GENERAL EDUCATION GOALS, 2008-2010

  1. Communication: The goal of the Communication requirement is to enhance the effective use of the English language essential to students’ success in school and in the world by way of learning to read and listen critically and to write and speak thoughtfully, clearly, coherently, and persuasively. To achieve this outcome, students will demonstrate the ability to:
    1. Analyze and evaluate oral and/or written expression by listening and reading critically for elements that reflect an awareness of situation, audience, purpose, and diverse points of view.
    2. Distill a primary purpose into a single, compelling statement and order and develop major points in a reasonable and convincing manner based on that purpose.
    3. Develop appropriate rhetorical patterns (i.e. narration, example, process, comparison/contrast, classification, cause/effect, definition, argumentation) and other special functions (i.e., analysis or research), while demonstrating writing and/or speaking skills from process to product.
    4. Understand that the writing and/or speaking processes include procedures such as planning, organizing, composing, revising, and editing.
    5. Make written and/or oral presentations employing correct diction, syntax, usage, grammar, and mechanics.
    6. Manage and coordinate basic information gathered from multiple sources for the purposes of problem solving and decision-making.
    7. Recognize the use of evidence, analysis, and persuasive strategies, including basic distinctions among opinions, facts, and inferences.
  1. Humanities and/or Fine Arts: The goal of the Humanities and/or Fine Arts requirement is to enhance the understanding of students who, as citizens and educated members of their communities, need to know and appreciate their own human cultural heritage and its development in a historical and global context. Also, through study of Humanities and/or Fine Arts, students will develop an understanding, which they otherwise would not have, of the present as informed by the past. To achieve this outcome, students will demonstrate the ability to:
    1. Analyze significant primary texts and works of art, ancient, pre-modern, and modern, as forms of cultural and creative expression.
    2. Explain the ways in which humanistic and/or artistic expression throughout the ages expresses the culture and values of its time and place.
    3. Explore global/cultural diversity.
    4. Frame a comparative context through which they can critically assess the ideas, forces, and values that have created the modern world.
    5. Recognize the ways in which both change and continuity have affected human history.
    6. Practice the critical and analytical methodologies of the Humanities and/or Fine Arts.
  1. Social/Behavioral Sciences: The goal of the Social/Behavioral Sciences requirement is (a) to develop in the student an understanding of self and the world by examining the content and processes used by social and behavioral sciences to discover, describe, explain, and predict human behavior and social systems; (b) to enhance knowledge of social and cultural institutions and the values of this society and other societies and cultures in the world; and (c) to understand the interdependent nature of the individual, family, and society in shaping human behavior and determining quality of life. To achieve this outcome, students will demonstrate the ability to:
    1. Recognize, describe, and explain social institutions, structures, and processes and the complexities of a global culture and diverse society.
    2. Think critically about how individuals are influenced by political, geographic, economic, cultural, and family institutions in their own and other diverse cultures and explain how one’s own belief system may differ from others.
    3. Explore the relationship between the individual and society as it affects the personal behavior, social development and quality of life of the individual, the family and the community.
    4. Examine the impact of behavioral and social scientific research on major contemporary issues and their disciplines’ effects on individuals and society.
    5. Using the most appropriate principles, methods, and technologies, perceptively and objectively gather, analyze, and present social and behavioral science research data, draw logical conclusions, and apply those conclusions to one’s life and society.
    6. Take ethical stands based on appropriate research in the social and behavioral sciences.
    7. Analyze and communicate the values and processes that are used to formulate theories regarding the social context of individual human behavior in the social and behavioral sciences.
  1. History: The goal of the History requirement is to develop in students an understanding of the present that is informed by an awareness of past heritages, including the complex and interdependent relationships between cultures and societies. To achieve this outcome, students will demonstrate the ability to:
    1. Analyze historical facts and interpretations.
    2. Analyze and compare political, geographic, economic, social, cultural, religious and intellectual institutions, structures, and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
    3. Recognize and articulate the diversity of human experience across a range of historical periods and the complexities of a global culture and society.
    4. Draw on historical perspective to evaluate contemporary problems/issues.
    5. Analyze the contributions of past cultures/societies to the contemporary world.
  1. Natural Sciences: Issues in today’s world require scientific information and a scientific approach to informed decision making. Therefore, the goal of the Natural Science requirement is to guide students toward becoming scientifically literate. This scientific understanding gained in these courses enhances students’ ability to define and solve problems, reason with an open mind, think critically and creatively, suspend judgment, and make decisions that may have local or global significance. To achieve this outcome, students will demonstrate the ability to:
    1. Conduct an experiment, collect and analyze data, and interpret results in a laboratory setting.
    2. Analyze, evaluate and test a scientific hypothesis.
    3. Use basic scientific language and processes, and be able to distinguish between scientific and non-scientific explanations.
    4. Identify unifying principles and repeatable patterns in nature, the values of natural diversity, and apply them to problems or issues of a scientific nature.
    5. Analyze and discuss the impact of scientific discovery on human thought and behavior.
  1. Mathematics: To expand students’ understanding of mathematics beyond the entry level requirements for college and to extend their knowledge of mathematics through relevant mathematical modeling with applications, problem solving, critical thinking skills, and the use of appropriate technologies. To achieve this outcome, students will demonstrate the ability to:
    1. Build on  (not replicate) the competencies gained through the study of two years of high school algebra and one year of high school geometry.
    2. Use mathematics to solve problems and determine if the solutions are reasonable.
    3. Use mathematics to model real world behaviors and apply mathematical concepts to the solution of real-life problems.
    4. Make meaningful connections between mathematics and other disciplines.
    5. Use technology for mathematical reasoning and problem solving.
    6. Apply mathematical and/or basic statistical reasoning to analyze data and graphs.
  1. Technological Literacy: The goal of the Technological Literacy requirement is to develop in the student an understanding of the role of technology in society and the skills necessary to adapt to changing technology. Students will also learn to gather and disseminate current and historical information in their field of specialization to aid them in making informed decisions. To achieve this outcome, students will demonstrate the ability to:
    1. Perform routine personal computer operations (e.g. use word processor to generate a document, communicate effectively using the Internet, etc.).
    2. Communicate effectively using the Internet.
    3. Identify information resources, facilities, and personnel appropriate to their needs.
    4. Access information using manual and electronic systems.
    5. Evaluate retrieved information to determine its relevance to intended use.
    6. Use retrieved information in making decisions


Posted: February 6, 2009