Undergraduate Core Curriculum Rationale

The Undergraduate Core Curriculum enables students to develop the skills and general knowledge that are essential to success in their major programs and careers after graduation.

The Core Curriculum is structured around a set of Core Learning Outcomes, which state what students should know and be able to do upon completion of the core requirements. There are eight Core Learning Outcomes organized in four main groups:

TRANSITIONAL STUDIES 

is both a group and a learning outcome.

Transitional Studies

Upon completion of transitional studies courses students will be able to demonstrate skills they need for a successful transition to university life.

Rationale: Transitioning to university life is a challenge for many students. Transitional studies courses help the students develop the skills they need to ease this transition. These courses help the students develop the physical, mental, organizational, and financial skills necessary for success at the university and beyond.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS 

provide the foundations of communication, reasoning, and inquiry needed for success in every human endeavor.

Communication Skills

Students will comprehend, analyze, and evaluate the effectiveness of various forms of written and spoken communication, and they will assemble original written and spoken communications that display appropriate organization, clarity, and documentation for a given purpose and audience.

Rationale: Writing and speaking are generally done for others, so communication requires both a communicator and an audience, and involves listening and speaking, reading and writing. These are the means for transmitting information and sharing knowledge. In particular, recognizing the importance of, and developing the skills necessary to, building and maintaining communication relationships is an important aspect of learning and leading. Being a skillful communicator is necessary to being useful to the communities to which one belongs.

Reasoning Skills

Critical Thinking. Students will accurately evaluate the reasonableness of arguments by determining whether their supporting reasons are true and properly related to the conclusion, and they will construct reasonable arguments using various forms of evidence drawn from multiple sources, distinguishing reliable from unreliable information.

Rationale: The development of critical thinking competencies supports students' acquisition of analytical and evaluative skills essential for inquiry, deliberation, and decision-making in academic and non-academic settings. As students develop their critical thinking skills, they develop more concern about rational standards. They learn to think for themselves, and this helps free them from unwarranted beliefs and bad habits of thought. By developing their critical thinking skills, they become more reasonable and more ready to fulfill responsible roles in society and live fulfilling, successful lives. Effective critical thinking skills and the habits of mind associated with these skills are essential for life-long learning and reasonable, responsible citizenship in global communities.

Quantitative Reasoning. Students will apply math to situations common in everyday living. They will calculate, interpret, and assess statistical data and concepts, percentages, proportions, rates of change, geometric measures, linear equations, probability and risk.

Rationale: The development of quantitative literacy competencies supports students' acquisition of the skills essential for inquiry, deliberation, and decision-making in academic and non-academic settings. Mastery of quantitative reasoning skills enables students to employ the methods of inquiry utilized by a variety of different academic disciplines. Quantitative literacy is essential for successful living, life-long learning, and responsible citizenship in global communities.

Information Literacy

Students will formulate effective questions based on a need; organize, sort, evaluate, and retrieve academic information to address the need; cite sources appropriately for their context.

Rationale: The proliferation of information and information tools in academia, the workforce, and the broader community requires students to have appropriate inquiry skills to solve problems using the best information available. Students use inquiry skills to contribute positively to the academic learning community and to practice ethical behaviors relative to information, information technology and the creation process. Effective use of Inquiry skills on a continuous basis is essential for lifelong learning and responsible world citizenship. As part of the accreditation requirements, students are expected to demonstrate sufficient level of inquiry skill.

DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES

develop an understanding of the different ways in which knowledge about the natural and human world is created.

Scientific Literacy

Students will create and assess hypotheses using research methods, interpret and express the results of observation and experimentation, understand the fundamental concepts of natural and social sciences, and apply scientific knowledge to situations common to daily life to promote physical and psychological well-being.

Rationale: The world is constantly changing with new developments in economics, the sciences (behavioral and natural), health, criminal justice, and technology. Literate Fayetteville State University graduates/citizens must have the ability to critically seek out, analyze, and interpret representative data. These skills will have a profound impact on the way they live, spend, and plan. Current research indicates there is a strong link between economics, the sciences (behavioral and natural), health, criminal justice, and technology. If FSU students are to become fully productive citizens, they should understand how these scientific and behavioral disciplines enable them to function successfully in an evolving society.

Humanities and Creative Arts

Students will demonstrate comprehension, analysis, and/or synthesis of the cultural and historical contributions of the humanities and/or arts to human cultural and intellectual advancement by engaging in inquiry, writing, and/or creative processes.

Rationale. Students will demonstrate comprehension, analysis, and/or synthesis of the cultural and historical contributions of the humanities and/or arts to human cultural and intellectual advancement by engaging in inquiry, writing, and/or creative processes.

GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY

FSU graduates should understand the diverse and interconnected world in which they live to become learned and responsible global citizens.

Global Literacy

Students will experience global diversity through interaction, examination, and critical reflection. Our students will broaden their comprehension and appreciation of globalization and their role as global citizens.

Rationale: The world is increasingly interconnected. The economic well-being of all nations and the environmental health of the planet align all the nations of the world within an interdependent relationship. The development of a global economy and sustainable environment knows no national or cultural borders. Amid the ongoing political alliances and conflicts which span the globe, cultural differences are an inescapable feature of the post-modern world, given the revolutions in telecommunications and transportation. Given the disproportionate impact of U.S economic, political, military, and cultural policies around the globe, our students have a particular obligation to understand this impact and to appreciate the perspectives of other cultures. To understand, work in, and effectively contribute within this interconnected culturally diverse, technological world requires a broad knowledge of cultures other than one's own, a developed cultural sensitivity, and sufficient communication skills.

Ethics and Civic Engagement

Students will demonstrate knowledge and application of principles of ethical and civic responsibility.

Rationale. To be an educated person requires more than specialized knowledge and technical skills. It also means that individuals are capable of understanding, evaluating, and acting upon their ethical and civic responsibilities. Ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human beings ought to act in our roles as citizens, workers, students, professionals, friends, family members, and so on. Civic engagement is acting upon a sense of responsibility to the common good in our communities, including not only our geographic communities, from local to global, but also those based on interests or identity. An FSU education should help shape students' ethical values, moral reasoning, their readiness to accept personal and social responsibility, and their preparation for responsible citizenship.

For specific requirements and a list of courses that satisfy the Undergraduate Core Curriculum, go to the FSU Undergraduate Catalog.