3. Engaged Citizenship Curriculum (approved 12/01/2009 faculty meeting)

• 3.1 Simpson Colloquium (SC)
• 3.2 AREAS OF ENGAGEMENT
• 3.3 EMBEDDED SKILLS
• 3.4 CAPSTONE IN THE MAJOR (CM)

3.1 Simpson Colloquium (SC)

3.1.1 REQUIREMENT:

All entering, degree-seeking students will take a Simpson Colloquium in their first semester. Instructors organize seminars to meet the particular needs of different cohorts (i.e., separate sections for first-year students, Division of Continuing and Graduate Programs undergraduates, and fulltime transfers).

3.1.2 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE:

Simpson Colloquium is an introductory college course that seeks to integrate new students into academic culture focused on engaged citizenship during their first semester on campus. The course serves several purposes. First, it familiarizes students with the tradition of liberal arts education through the focused study of important issues- “big questions.” Second, the course provides students with a solid foundation for future academic work, both by focusing on essential skills (Written Communications and Critical Thinking) and by introducing them to campus resources. Finally, Simpson Colloquium provides students with opportunities to grow personally and intellectually, thereby enhancing their satisfaction with college life.

3.1.3 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS:

A Simpson Colloquium will:

1. normally have no more than 18 students enrolled per section
2. be an autonomous element of the curriculum. It will not carry a departmental designation, and it cannot be used to meet major or minor requirements.
3. address substantial topics, questions, or issues in a manner that encourages engaged citizenship
4. be open to all incoming students without prerequisite
5. meet the course requirements for the Critical Thinking (CT) embedded skills
6. meet the course requirements for the Written Communication (WC) embedded skills. This stage stresses the varied expectations of writing across the curriculum rather than the peculiarities of the instructor’s discipline
7. incorporate opportunities for students to familiarize themselves with Dunn Library and Hawley Academic Resource Center
8. include various components that address the enhancement of student engagement, sense of purpose and vocation at Simpson College. The specifics of this component will be determined by individual faculty members. Possible examples include 1) Forum events; 2) guest speakers; 3) working with the career services office; 4) working with the counseling services office; 5) service learning; 6) service projects; 7) social events
9. include a standard, campus-wide diagnostic instrument to assess the writing proficiency of every student. Like other WC courses, this course may include collaborative writing; however because of this diagnostic function every student must independently complete at least 3,000 words of graded writing (approximately 12 standard double-spaced pages) 
10. include a student peer leader trained in various aspects of student development (optional if course is being offered through the Division of Continuing and Graduate Programs)
11. be taught by instructors who will serve as the students’ academic advisors (unless the course is being offered through the Division of Continuing and Graduate Programs)

3.1.4 SIMPSON COLLOQUIUM LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Through the completion of a Simpson Colloquium, students should be able to:

1. articulate the purpose and advantages of a liberal arts education
2. explain how the components of the Engaged Citizenship Curriculum work together
3. demonstrate familiarity with various campus resources that provide academic support, including (but not limited to) Dunn Library and Hawley Academic Resource Center
4. fulfill the stated learning objectives of the WC embedded skill
5. fulfill the stated learning objectives of the CT embedded skill

3.2 AREAS OF ENGAGEMENT:

(revised 11/14/2012 faculty meeting) A student will be required to take 4 credits of each of the Areas of Engagement courses.

3.2.1 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT: THE ARTS (AR)

3.2.1.1 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: The arts are a vital component of human existence. They provide an opportunity to experience and express the world in ways distinct from other disciplines. The Arts component of the General Education curriculum focuses on learning through participation in artistic creation. By taking a course that engages students in the act of creation, students will develop an understanding of art as a constructed means for communication, designed to reveal certain meanings and ideas or to elicit specific responses. Students are given the opportunity to develop their imaginations and to develop their ability to express themselves.

The general education program prepares students to become engaged citizens by exploring enduring questions about ourselves, civilization, and the world and by developing the skills necessary to shape and create a diverse and just community. As an organizing principle, citizenship encourages an emphasis on issues of personal integrity, moral responsibility and social justice. The arts have long been instrumental in the exploration and pursuit of engaged citizenship.

