-cultural values and assumptions as they relate to academic goals in the university environment.
(2) To work with syntheses of information from several sources and to differentiate between primary and secondary information.
(3) To improve thesis development and rhetorical organization skills. (4) To address the shortfalls noted in Assignment # 1.
Points to consider:
In this assignment, you will need to analyze the information contained in the Seattle University Undergraduate or Graduate Bulletin of Information as it pertains to
both students in general and students in your chosen major or discipline. In addition, you will draw upon sources of information regarding the educational goals of at
least two other American universities. Specifically, you should try to determine the following:
(1) What issues do American universities see as important in student education? You should include a discussion of important qualities in the education of all
students, and not just those in your major.
(2) What do American universities hope that students learn or achieve in their overall course of study? Why?
(3) What types of skills do American universities want their graduates to have? Why? (4) What types of skills, qualities and knowledge are the focus in your major?
Why?
Tasks:
(1) Your paper needs to specify the goals and priorities of American universities for student
education and professional qualifications, based on the Seattle University Bulletin (Undergraduate or Graduate), the Seattle University website, other official Seattle
University publications and at least two other similar sources of information on at least two other American universities.
(2) In addition, your paper must explain why the universities have these particular goals and priorities; with reference to the information contained in American
Cultural Patterns, that is,
how American cultural values and assumptions influence the universities’ priorities for their students and their qualifications. No comparison with other cultures is
needed or appropriate; focus exclusively on American educational culture.
(3) Finally, you need to craft a coherent, cohesive and synthesized paper that presents an analysis of your findings.