General Education

UTC’s Philosophy and Goals of General Education Curriculum

The UTC faculty believes that the general education curriculum can expand students’ fundamental knowledge, abilities, and aesthetic sensibilities, leading to more enriched lives and a more comprehensive view of our global world.

Program-level Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of their general education program, students will:
 

1. Communicate effectively according to purpose using written, oral, and/or audio-visual methods.

2. Critique and evaluate information, concepts, theories, and claims.

3. Cultivate inclusion by recognizing, examining, and reflecting on the diversity of cultural and individual experiences.

4. Create, innovate, and adapt to take charge of your own learning.

Category Distribution (40-41 hours total)

• Writing and Communication (6 hours)
• Humanities and Fine Arts (12 hours)
• Natural Science (7-8 hours)
• Behavioral and Social Science (6 hours)
• Quantitative Reasoning (6 hours)
• Individual and Global Citizenship (3 hours)

UTC courses that have not been certified for the General Education curriculum may not be used to satisfy any General Education requirement. Consequently, student petitions seeking credit for non-certified UTC courses will not be accepted by the Office of the University Registrar or the General Education Committee.

Writing and Communication

Students must complete six (6) credit hours (two courses) in Writing and Communication with a grade of C or better in both courses. One course is required at the 1000-level, and the second course at the 1000- or 2000-level.

Some students may not be eligible to enroll in general education courses in this category until they fulfill prescribed course requirements. See the catalog section on Advising, Orientation, and Registration  and information about directed self-placement for further details.

Writing and Communication Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will demonstrate awareness of context, audience, and purpose of the assigned task(s) including following expectations appropriate to a specific discipline and/or task(s) for organization, content, and conventions.

2. Students will use and document appropriate, credible research materials and integrate those materials with the student’s ideas and/or primary research materials.

3. Students will reflect on their use of varying writing and communication strategies when composing, revising, and editing course projects, including responding to feedback they receive on emerging drafts.
    

Writing and Communication courses:

Humanities and Fine Arts

Students must complete a total of 12 credit hours (4 courses) from at least two prefixes (i.e., ART, ENGL, HIST, MCLL, PHIL, etc.). UHON students may satisfy more than two courses from the UHON prefix because that college offers interdisciplinary general education seminars.

Humanities and Fine Arts Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will critically interpret the works, products, and developments in artistic and humanistic fields and/or create such works themselves.

2. Students will assess the cultural and historical significance of the works, products, and developments in artistic and/or humanistic fields.

3. Students will apply appropriate disciplinary vocabulary for artistic and humanistic fields of study and/or demonstrate competency in reading or speaking a language other than English.

Humanities and Fine Arts courses:

HIST 2220 - Europe and the World, c. 1500-1800 (CZ or HF)  

HIST 2230 - Empires, Nations, and Wars: Europe since 1800 (CZ or HF)  

HUM 3110 - Musics of the World (CZ or HF)  

PHIL 1200 - World Philosophy (CZ or HF)  

Natural Science

Students must complete seven or eight (7-8) credit hours (2 courses) in the Natural Sciences category. At least one course will require a corequisite lab experience which will be included as part of a 4-credit course or as an individual 1-credit course. Students are encouraged to check the specific category requirements for their major. 
 

Natural Science Student Learning Outcomes:

Lecture/Non-lab courses:

1. Students will explain how scientific knowledge develops over time as new evidence emerges.
2. Students will demonstrate scientific literacy by locating, evaluating, interpreting, and applying scientific information/data.
3. Students will explain how scientific developments impact society.

Corequisite lab courses:

1. Students will demonstrate the connection between scientific theory and application.
2. Students will apply the methods of science by testing hypotheses and reporting the results.

Natural Science courses:

Natural Science Non-Laboratory Science courses:

Behavioral and Social Science

Students are required to complete six (6) credit hours (two courses) in the Behavioral and Social Science category. It is recommended that these two courses be from different disciplines. Students are encouraged to check any specific category requirements for their major.

Behavioral and Social Science Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will explain behavioral and social phenomena, institutions, systems, or processes as they relate to a particular behavioral or social science.

2. Students will explain the importance of understanding how the diversity of human experiences and belief systems are shaped by historical processes, social structures, and institutional systems of power.

3. Students will evaluate how data, concepts, or methods within the behavioral and social sciences are used to support conclusions about individual, group, or institutional behavior.
    

Behavioral and Social Science courses:

Quantitative Reasoning

Students must complete 6-7 credit hours (2 courses) in Quantitative Reasoning. Students with ACT-Math scores of 28 or above (SAT Math of 630 or above) may satisfy this requirement with 3-4 credit hours (1 course).

Some students may not be eligible to enroll in general education courses in this category until they fulfill prescribed course requirements. See the UTC catalog section, Advising, Orientation, and Registration  for further information.

Quantitative Reasoning Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will interpret quantitative information presented in mathematical and/or statistical forms (e.g., equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, and words).

2. Students will present quantitative information in various mathematical and/or statistical forms (e.g., equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, and words).

3. Students will evaluate quantitative evidence and assumptions in decision-making, estimation, modeling, and data analysis.

4. Students will apply quantitative tools and technologies to make judgements and draw conclusions about problems in personal, professional, and public life.

5. Students will communicate quantitative decisions and solutions effectively and in context.

Quantitative Reasoning courses:

Individual and Global Citizenship

Students must complete three credit hours (one course) to satisfy this requirement.

Individual and Global Citizenship Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will assess how multiple perspectives and experiences, especially those previously underrepresented historically and currently, manifest in societies.

2. Students will apply conceptual or theoretical frameworks to issues on a local, regional, national, and/or global scale to understand how overlapping experiences affect people individually and as groups.

3. Students will demonstrate intercultural knowledge and competencies and a sense of community through interaction with the cultural, material, spatial, and/or historical dimensions of the diverse world around us.

Individual and Global Citizenship courses:

HUM 3110 - Musics of the World (CZ or HF)