3.2.1.2 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 3/19/2014 acuity meeting) A course in this area will:

1. require active participation in a medium of artistic expression
2. emphasize both the process and the product of artistic expression
3. provide students with the opportunity to explore deliberate conceptual ideas and intuitive discovery and their roles in artistic expression
4. provide students with opportunity to explore artistic expression through guided experience with the medium
5. require students to exhibit or present their work
6. require that students engage significantly in one or both of the following two modes of arts participation:
   1. Inventive Arts Participation (engaging the mind, body and spirit in an act of artistic creation that is unique and idiosyncratic)
   2. Interpretive Arts Participation (a creative act of self-expression that brings alive and adds value to pre-existing works of art, either individually or collaboratively)
7. demonstrate perceptual and aesthetic sensitivity

3.2.1.3 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 3/19/14 faculty meeting) Through the completion of an AR course, students should be able to:

1. express perspectives, concepts and/or ideas through an artistic medium
2. reflect and think critically about one’s own and others’ artistic work(s) employing vocabulary and evaluative skills appropriate to the genre
3. articulate the value of the creative process

3.2.2 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT (CE)

3.2.2.1 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Civic engagement encompasses citizenship and the rights one gains as a community member. These include at a minimum civil liberties, civil rights and the opportunity and right to participate in the construction of that community through voting, civic conversation, and other forms of participation. Civic engagement involves the values, duties, skills, and responsibilities that are part of positively shaping our communities. It is important to recognize that we are all both shaped by and shapers of the communities of which we are part.

Why is civic engagement a concern? There is considerable evidence of disengagement, from politics, community action and public life, particularly among young people. Since civic engagement and participation are grounded in patterns of belief and behavior formed early in life, it is important that students understand the significance of civic engagement. Students should both learn to act on their values and accept responsibility for them as they affect self, others and society.

3.2.2.2 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: A course in this area will meet three of the following four requirements: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting)

1. explore and critically evaluate the nature and definition of civic engagement and citizenship
2. foster knowledge of important issues in civic and political life
3. explore and critically evaluate pathways to social change
4. examine historic or contemporary groups or individuals who model civic engagement and active citizenship
5. evaluate historical and current political and social issues in local, national and global contexts

3.2.2.3 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Through completion of a CE course, students should be able to

1. describe information, values, processes and theories that are essential to building just and democratic societies
2. apply the perspective of an academic discipline to civic initiatives
3. articulate the importance of their role in civic engagement

3.2.3 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT: DIVERSITY AND POWER IN THE U.S. (DP)

3.2.3.1 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: The Diversity and Power in the U.S. requirement prepares students to be engaged citizens by exploring enduring questions about ourselves, civilization, and the world via developing the knowledge, dispositions, and skills necessary to shape and create diverse and just communities in the U.S.

The diversity that exists in societies is often characterized by a power differential. By taking up the perspective of groups that have been systematically denied power to shape social institutions, students investigate both the conflicts arising from these power differentials and the cultural contributions of those who are isolated by social inequities.

This requirement is designed to engage students in recognizing and analyzing the perspective of a less powerful (often minority) group and understanding the differences of experience this power differential engenders. In addition, these courses encourage students to understand and empathize with the perspectives and experiences of another group.

3.2.3.2 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will:

1. provide students with opportunities to recognize power differentials between two or more groups within one or more communities in the U.S.
2. help students understand the subjective experience of a less powerful (often minority) group in the U.S. and thus gain the ability to recognize the perspective of members of that group

3.2.3.3 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) (Through completion of a DP course, students should be able to:

1. describe the perspectives and experiences of a less powerful (often minority) group in the U.S.
2. evaluate the social inequities resulting from power differentials via the perspectives of both the advantaged and the disadvantaged groups.
3. describe the power differentials between two or more groups within one or more communities in the U.S

3.2.4 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT: ETHICS AND VALUE INQUIRY (EV)

3.2.4.1 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Engaged citizens think critically about the sources and meanings of their commitments to personal integrity, moral responsibility, and social justice. Engagement is typically seen as an activity; one is engaged when one is doing something within her or his community, society, nation, or world. What constitutes the right kinds of actions and engagement? If being engaged requires participation, must one’s participation be to further causes of personal integrity and social justice, or can one participate in the system by supporting causes and actions that only support his or her personal views or objectives? All of these questions are fundamentally questions about moral values and actions and how they relate to our responsibilities to ourselves and others. This means that being an engaged citizen, in part, requires an understanding of ethics and value systems. The purpose of the courses that fulfill the ethics and value inquiry requirement is to provide students with this understanding.

