Editor's Notes

Welcome to the Journal of General Education, Volume 54, Issue 4! This issue contains articles that come from a variety of perspectives, from the scholarly essay, to the qualitative case study, to the survey research method, as the authors draw from a wealth of methods to shed light on the notion of general education. A theme that ties these articles together is the notion of promoting change within students that extends beyond the walls of the classroom and institution and permeates their lives.

Nesteruk, in an essay titled "A Proposal for Optional Common Curricula at Liberal Arts Colleges," compares ethics in society to structures for a general education curriculum. This focus on the linking of academic work and the distinctions between obligation and choice in a democratic society allows Nesteruk to propose an optional common curriculum. Spiezio, Baker, and Boland, in a multi-institutional study entitled "General Education and Civic Engagement: An Empirical Analysis of Pedagogical Possibilities," present empirical evidence outlining the benefits of using service learning in general education courses to provide a foundation for an integrated, multidisciplinary learning environment that promotes civic engagement. Halx and Reybold, in "A Pedagogy of Force: Faculty Perspectives of Critical Thinking Capacity in Undergraduate Students," examine the relationship between how faculty conceive of critical thinking and the pedagogical choices that they make through reviewing relevant literature and presenting findings from a case study. And Tan and Morris, in "Undergraduate College Students, Laptop Computers, and Lifelong Learning," consider upper-level undergraduate students' perceptions of the effectiveness of computers in helping them to develop lifelong learning skills.

I hope you will enjoy this issue and that in reading these important works, you will be inspired to make your own contributions to the Journal of General Education!