As students begin scheduling for the next semester, they may ask you for assistance with choosing General Education courses. There are a few easy ways students can search for General Education courses using the schedule of courses and Schedule Builder, which will be highlighted in this edition of the Advising Essentials. (For more information about the General Education requirements, check out this archived issueof the Advising Essentials.)
Using the Schedule of Courses in LionPATH
When utilizing the live schedule of courses, students are able to refine their search criteria, including narrowing down by General Education category.Utilize this tutorial to help you navigate to the Schedule of Courses in LionPATH.
To find General Education courses, input the semester and campus, as seen above. Leave the other drop down menus blank and select the green arrow next to Additional Search Criteria. This will open a variety of criteria that can be used to narrow down the search.
To find classes that fulfill a specific General Education category, select General Education from the Course Attribute menu. You can then choose the specific General Education category you are searching for from the Course Attribute Value menu below. You can continue to refine your search using the other drop down menus, or you can select the Search button to complete your General Education search. The search results will include all of the courses that will fulfill the General Education requirement you selected. NOTE: Having the Show Open Classes Only box selected will yield only courses in that category that are still available.
Using Schedule Builder
This document provides information on how to navigate to Schedule Builder. Once in Schedule Builder choose +Add Course. This page will automatically default to searching for a class by subject and number. This is great if a student knows exactly which course they want to add to their list of options in Schedule Builder. However, to search for a whole category of General Education courses, choose the Search by Course Attribute tab, as seen below.
Once selected, input the General Education category you are searching for in the Attribute menu. Tip: To search for a class that fulfills multiple requirements, you can input mulitple attributes simultaneously, as shown below.
You can bypass the Section Attribute menu or select one of the available options (they are not required to complete the search). Once you select the Course drop down menu, you will be able to see the courses that fulfill the criteria you selected above. NOTE: If a course is no longer available because it is full, it will not typically display in Schedule Builder.
Both Schedule Builder and the live schedule of courses can be utilized to help students find courses that will satisfy the General Education requirements they still need.
If you would like additional training using these tools or understanding General Education requirements, the DUS Advisers are more than happy to help! Please emailaskacpc@psu.eduor call 814-898-6164 for assistance.