3.2.4.2 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will

1. have ethics and value inquiry as the primary focus
2. provide students with the opportunity to explore and reflect on a variety of perspectives about values

3.2.4.3 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of an EV course, students should be able to:

1. make judgments about values and actions by critical evaluation from a variety of normative perspectives
2. identify and critically evaluate multiple approaches to ethical, moral or values questions
3. articulate and justify values and actions in light of normative theories, logical principles, foundational texts, or traditions
4. articulate and critically assess how various normative perspectives are relevant in contemporary society

3.2.5 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES (GP)

3.2.5.1 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Global Perspectives courses engage students in an exploration of societies outside of the United States. While some courses may deal with a specific problem (e.g., global warming, genocide, human rights), others focus on larger trends over the course of time (e.g., art, religion, politics, history, economics, literature). By acquainting students with the diversity of thoughts, beliefs and values of a society (or societies) external to their own, these courses encourage a greater appreciation of and sensitivity to global diversity. Students will gain the knowledge and ability to operate within that diverse world in a manner that promotes engaged citizenship.

3.2.5.2 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will:

1. investigate the origins and development of the culture and organization of the society
2. challenge student views and perceptions about cultures and societies different from their own
3. help students demonstrate sensitivity to cultural similarities and differences
4. have students assess their roles in the global community

3.2.5.3 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of a GP course, students should be able to:

1. analyze societal values through cultural practices, products and perspectives
2. identify the challenges and achievements of the culture(s) and society(ies) under study
3. analyze the values of the culture(s) as reflected in the decisions the society(ies) makes

3.2.6 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES IN WESTERN CULTURE (HP)

3.2.6.1 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Culture determines our assumptions, defines our options, and governs how we judge and perceive the modern world. Western culture emerged over time through a range of intellectual, philosophical, religious, and historical currents. A study of the development of Western culture and its past is critical to understand, appreciate or critique it. Such awareness provides context for the current structures of Western society and assists students in making informed decisions as engaged citizens.

3.2.6.2 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will:

1. examine the influence of economic, social, intellectual, political, artistic and/or religious movements of Western culture
2. interpret, discuss, and critique influential texts or ideas of the West and have the students evaluate and interpret primary sources
3. analyze historical scholarly perspectives in terms of their evidence and arguments

3.2.6.3 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of an HP course, students should be able to:

1. describe the distinctive perspectives of people who lived in the time periods or settings studied
2. analyze the relationship between the past and the present by considering the influence of the past on subsequent events, issues, and ideas
3. relate the subjects under consideration to the broader historical and cultural contexts in which they occurred
4. evaluate and interpret primary sources

3.2.7 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT: SCIENTIFIC REASONING (SR)

3.2.7.1 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Scientific reasoning-in the natural, behavioral, and social sciences-includes the ability to solve problems through the analysis of quantitative empirical data. These methods help students understand how technology and science may affect their lives in areas such as the environment, medicine, human behavior, and scientific ethics. Scientific reasoning courses will provide experiences working with the methods of science including hypothesis formation and testing, systematic observation, and analysis of quantitative data. Students will be able to use the skills they learn about scientific problem solving and data analysis in making personal decisions about technology and science that will help them to be well-engaged global citizens.

3.2.7.2 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: A course in this area will:

1. use scientific problem solving in context throughout the course
2. have at least one inquiry-based experience for the students through which they address some scientific issue by
   1. stating a hypothesis
   2. designing an empirical study
   3. interpreting quantitative data
   4. drawing a conclusion about the data
   5. communicating the results

3.2.7.3 AREA OF ENGAGEMENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of an SR course, students should be able to:

1. investigate and draw conclusions about scientific questions from data and using appropriate empirical methods
2. formulate and communicate questions using the scientific method
3. evaluate scientific information from popular and/or peer-reviewed sources
4. analyze ethical issues related to scientific inquiry

