The Core Defined

The General Education Core has a firm foundation in UC’s Academic Plan, to reaffirm liberal education as the core to preparing students as life-long learners.  Our General Education course requirements are purposefully designed to strengthen four important learning outcomes or competencies throughout the student’s progress toward their degree.

                                         Undergraduate Core Competencies

Critical Thinking:  analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information and ideas from multiple perspectives	Knowledge Integration:  fusion of information and concepts from multiple disciplines
Effective Communication:  competence in oral, visual, and written language; use of resources and technology for communication	Social Responsibility:  application of knowledge and skills gained from the undergraduate experience for the advancement of a diverse society

Along with the four core competencies, Information Literacy is an essential skill that supports each of the baccalaureate competencies and must permeate every component of the General Education Core.  Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and effectively use the needed information.  It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning. (Information Literacy Rubric)
                                                    

                                                        The Core Process

We have designed a purposeful, sequenced, and on-going approach to achieving these student core competencies.

First Year Great Beginnings

UC’s nationally known First Year Experience (FYE) includes a common set of learning areas with several student “touch points” for reflection, such as seminars and Learning Communities. 

Mid-Collegiate

Even with the many different paths that our students take, our faculty continue the Core Process by encouraging students to engage in experiential learning, such as our top ranked co-op program, to increase disciplinary proficiency and promote their understanding and knowledge integration. Students are encouraged to reflect on their experiences and how they relate to their academics and the world around them. (An example of a Student Reflective Component of a Computer Programming course)

Methodology:  each academic program requires training in the understanding of systematic methods and history of the discipline.

Writing Excellence:  Intermediate Composition will reinforce what students learn in the first year and will focus their attention on where meaning is made.  It also introduces higher-level learning about writing and reading communicated across academic disciplines.  The primary goal of the course is to help students develop rhetorical sensitivity to differences in academic and professional writing across the disciplines.

Senior Year Experience

Our senior year experience enables students to transition to a profession or graduate school and continue to pursue life-long learning and social responsibility.

The capstone experience is designed to demonstrate proficiency in the core competencies, and in the content and skills of the program/major.  As a culminating experience, the capstone should require interdisciplinary and contextual perspectives.

 FYE is featured in College Planning & Management Magagine

See a great example of experiential learning: "Engineers Without Borders"
 

See a Senior Year Capstone Experience: UC students build a solar house and compete in a world competition