Now that you have completed your first essay or video, pick another two competencies and you can look the sample assignment(s)...do it again! 3 essays or videos (submitted on Bb then later posted to Digication). Papers/Topics will include evidence of

6 General Education Competencies

Critical Thinking

Students will acquire the ability to analyze and interpret a subject insightfully and in depth. Students need to demonstrate the following skills:

• Place subject matter in context.

• Discover its patterns and relationships

• Identify its positive and negative elements.

• Indicate its significance.

• Provide evidence for positions taken by using relevant data accurately.

• Support these positions with arguments that are clear, precise, logical and carefully qualified.

• Show an understanding of opposing positions, identifying their assumptions, reasoning and conclusion.

· Recognize strengths and weaknesses in opposing positions.

Critical Reading

Students will gain the ability to read and understand primary and secondary sources.

Students need to demonstrate the following skills:

• Understand core vocabulary.

• Recognize and distinguish main ideas from supporting ideas in various printed

materials.

• Outline and summarize the content of printed material.

• Distinguish facts, interpretations, and opinions in printed material.

• Analyze and evaluate the value and validity of printed material.

• Draw conclusions and make inferences based on content of printed material.

Information Literacy

Information literacy involves the ability to identify, retrieve, evaluate, organize, cite properly and use a wide range of resources including print, graphic and electronic for independent learning and practical problem solving. Students need to demonstrate the following skills:

• Recognize and articulate the need for information.

• Access information from appropriate sources.

• Critically analyze and evaluate information and its sources.

• Organize, synthesize and integrate information.

• Apply information to the development of a specific purpose using effective and creative decision-making.

• Generate and effectively communicate information and knowledge.

• Develop skills in using information technologies.

• Understand and respect the ethical, legal and sociopolitical aspects of information and information technology.

• Develop an appreciation for the role of information literacy in fostering lifelong learning

Written Communication

Students will gain the ability to communicate clearly and effectively through written communication. Students need to demonstrate the following skills:

1* Choose and narrow a subject.

2* Identify a purpose and formulate an appropriate thesis statement.

3* Organize ideas effectively and develop them within a logical paragraph structure.

4* Support points clearly with adequate and specific evidence.

5* Demonstrate command of accepted English sentence structure and grammar.

6* Revise and edit according to standard English practice, including attention to punctuation and appropriate vocabulary.

7* Acknowledge all sources by documenting research according to a recognized manual.

Oral Communication

Students will gain the ability to comprehend and to communicate orally in American English with precision and clarity. Students will demonstrate the following skills:

1* Appreciate the nature of the listening audience and anticipate its needs and requirements.

2* Express information orally (without reading from a written text) in natural, energetic and vocally varied phrases.

3* Incorporate the responses of listeners into the oral communication process.

4* Hear, interpret, and evaluate information and accurately respond to instructions.

5* Speak in phrases that conform to the conventions of accurate English pronunciation, articulation (diction), grammar and syntax.

6* Employ appropriate non-verbal face and body movements, posture, dress, and visual aids to reinforce the oral/verbal message.

7* Select and narrow a subject plus clarify a purpose/objective.

8* Structure information into purposeful, recognizable units (opening, body, closing) and support ideas using appropriate data and referenced documentation

Quantitative Reasoning