First-Year and Intermediate Seminars
As described on the page providing an overview of the University's General Education Requirements, the University of Massachusetts at Boston has adopted the set of principles shown below as the foundation on which its general education program for undergraduates has been built:
- Critical Analysis and Logical Thought (Objectives 1 and 2)
- Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning (Objective 3)
- Human Diversity (Objective 4)
- Principal Approaches to Knowledge (Objectives 5-8)
Focusing on the principal of critical analysis and logical thought, we find the following:
Objective 1: Students will learn about the procedures of critical analysis and logical thought, with emphasis on disciplined inquiry, including the development of appropriate questions, the evaluation of evidence, and the formation of a reasoned conclusion or judgement.
This objective is achieved by the First-Year Seminar and the Intermediate Seminar. These courses are part of the General Education curriculum for students in the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Management, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Science and Mathematics. They are offered through a number of CLA, CNHS, and CSM programs and departments. “G” courses are designed for students in their first two years at the university (with 60 credits or less; although students with more than 60 credits may also take these courses) and for advanced transfer students in their first semester. The seminars are taught at two levels:
- First-year Seminars, required of all students entering with fewer than 30 credits in Fall 2000 and thereafter; and
- Intermediate Seminars, also required of those students, and required of transfer students entering with 30-89 credits in Fall 2001 and thereafter.
Courses satisfying the Critical Analysis requirement examine a topic or problem in some depth while addressing such academic capabilities as
- critical reading,
- critical thinking,
- clear writing,
- academic self-assessment,
- collaborative learning,
- information technology, and
- oral presentation.
A list of course descriptions for the First Year and Intermediate Seminars can be found here.