General Education Course Proposal Form 2010
Math
YSU graduates must have at least one approved math class.
General-education course proposals must include this page, the pages on Criteria Response and Narrative, and a syllabus
that includes a calendar. Send the general-education coordinator this sheet, signed by those listed below, via interoffice
mail. Send the entire completed form and syllabus electronically to the coordinator, Tod Porter, at tsporter@ysu.edu.
Note: Cells will expand as you type in them (this is a Word table). You can also copy material into the cells from other
documents as needed.
Department or Program:
Course number, title, and catalog description:
Faculty teaching the course:
Estimated number of sections to be offered in
Other departments requiring this course:
Fall semester:
Spring semester:
Department or program chair signature
Date
Dean’s signature
Date
Coordinator, GEC, signature
Date
Chair, Academic Senate, signature
Date
GEC Proposal Number (GEC Use Only):
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General Education Course Proposal Form 2010
Criteria Response
Please indicate in just a few sentences how the course satisfies Learning Outcome 5 (“The use mathematics for
problem-solving and decision-making), and it may meet additional LOs. You may provide more information in the
narrative.
Narrative
Write a narrative justifying the inclusion of the course in the Mathematics domain. The narrative should speak directly
to the outcome listed above (including outcomes 1, 2, and 3) and demonstrate how that goal will be met and assessed.
Your response should integrate and expand upon key points from the Criteria Response. Identify and address any other
goals attained. Please remember in your response that the General Education Committee is an interdisciplinary
committee composed of members who may not be familiar with the discipline being represented (see the generaleducation site for more information on the goals: http://www.ysu.edu/ger/).
Attach a syllabus that includes a calendar.
GEC Proposal Number (GEC Use Only):
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General Education Course Proposal Form 2010
Appendix
Mathematics Information
Mathematics from the Model
Students must take one course that teaches mathematical and statistical skills. A student may satisfy this
requirement by passing an approved course, by passing a mathematics placement exam, or by passing a higherlevel mathematics course.
Mathematics Learning Outcome
Outcome 5: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the use of mathematics for problem-solving and
decision-making.
CRITERIA FOR MATHEMATICS
A numerically literate student should be able to apply mathematical methods to the solution of real-world problems.
Therefore, the essential skills mathematics course should enable a student to
1) interpret mathematical models such as formulas, graphs, tables, and schematics, and draw inferences from
them;
2) represent mathematical information symbolically, visually, numerically, and verbally;
3) use arithmetical, algebraic, geometric and statistical methods to solve problems;
4) estimate and check answers to mathematical problems in order to determine reasonableness, identify
alternatives, and select optimal results;
5) recognize that mathematical and statistical methods have limits;
6) participate in collaborative learning situations, which use a wide variety of writing assignments, study significant
mathematical models, conduct explorations using calculators or computers, and employ team projects.
An essential skills mathematics course should be motivated by applications to real-world problems and must
address each of the six objectives above. Mathematics courses that satisfy these six objectives will address Learning
Outcome 5 and integrate Learning Outcomes 1, 2, and 3.
GEC Proposal Number (GEC Use Only):
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General Education Course Proposal Form 2010
General-Education Information
Submit newly proposed courses for certification as general-education courses and previously approved by the University
Curriculum Committee (UCC) directly to the General Education Committee (GEC). Proposed courses or those with changes in title,
description, prerequisite, etc., should also be submitted to the college-curriculum committee. Send the material to the generaleducation coordinator via e-mail; send the signed cover sheet via regular interoffice mail.
The General-Education Committee (GEC) reviews and certifies courses for general-education credit and reviews and certifies
capstone courses in the major or program. The GEC will use the outcomes and the criteria to make judgments about certification
and to ensure, to the extent possible, that the outcomes of general education are achieved. Departments, programs, colleges, and
the GEC are mutually accountable for ensuring that their majors achieve breadth and depth of coverage.
All general-education courses will attempt to integrate the following learning outcomes wherever possible:
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LO 1: Write and speak effectively.
LO 2: Acquire, process and present quantitative and qualitative information using the most appropriate technologies.
LO 3: Reason critically, to distinguish among forms of argumentation, and to derive justified conclusions.
LO 5: The use mathematics for problem-solving and decision-making.
LO 10: The development of cultures and organizations of human societies throughout the world and their changing
interrelationships with Western Society.
LO 12: Diversity in America in all of its forms.
The GEC expects that writing assignments will extend beyond writing for tests.
All general-education courses must satisfy the outcomes in a given domain and must be designed for the general student body.
Exceptions to this principle include courses submitted by departments to satisfy the capstone requirement in the major; and courses
approved as substitutes for general-education requirements. The requirements of general education in a given domain may be met
by substitution of a more advanced course when that course satisfies the outcomes for that domain and obtains certification.
Any department proposing courses must offer assurances to the GEC that faculty members who teach a general-education course
meet the minimal qualifications required by Higher Learning Commission guidelines (“hold graduate degrees that include substantial
study [typically a minimum of 18 semester hours at the graduate level] appropriate to the academic field in which they are
teaching”). The GEC interprets this guideline to mean that anyone teaching in an interdisciplinary program need meet the minimum
for only one of the disciplines involved in that interdisciplinary program.
In each of the domains where multiple outcomes are to be addressed, the General-Education Committee will be looking for a
substantive description that explicitly and directly addresses how the course fulfills the primary outcomes. When outcomes beyond
those designated as the featured or primary outcomes of a particular domain are involved, such as in Artistic and Literary
Perspectives, the course must explicitly and directly address the secondary outcome only within the context of the primary
outcomes.
GEC Proposal Number (GEC Use Only):
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