General III. Education Segment I: Basic Subjects Requirements
A. Underlying Principles of the GE Segment I Basic Subjects Requirements. An educated person should be able to communicate with clarity and force, to read with discrimination and understanding, and to think with precision and creativity. The Segment I GE curriculum develops a disciplined use of language for effective communication, builds disciplined thought processes for sharpened analytical skills, and helps students develop greater ability and confidence to reason and make judgments about mathematically based information. SFSUs GE Segment I: Basic Subjects requirements include: Written Communication, Oral Communication, Critical Thinking, and Quantitative Reasoning. B. GE Segment I Course Expectations and Student Learning Outcomes. The following course expectations and student learning outcomes have been developed by the GE Segment I Committee. Courses proposed for specific GE Segment I requirements will be evaluated on the extent to which they meet the course expectations and student learning outcomes specified below. GE Segment I - Critical Thinking - Course Expectations (see Appendix B1). Courses approved for GE Segment I Critical Thinking should: 1. Develop skills of inquiry and critical thinking. 2. Encourage students to employ these skills (inquiry, critical thinking) on themselves and society. GE Segment I - Critical Thinking - Student Learning Outcomes (see Appendix B2). After completion of a GE Segment I Critical Thinking course, students should be capable of: 1. Recognizing, articulating, and questioning assumptions and presuppositions underlying discourse, including one's own. 2. Identifying formal and informal fallacies of language and thought. 3. Distinguishing arguments from other forms of discourse, and premises from conclusions. 4. Using language critically and precisely. 5. Identifying suppressed and overlooked evidence. 6. Writing reasoned discourse that provides a detailed evaluation of a complex argument, including possible objections to it. GE Segment I - Oral Communication - Course Expectations (see Appendix C1). Courses approved for GE Segment I Oral Communication should: 1. Emphasize the content of speech as well as its form. 2. Explain how an individual's background, identity, or perceptions influence communication. 3. Explore the social significance of communication, including how it operates in various situations. 4. Take a rhetorical perspective, emphasizing reasoning and advocacy, organization and accuracy as well as the discovery, critical evaluation, and reporting of information.
5. Require active participation in oral communication. GE Segment I - Oral Communication - Student Learning Outcomes (see Appendix C2). After completion of a GE Segment I Oral Communication course, students should be capable of: 1. Demonstrating awareness of the complexity of communication in terms of its psychological, social, political, cultural, and ethical dimensions. 2. Demonstrating knowledge about verbal and nonverbal communication in various contexts (e.g., interpersonal, small group, public speaking, intercultural). 3. Reducing their own speech anxiety and projecting greater confidence as a speaker. 4. Listening actively and providing constructive feedback. 5. Considering an audience's knowledge, background and attitudes when constructing a message. 6. Recognizing and articulating issues from one's own perspective, while acknowledging the perspectives of others. 7. Locating, evaluating and reporting information in support of a point of view. 8. Assessing claims or arguments as a speaker and listener. 9. Organizing, constructing, and delivering prepared and spontaneous presentations. 10. Demonstrating effective verbal and nonverbal delivery skills. GE Segment I - Quantitative Reasoning - Course Expectations (see Appendix D1). Courses approved for GE Segment I Quantitative Reasoning should: 1. Improve student abilities to incorporate mathematical ideas in their thinking and discourse. 2. Develop skills and confidence in interpreting, creating, and using mathematical expressions. 3. Provide for conceptual understanding of mathematical reasoning and its application. 4. Increase students appreciation for the importance of quantitative skills and the relevance of quantitative reasoning to everyday life. 5. Increase awareness of issues concerning the appropriate use of quantitative data and procedures. 6. Improve students ability to use mathematics. GE Segment I - Quantitative Reasoning - Student Learning Outcomes (see Appendix D2). After completion of a GE Segment I Quantitative Reasoning course, students should be capable of: 1. Translating between verbal statements and mathematical expressions. 2. Understanding mathematics both as a descriptive language and a set of techniques. 3. Applying quantitative information and procedures to contexts both inside and outside the classroom. 4. Presenting and summarizing information in quantitative form. 5. Interpreting, making judgments about, and drawing conclusions from quantitative material. 6. Performing mathematical calculations.
