Jude, As I teach a gen ed required course I can relate to your situation. Thank you for the comments about capturing student attention when it comes to courses like this. You are right it is a challenge because there are times the students do not see the connection between this required course and their career preparation no matter how many applications I make. The good news though is that for the majority of students they do see the connection and what hard at acquiring the information in the course so they will be more effective at both written and oral communication. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.