3.3 EMBEDDED SKILLS

3.3.1 EMBEDDED SKILL: COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP (CL)

3.3.1.1 REQUIREMENT: A student will be required to have two CL courses.

3.3.1.2 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Collaborative leadership is a process in which individuals work effectively in groups to bring positive change to classrooms, institutions, or communities. Traditionally, leadership has been defined as positional and related to individual action, but collaborative leadership is a relational process and a shared responsibility. Collaborative leadership experiences will increase students’ confidence in working in groups for a shared goal and help students develop skills and dispositions like team building, delegation, conflict resolution, and effective communication. Developing each student’s collaborative leadership skills will enable our graduates to make positive contributions in both the workplace and their communities. In a world where problems are complex and interdependent, and where teamwork is often required to unite diverse groups behind a shared goal, collaborative leadership is a key to engaged citizenship.

3.3.1.3 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will:

1. provide explicit instruction in collaborative leadership skills and dispositions
2. ask students to work collaboratively to create a joint product, achieve a shared goal, or promote positive change in their classrooms, institutions, or communities
3. provide opportunities for students to reflect on growth in collaborative leadership skills and dispositions
4. provide ongoing individual or group feedback designed to help students improve in the collaborative leadership process

3.3.1.4 EMBEDDED SKILL LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of a CL course, students should be able to:

1. articulate the skills and dispositions necessary to achieve a shared goal (e.g., delegation, decision making, conflict resolution, ethics, effective communication)
2. demonstrate the skills and dispositions necessary for effective collaboration
3. explain how their strengths and weaknesses in collaboration affect the outcome of a collaborative leadership process

3.3.2 EMBEDDED SKILL: CRITICAL THINKING (CT)

3.3.2.1 REQUIREMENT: A student will be required to have two CT courses.

3.3.2.2 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Critical thinking is the lifelong intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information that is used to guide beliefs and actions. By becoming a critical thinker, one is able to make sound arguments based on adequate evidence and so is able to rationally examine and assess one’s own arguments and those of others. A critical thinker applies these skills throughout his or her life in personal, professional, academic, and civic endeavors.

Critical thinkers in the liberal arts tradition are engaged citizens. An engaged citizen takes intellectual responsibility to be an informed and active participant in the life of the community.

3.3.2.3 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will:

1. offer explicit instruction on forming and evaluating arguments
2. offer explicit instruction and practice in interpretation, logical inference, and decision making
3. offer opportunities for students to listen to and carefully consider the arguments of others and investigate alternate conclusions
4. provide feedback that is designed to help students evaluate and improve critical thinking skills

3.3.2.4 EMBEDDED SKILL LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of a CT course, students should be able to:

1. draw conclusions by analyzing information critically
2. generate and articulate an argument supported by appropriate evidence
3. evaluate arguments for validity, bias, unchecked assumptions and/or other appropriate criteria
4. describe the effect of one’s experiences on the development of critical thinking skills

3.3.3 EMBEDDED SKILL: INFORMATION LITERACY (IL)

3.3.3.1 REQUIREMENT: A student will be required to have two IL courses.

3.3.3.2 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: An information literate person is able to ask appropriate questions related to an information need and discover explanations and specific answers to those questions based on evidence. The goal of information literacy is knowledge, the basis for good decision making. Through the ability to make informed decisions, information literacy becomes a means by which individuals can develop into engaged citizens and contributing members of a community. Information literacy, as a methodology and a set of skills, allows and inspires individuals to be life- long learners. Information literacy is common to all academic disciplines; therefore, individual skills and concepts change when applied to specific fields of study and inquiry.

3.3.3.3 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will

1. offer explicit instruction in the use of information literacy skills including
   - choose and refine a research topic
   - identify key concepts and terms related to the topic
   - help students develop an awareness that information exists in various formats
2. be developed in consultation with a research librarian for first time instructors of the course
3. require students to utilize information literacy skills in completing assignments
4. provide feedback that is designed to help students evaluate and improve information literacy skills

3.3.3.4 EMBEDDED SKILL LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of an IL course, students should be able to:

1. execute a research strategy by identifying search terms and locating relevant information in a variety of resources
2. develop a research strategy by asking relevant questions and refining a research topic
3. evaluate information found through a research strategy for suitability
4. use information responsibly by following copyright laws and guidelines for referencing and

3.3.4 EMBEDDED SKILL: INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION (IC)

3.3.4.1 REQUIREMENT: A student will be required to have one IC course.

3.3.4.2 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Engaged citizenship on a global level includes communicating with others across cultural and linguistic lines. Courses in this category are designed to put students in direct contact with speakers of languages other than their own. Cultural information and experiences will be shared through the medium of a nonnative language.

