CETL Resources: GEN ED

Baehr, J. (2011). The Inquiring Mind: On Intellectual Virtues and Virtue Epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Brant, J., Brooks, E. and Lamb. M. (2022) Cultivating virtue in the university. New York: Oxford University Press.

Carr, B. (1999). Pity and compassion as social virtues. Philosophy, 74(289), 411–429. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3751843

Corker et al. (2011) “Conscientiousness in the classroom: A process explanation” Journal of Personality, 80 , pp.995-1028.

John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008) “Paradigm shift to the integrative Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues.” Handbook of personality: Theory and research New York: Guilford Press, pp. 265–286.

Paul, R. (2000). Critical thinking, moral integrity, and citizenship: Teaching for the intellectual virtues. In Guy Axtell, Knowledge, beliefs, and character: Readings in virtue epistemology, (pp. 163—75). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Roberts, B.W., Lejuez, C., Krueger, R. F., Richards, J.M., & Hill. P.L. (2014). What is conscientiousness and how can it be assessed? Developmental Psychology, 50(5), 1315-1330.

Watson, L. (2019). Curiosity and inquisitiveness. In The Routledge Handbook of Virtue Epistemology, ed. Heather Battaly, New York: Routledge.

Research Support for Teaching Practices

Bahrami, Z., Heidari, A., & Cranney, J. (2022). Applying SMART goal intervention leads to greater goal attainment, need satisfaction and positive affect. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 24(6), 869–882. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2022.018954

Cazan, A. M. (2012). Enhancing self-regulated learning by learning journals. Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, 33, 413–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.01.154

Elbow, P. (2008). The believing game or methodological believing. The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning, 14, Article 3. https://doi.org/10.7290/jaepl14koxv

Frey, T. F., Iwa, K., & Mikroyannidis, A. (2017). Scaffolding reflection: Prompting social constructive metacognitive activity in non‑formal learning. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 9(4), 277–306. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTEL.2017.10004360

Graham, S., & Herbert, M. A. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence for how writing can improve reading. Carnegie Corporation of New York. https://media.carnegie.org/filer_public/9d/e2/9de20604-a055-42da-bc00-77da949b29d7/ccny_report_2010_writing.pdf

Gumilar, S., Hadianto, D., Widodo, A., et al. (2025). The use of anticipation guides in reading activities to support college students in developing scientific written arguments. Science & Education, 34, 1249–1272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-023-00484-x

Hamilton, K. L., & Stachowski, A. A. (2025). Should I study or take a break? Students’ use and perceptions of study breaks. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 25(2). https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v25i2.36596

Harkness, S. S., & Noblitt, B. (2017). Playing the believing game: Enhancing productive discourse and mathematical understanding. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 45, 63–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0732-3123(16)30190-0

Johnson, D., Johnson, R., & Smith, K. (1996). Academic controversy: Enriching college instruction through intellectual conflict (ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Vol. 25, No. 3). George Washington University.

Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Lamb, M., Brant, J., & Brooks, E. (2022, January 4). Seven strategies for character development. The Program for Leadership and Character, Wake Forest University. https://leadershipandcharacter.wfu.edu/vision-2/seven-strategies-for-character-development/

Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41(9), 954–969. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.9.954

Myers, G., & Myers, M. (1985). Instructor’s manual to accompany The dynamics of human communication (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Oyserman, D., & Horowitz, E. (2023). From possible selves and future selves to current action: An integrated review and identity-based motivation synthesis. Advances in Motivation Science, 10, 73–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.adms.2022.11.003

Summers, M., Fernandez, J., Handy‑Hart, C.‑J., Kulle, S., & Flanagan, K. (2024). Undergraduate students develop questioning, creativity, and collaboration skills by using the question formulation technique. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2024.2.15519

CHARACTER is defined as “the collection of stable, deep and enduring dispositions that define who we are and shape how we characteristically think, feel, and act” (Brant, Brooks, and Lamb, 2022, p.117).

CHARACTER EDUCATION that guides the MHU General Education program refers to “the deliberate efforts to develop an individual’s character traits and dispositions in ways that support their individual flourishing and the flourishing of their communities” (Allman et al., 2024, p.222).

A lasting feature of a person and is reflected in the way a person feels, thinks, and act in certain ways (Annas, 2011). Therefore, it is persistent (long-lasting) and reliable (repeating), leading to characteristic habits of a person.

There are moral, intellectual, civic, performance character assets and they all lead to human flourishing and the flourishing of communities.

Character assets need to be used for the right reason (motivation), at the right time, for the right thing, in the right situation.

How does this apply in the academic setting?

Intellectual Character Assets are virtues or traits "necessary for discernment and the pursuit of knowledge, truth, and understanding" (Jubilee Center, 2017, p. 5). They guide us in thinking, feeling, and acting "in the context of epistemic activities" (Baehr, 2021, p. 40). Whereas moral virtues "enable us to act well in a situation that requires an ethical response"(Jubilee Center, 2017, p. 5). The general motivation for all intellectual virtues is that of improving epistemic standing (Watson, 2019, p.156).

Conscientiousness

• Related to “the types of goals, study strategies, and work habits that in turn promote success in academic contexts” (Corker et al., 2012, p. 996).
• The “socially prescribed impulse control that facilitates task- and goal-directed behavior, such as thinking before acting, delaying gratification, following norms and rules, and planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks” (John, Naumann, & Soto, 2008, 120).

Curiosity

• Intended as a “basic motivation for inquiry” (Inam, 2012). 

• Curious person is "characteristically motivated to acquire worthwhile epistemic goods that she lacks, or she believes that she lacks" (Watson, 2019, p. 159), and the person is willing to try and acquire those goods.

• It has to be used towards the right object, in the right situation, through the right means, for the right motives (King, 2021, pp. 38-54)

Courage

• “Intellectual” courage is about “pursuing an intellectual good despite the fact that doing so involves a certain threat or potential harm to oneself” (Baehr, J. 2011, 164). It is distinguished from “moral” courage where the person’s aim is directed toward a societal cause (fighting for social justice, etc…) (Baehr, 2011, p.164).
• It may involve an element of fear, but more certainly a threat (King,2021, pp.183-187)
• It must be applied to the right occasions, objects, means and motivations.

 Compassion

• “A consideration of other people's values, beliefs, needs and wants in terms of which their suffering can be understood and hence be shared.” (Carr, 1999, p. 411)
• "Socrates: '...there is unity where there is community of pleasures and pains – where all the citizens are glad or grieved on the same occasions of joy and sorrow?'" Plato, The Republic V
•  "...As the virtuous [student] is to himself, he is to his friend also...He needs to be conscious of the existence of his friend. Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics IX 9, 10