BG Perspective (general education curriculum)

The BG Perspective curriculum provides a liberal studies foundation, preparing BGSU students for self-reliant learning throughout life and effective participation in a democratic society. BG Perspective classes, taken by all students at BGSU, reflect a deep conviction by the BGSU learning community and leaders in all professions that successful, satisfying lives require a wide range of skills and knowledge. Ethical integrity, reflective thinking, and social responsibility are characteristics of a liberally educated person. Through active learning experiences, the BG Perspective curriculum provides students a solid foundation in both vital intellectual skills and breadth of knowledge to be successful in their major areas of study and, later, in their chosen professions. These intellectual skills include the ability to think critically and communicate effectively; the ability to understand different cultures and modes of thought; and the ability to investigate forces that shape the social, artistic, scientific, and technological complexities of our contemporary culture and society.

The BG Perspective curriculum is defined by particular intellectual skills integral to all courses: critical thinking and effective communication, investigating and problem solving, and participation and leadership through active learning and engagement. Achievement of these skills is central to all courses in the following domains: general studies writing, mathematics/quantitative literacy, social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, humanities and the arts, as well as cultural diversity in the United States and expanded perspectives.

Intellectual Skills: Learning Outcomes for all BG Perspective courses

• Communicate effectively by gaining proficiency in reading, writing, and presenting.
• Think critically about values through investigating and creative problem solving.
• Participate and lead effectively through active engagement with diverse groups and teams of individuals.

All candidates for a baccalaureate degree at Bowling Green State University must take at least ten courses drawn from the BG Perspective curriculum, distributed as follows:

• Two from the natural sciences;
• Two from the social and behavioral sciences (note the International Perspective requirement below);
• Two from the humanities and the arts (note the International Perspective requirement below);
• One from cultural diversity in the United States;
• One additional course from any of the four knowledge domains listed above or from the expanded perspectives domain.
• One from quantitative literacy [Note: Academic majors may recommend a specific Quantitative Literacy course; students should contact their academic advisor for specific information about fulfilling this requirement.]
• General Studies Writing 1120 (and GSW 1100 or GSW 1110, if needed, as indicated by placement tests)

International Perspectives requirement: In addition to the requirements listed above, one of the social and behavioral sciences or humanities and the arts courses must be approved to foster student achievement of an international perspective (such courses are marked with an asterisk in the course list which follows).

BG Perspective Learning Outcomes for each Knowledge and Skill Domain

THE NATURAL SCIENCES

• Develop the skills and practice of using quantitative and qualitative approaches to study scientific concepts.
• Learn to understand the nature of scientific evidence, how it is obtained, and how it is used in the scientific process.
• Solve problems using logical approach of science.

THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

• Identify issues and problems and formulate and frame these in ways that contribute to their solution.
• Learn how theory is applied to events to produce knowledge.
• Examine the nature of decision making in society from the perspectives of the social sciences and how values impact on that decision-making.
• Construct and present an argument, identifying the evidence that supports it and the reasoning process by which a conclusion is reached.
• Articulate the bases of evidence in this discipline, how it is used and the assumptions on which it rests.

THE HUMANITIES AND ARTS

Depending on whether a course is in the arts or humanities, students will:

• Utilize modes of inquiry appropriate to the disciplines in question and explore the subject's connection to human values.
• Develop fluency in verbal and/or non-verbal communication through reading, writing, and listening.
• Critically understand the role of language and media: their rhetorical, artistic, and symbolic expression and the ways in which these expressions both reflect and influence culture and society.
• Examine the social and cultural context of art works arising over a variety of historical periods.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES

• Utilize modes of inquiry into the ways ethnic cultures have shaped American life.
• Identify issues and problems in cultural diversity from the perspectives of diverse cultures and locate yourself in your own culture.
• Engage in critical inquiry into the problems, challenges, and possibilities inherent in a multicultural democracy.
• Develop skills of communication, analysis, and problem solving in a format requiring active participation.

QUANTITATIVE LITERACY

• Interpret mathematical and statistical models such as formulas, graphs, tables, and schematics, and draw inferences from them.
• Represent mathematical and statistical information symbolically, visually, numerically, and verbally.
• Use arithmetical, algebraic, geometric and statistical methods to solve problems.
• Estimate and check answers to mathematical programs in order to determine reasonableness, identify alternatives, and select optimal results.
• Recognize that mathematical and statistical methods are based on assumptions and have limits.

GENERAL STUDIES WRITING

• Demonstrate rhetorical knowledge through writing in a variety of academic genres and to a variety of academic audiences.
• Develop critical thinking, reading, and writing skills through approaching academic writing assignments as a series of cognitive tasks, engaging in multiple modes of inquiry, synthesizing multiple points of view, critiquing student and professional writing, and assessing source materials.
• Understand the processes entailed in academic writing including recursive processes for drafting texts, collaborative activities, the development of personalized strategies, and strategies for identifying and locating source materials.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the conventions of academic writing including format and documentation systems, coherence devices, conventional syntax, and control over surface features such as grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and spelling.
• Understand the importance of values systems in academic writing including the abilities to write effectively to audiences with opposing viewpoints, to participate in an active learning community which values academic honesty, and to value the place of writing within learning processes.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

• Articulate the significance of diverse cultures and their modes of thought; and/or
• describe how world issues and international connections impact all our lives/ways of life; and/or
• identify problems and possibilities inherent in global economic, ecological, political, social, and technological systems.

