General Education Curriculum

General Education Mission Statement

The General Education Program at Tusculum University establishes and constitutes academic preparation that empowers students, regardless of their chosen major, with the breadth of knowledge, transferable skills, and strong sense of values necessary for responsible global citizenship and enlightened participation in their local communities.

The General Education Program at Tusculum University builds and enhances the foundational skills and content knowledge necessary for the academic success, career preparation, and personal development of an informed, engaged citizen, regardless of their chosen major. These competencies include effective written and verbal communication, critical thinking and analytical reasoning for problem solving, knowledge of self and diversity in their communities, and civic engagement by way of traditional instruction and service learning that extends beyond the classroom. The General Education Program equips students with the basis for lifelong learning vital for educated women and men in our society, and it supports the overall mission of Tusculum University by providing these pathways to success within a Judeo-Christian ethos and environment.

General Education Design

Tusculum’s General Education Curriculum is designed:

1. To be an integrated and coherent core curriculum that establishes intellectual common ground through a series of courses and experiences employing both theory and practice;
2. To incorporate innovative pedagogies that will develop students’ abilities as engaged learners in both the classroom and the community, and
3. To develop the knowledge, skills, perspectives and practical wisdom crucial to effective citizenship. Most specifically, Tusculum seeks to graduate individuals who will become engaged in their communities in various ways and who will know how to most effectively achieve the common good and justice in a global context.

General Education Course Outcomes

In the general education curriculum, Tusculum students will develop the following:

University Success Skills

• Application of learning beyond the classroom: Students will create pathways for success leading up to and post-graduation by fostering early connections to institutional personnel and resources.
• Civic Engagement and competence: Students will develop the ability to become an informed participant in civic processes.

Communication

2A Writing

• Writing: Students will develop writing facility in a variety of modes for distinct audiences.
• Information Literacy: Students will evaluate the credibility of sources in using them to construct written arguments.

2B Public Speaking

• Writing: Students will structure evidence to convincingly support their arguments.
• Public Speaking: Students will create messages appropriate to the audience, purpose, and context.
• Public Speaking: Students will evaluate personal communication strengths and weaknesses

Mathematics

• Mathematical Reasoning: Students will explain information presented in mathematical forms.
• Problem Solving: Students will solve equations at the appropriate course level.

Arts and Humanities

• Self-Knowledge: Students will identify their place within broader cultural and artistic traditions.
• Contextualizing Cultural Transmission: Students will describe how different mediums have been used to affect the transmission of culture over time.

Natural Science

• Scientific Inquiry: Students will graph scientific data.
• Written Scientific Communication: Students will produce a scientific laboratory report using the IMRAD structure.

Social Science and Behavioral Wellness

• Content Knowledge of social sciences: Students will explain the core concepts of their chosen field of study in the social sciences.
• Critical Thinking and analytic reasoning skills: Students will appraise relevant arguments from their chosen field of study in the social sciences.

History

• Knowledge of Historical Change: Students will explain historical change using chronological arguments.
• Critical Thinking Skills pertaining to Primary Source Materials: Students will evaluate how the presentation of events in primary sources is shaped by the authors’ perspective.

Religion

• Critical Thinking and analytic reasoning skills: Students will evaluate arguments arising from various authoritative religious texts.
• Self-Knowledge: Students will recognize their own theological commitments on the basis of informed self-reflection.

Civic Studies

• Civic Engagement and competence: Students will appraise citizen participation in civic processes.
• Knowledge of Diversity in America: Students will summarize the disparate viewpoints prevalent in contemporary American Society pertaining to community relations.

General Education

The University-wide General Education courses are listed below. In many cases, programs of study have elected to establish an individualized list of required general education courses more appropriate for study in the major. Please refer to the individual programs for major-specific general education requirements. Unless specified as required by the major, core requirement deficiencies, except Composition II, Mathematics, Science, Religious Studies and Civic Studies are waived for students who have earned an associate of arts or associate of science degree from a regionally accredited institution.  General Education requirements, except religious studies and any program specific requisite coursework, are waived for Teacher Education students who have earned an A.S.T. in Elementary Education from a regionally accredited institution.

English and Mathematics Placement

Composition Placement for Freshmen

All students must enroll in English composition, but the exact requirements will vary, based on a combination of the student’s ACT English subscore or SAT Verbal score or placement testing at the time of entrance to Tusculum University. (Adult and Online Studies students have the option of self-placement.) The average student should expect to enroll in ENGL 110  and ENGL 111 . Students needing extra preparation in developing university-level writing skills will be required to enroll in ENGL 100 . Students with exceptionally strong preparation may be able to elect ENGL 111 . Prior completion of equivalent coursework at other accredited institutions will satisfy the composition requirement. Guidelines are presented in the following table.

Math Placement

All students must enroll in mathematics, but the exact requirements will vary, based on placement testing at the time of entrance to Tusculum University. Students satisfy the General Education mathematics requirement by passing the mathematics course required in their major program of study. An equivalent or higher-level transfer math class will be accepted in lieu of placement testing.