Intercultural Communication courses are not focused on achieving language competency, but rather on learning through experience. In these courses it is the experience of communicating with people using a nonnative language that brings expanded cultural and linguistic understanding. Since intercultural communication is a daily reality for much of the earth’s population, this requirement allows students to understand the world through the eyes and words of others. Students will analyze and reflect on the value of using multiple linguistic resources to access other cultural views. As a result, students will gain new perspectives on their own culture.

3.3.4.3 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will

1. provide explicit instruction and feedback on the development of communication skills in a nonnative language
2. involve direct interaction with native speakers of that language
3. use the nonnative language as a means of accessing and understanding another culture and how it relates to one’s own
4. examine the practices (e.g., patterns of social interactions), products (e.g., music, laws, books, food) and perspectives (e.g., attitudes, values, ideas) of the cultures under discussion
5. provide feedback that is designed to help students evaluate and improve intercultural communication skills

3.3.4.4 EMBEDDED SKILL LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of an IC course, students should be able to

1. identify distinctive cultural practices, products and perspectives of the cultures under discussion
2. improve their ability to communicate in a nonnative language about topics of cultural interest
3. evaluate their ability to and the importance of being able to communicate with speakers of another language

3.3.5 EMBEDDED SKILL: ORAL COMMUNICATIONS (OC)

3.3.5.1 REQUIREMENT: A student will be required to have two OC courses.

3.3.5.2 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: In order to be a well-engaged global citizen, individuals must be able to express ideas effectively to others. Oral communication skills help the communicator redefine and shape his or her values and facilitate change in others. Specifically, oral communication skills are a set of abilities enabling individuals to become confident and competent speakers by the time of their graduation. These skills develop over time through a carefully planned process. OC courses will engage students in both formal and informal uses of communication. OC courses will equip students to comprehend, critique, and analyze information in order to be able to effectively and efficiently communicate their ideas to others.

In an OC course, students can expect to receive, process, and disseminate information; learn to appropriately cite evidence to support their claims; and demonstrate critical thinking skills used to examine, analyze, critique, and convey thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Students will learn the basic principles for organizing ideas appropriately in order to express them through oral communication.

3.3.5.3 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: A course in this area will:

1. offer explicit instruction in both the process and the product of oral communication and listening skills
2. include several opportunities for students to develop oral communication skills in both formal and informal situations
   1. Formal oral communication will have the following characteristics: a major project that entails a significant amount of out of class preparation, such as a research presentation, accompanied by appropriate activities used to develop necessary skills systematically; or a set of smaller projects that accomplish the same goals
   2. Informal oral communication will have the following characteristics: numerous shorter activities that may include class discussions, research updates, etc. consisting of activities that emphasize the appropriate oral communication skill
3. provide feedback that is designed to help students evaluate and improve oral communication skills

3.3.5.4 EMBEDDED SKILL LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of an OC course, students should be able to:

1. communicate orally in response to a prompt
2. evaluate arguments given through oral communication
3. provide credible evidence to support claims and arguments in oral communication
4. organize information logically in oral communication
5. incorporate elements to engage the audience in oral communication

3.3.6 EMBEDDED SKILL: QUANTITATIVE REASONING (QR)

3.3.6.1 REQUIREMENT: A student will be required to have two QR courses.

3.3.6.2 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Quantitative reasoning is the application of quantitative concepts and skills to solve real-world problems for the purpose of making decisions. To effectively use quantitative reasoning requires understanding how to interpret, evaluate, and use various types of quantitative information in order to support a position or argument. It includes the ability to express quantitative information visually, symbolically, numerically and verbally (including written or oral communication).

In order to perform effectively as professionals and citizens, students must become competent in reading and using quantitative data, in understanding quantitative evidence and in applying quantitative skills to the solution of real-life problems such as choosing the financing for a new home, how to live a sustainable lifestyle, and whether to vote for or against a specific tax. The purpose of embedding the Quantitative Reasoning skills in application courses is to provide our students with quantitative problem-solving experiences at the college level within the context of the content of other college courses. The goal is to instill long-term patterns of interaction and engagement with quantitative problem solving.