7. Using appropriate technology for mathematical operations. 8. Evaluating critically the uses of quantitative procedures and descriptions, including identifying appropriate applications and deceptive or erroneous reasoning. 9. Constructing mathematical models. GE Segment I - Written Communication - Course Expectations (see Appendix E1). Courses approved for GE Segment I Written Communication should: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Require the reading of substantial texts worthy of critique and analysis. Provide students with opportunities to read critically and analyze discipline-specific texts. Provide students with ample opportunities to practice their writing. Provide for thorough and demanding instructor critique of student writing. Require significant amounts of writing in order to enhance student composition skills. Require individual papers (drafts and final) ranging in length from 500 to 2,000 words. Require total writing assignments (drafts and final) ranging from 8,000 to 10,000 words. Require composition practice exercises in the use of clear reasoning, organization, accuracy in language use, and the ability to discover, critically evaluate, and report information.
GE Segment - I Written Communication - Student Learning Outcomes (see Appendix E2). After completion of a GE Segment I Written Communication course, students should be capable of: 1. Attaining writing skills suitable for upper division course work. 2. Understanding discipline-specific texts thoroughly and using them as a basis for their writing assignments. 3. Formulating a thesis based on their readings. 4. Substantiating a thesis through appropriate references to primary and secondary texts, and through personal insights. 5. Distinguishing between adequate and inadequate substantiation of a thesis or topic, both at the essay and the paragraph levels. 6. Writing essays and paragraphs that are well focused and relevant to the subject identified in their theses and topics. 7. Demonstrating knowledge of the principles of sentence development through the ability to develop ideas within a single, complex sentence, rather than in an accretion of simple sentences. 8. Writing compositions that are mainly free of significant errors in usage, writing mechanics, and spelling. C. GE Segment I Committee Charge, Membership, Terms of Service, and Chair. 1. Committee Charge: The GE Segment I Basic Subjects Committee will evaluate and recommend to the GEC course proposals for GE Segment I based on their adequacy in fulfilling the stated GE course expectations and student learning outcomes for the specific Segment I Basic Subject requirement for which they are proposed. The Segment I Committee's reasons for recommending the disapproval of courses will be stated in writing to
the GEC and to the appropriate department chairs and college deans in terms of the stated course expectations and student learning outcomes for the Segment I requirement for which the courses were proposed. At the request of the GEC, the GE Segment I Committee shall periodically review Segment I course expectations and student learning outcomes for their continued currency and adequacy for satisfying GE assessment requirements. The chair of the Segment I Committee is responsible for submitting a comprehensive written report to the GEC summarizing the committees actions, deliberations, and recommendations. The Segment I Committee shall consult and coordinate its work with that of the Committee on Written English Proficiency (CWEP). 2. Committee Membership, Charge, Terms of Service, and Chair: Seven (7) Members. The GE Segment I Committee shall be composed of the following seven members: One representative from the Department of English One representative from the Department of Speech One representative from the Department of Philosophy One representative from the Department of Mathematics Two At-Large Representatives: The Academic Senate shall solicit nominees from a pool of qualified candidates from among those colleges/areas not currently represented on this committee to include the colleges/areas of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Business, Creative Arts, Education, Ethnic Studies, Health and Human Services, the Library, and Student Affairs; but not from the colleges of Humanities or Science and Engineering. The Academic Senate will conduct At Large elections and disseminate the election results to the GEC and to the deans/administrators for those At Large candidates elected by their respective colleges/areas. One Student Representative: The Academic Senate shall request from the President of the Associated Student government a student nominee to serve on the GE Segment I Committee. The President of the Associated Students shall nominate/select a student to serve on the Segment I Committee for a one-year term. The Academic Senate will forward the name of the student nominee to the GEC Chair by the fourth week of the fall semester of each academic year.
The Academic Senate sh...