3.3.6.3 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will:

1. offer explicit instruction in the use of quantitative reasoning skills
2. include several opportunities to practice quantitative reasoning skills
3. provide feedback that is designed to help students evaluate and improve quantitative reasoning skills

3.3.6.4 EMBEDDED SKILL LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) Through completion of a QR course, students should be able to:

1. draw inferences, solve problems and make decisions using quantitative methods
2. communicate solutions to quantitative questions in oral or written communication that incorporates symbolic, numeric or graphical representations
3. analyze solutions to quantitative questions for accuracy, precision, suitability and/or other appropriate criteria
4. describe the value, limitations and/or implications of quantitative decision making

3.3.7 EMBEDDED SKILL: WRITTEN COMMUNICATION (WC)

3.3.7.1 REQUIREMENT: A student will be required to have four WC courses.

1. one WC course will be the Simpson Colloquium
2. at least one WC course will be in the student’s major area of study
3. two of the three post-Simpson Colloquium WC courses must be above the 100-level

3.3.7.2 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE: Written communication is the ability to communicate successfully via handwritten, printed, or electronic text.

Writing is an essential skill that students need in order to comprehend, analyze, and synthesize a variety of texts in a variety of disciplines. In college, students will learn to write in multiple contexts: in the Simpson Colloquiums, in general education courses, in courses for their majors, and in elective courses. Effective writing is also a skill they will find indispensable in their professional lives beyond the undergraduate academic setting.

Engaged citizens rely on strong writing skills, whether they are exploring and developing their own ideas, responding fairly and responsibly to the ideas and perspectives of others, or crafting the polished, compelling and persuasive expression so often necessary to shaping and creating a diverse and just community.

3.3.7.3 REQUIRED COURSE CHARACTERISTICS: (revised 01/15/2014 faculty meeting) A course in this area will:

1. offer explicit instruction in writing
2. require each student to submit at least 3,000 words of graded individual writing demonstrating the learning objectives of this embedded skill
3. provide students with substantive feedback on the 3,000-word minimum of graded writing assigned.
4. give students opportunity to revise the work in accordance with instructor feedback.
5. normally have no more than 18 students enrolled per section

3.3.7.4 EMBEDDED SKILL LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Through completion of a WC course, students should be able to

1. articulate an idea and formulate a thesis as appropriate to the discipline
2. identify and correct errors in grammar and/or style in written communication
3. provide credible evidence to support claims and arguments in written communication
4. organize thoughts in a logical fashion in written communication
5. incorporate elements of written communication that address the needs of a specific audience in written communication

3.4 CAPSTONE IN THE MAJOR (CM)

3.4.1 REQUIREMENT PURPOSE:

To prepare students to be engaged citizens who are able to apply their learning in a specific disciplines to the larger community through work and/or service, each major will require a capstone experience (or in the case of interdisciplinary capstones, in conjunction with other departments) that allows students to demonstrate their abilities as apprentice practitioners in their chosen fields of study.

Since the capstone experience may vary widely by major, the specific learning objectives for the experience will be determined by faculty in the discipline in which the student is majoring. As engaged citizens, students will share their work with an audience appropriate to the project as determined by the faculty of that department. Senior research projects, senior seminars and senior exhibitions or performances are examples of possible capstone experiences.

3.4.2 REQIIRED EXPERIENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

A capstone experience in the major will

1. engage students in advanced disciplinary or interdisciplinary work to synthesize and culminate the students’ learning
2. require students to produce a final paper, report, creative work, portfolio, exhibition, performance, or other document or presentation appropriate for the discipline
3. require students to share their work with an audience as determined by the department.
4. Examples of potential presentations include but are not limited to
   1. presentations to a class, department, division or college wide audience
   2. senior recitals, art exhibitions, or theatrical performances
   3. student teaching

3.4.3 CAPSTONE IN THE MAJOR LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Through the completion of a capstone experience in the major, students should be able to demonstrate that they have acquired the knowledge and skills associated with apprentice practitioners in their chosen fields of study by presenting their work to an audience chosen by the department.