WRITING PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENT

Recognizing that the ability to communicate in writing is a valuable skill and a hallmark of an educated person, each student enrolled in a baccalaureate or associate degree program must satisfactorily complete GSW 1120 or give evidence of proficiency in written expression equivalent to that attained by the student who completes this course. No student can be excused from meeting this requirement, nor can the requirement be postponed.

The courses and services designed to aid students in meeting the writing requirement are coordinated through the General Studies Writing Program. The Writing Placement Test, administered through this program, assesses the writing skills of entering students. On the basis of this test, students are placed in GSW 1100 (Intensive Introduction to Academic Writing), GSW 1110 (Introduction to Academic Writing), or GSW 1120 (Academic Writing). A student may be required to take two or three of these courses, but no more than six hours of credit earned in these courses may be applied toward graduation. The writing proficiency of students is evaluated at the end of each course until students have reached the University proficiency requirement expected upon completion of GSW 1120. Students who receive transfer credit for English composition and communication courses taken elsewhere may be tested for writing proficiency if it is not clear that they have completed a course equivalent to GSW 1120. Students who wish to be exempted altogether from English composition are also tested for writing proficiency.

Special courses and services designed to aid international students in improving their English proficiency are coordinated through the program in English for Speakers of Other Languages. Upon reporting to the University and before registering for classes, all entering international students admitted through the Office of International Programs and the Office of Admissions, except those whose native language is English, are required to take on-campus proficiency tests; international students transferring from other colleges and universities in the United States as well as students from Puerto Rico are also required to take these tests. On the basis of these tests, the University reserves the right to place students in ESOL1000 (Academic Composition I), ESOL 1010 (Academic Composition II) or courses designed to develop the students' speaking and listening skills in English. A student may be required to take one or all of these courses, but no more than four semester hours of credit may be applied toward graduation. The English proficiency of students is evaluated at the end of each course until the students have reached the level of English language proficiency expected for admission into GSW 1100. The University also reserves the right to require enrollment in a special section of GSW 1100 which is offered for non-native speakers of English.

To encourage all students to pass GSW 1120 prior to the beginning of the junior year, three credit hours are added to the graduation requirements of students who pass GSW 1120 after accumulating 60 credit hours; four hours to the graduation requirements of those with 90 or more credit hours.

The following students are exempt from this penalty:

1. Students transferring to BGSU with 31 or more credit hours, provided that GSW 1120 is passed within the first 30 credit hours earned at BGSU after the transfer.
   
2. International students who transfer to BGSU with 21 or more credit hours and for whom English  is a second language. Exemption from the penalty must be recommended by the director of  international programs, and GSW 1120 must be passed within the first 40 credit hours earned at  BGSU.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE REQUIREMENT

The BG Perspective general education program requires students to complete an international perspective theme that facilitates student exploration of the significance of diverse international cultures within their own lives and promotes exploring the role of international issues and connections in our increasingly interconnected global society. Students are required to satisfactorily complete at least one approved course, generally from either the social and behavioral sciences or the humanities and the arts domains, that addresses an international perspective. Courses approved to satisfy this international perspective requirement are marked with an asterisk (*) in the general education course lists and online catalog.

An international experience, defined as an academic study abroad experience bearing three or more credits or a documented international military deployment of at least 30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days, also will fulfill that International Perspective requirement. Fulfilling the International Perspective requirement using a credit bearing study abroad experience or international military deployment must be documented by submission of the International Perspective approval form to Registration and Records. The student is responsible for filling out the approval form for a credit bearing study abroad experience taken at another university or for an international military deployment. The instructor is responsible for filling out the form for a credit bearing student abroad experience take at BGSU. The IP approval form must include signatures from the following:

• the student with a documented international military deployment or study abroad experience from another university,
  or
• the instructor of a BGSU academic study abroad experience,
  and
• the student's college office
• the International Programs office
• the Director of BG Perspective, and
• the Provost's Office

verifying that an international experience (i.e., academic study abroad or international military deployment) has been completed.

FALL 14 ACADEMIC YEAR
BGP COURSE LISTING

Key:
* Courses which fulfill the International Perspectives requirement.
+ Courses co-requisite, taken together in GeoJourney field experience program.
Courses with Q suffixes: Inquiry Courses with are grounded in inquiry-based, signature pedagogy, allowing students to actively discover and construct knowledge within a certain discipline while achieving the overarching general education inquiry learning outcomes.

Note: All courses are worth 3 credit hours except as indicated ().

Online Course Descriptions

Natural Sciences - Take at least two courses

Social and Behavioral Sciences - Take at least two courses

Humanities and the Arts - Take at least two courses

Cultural Diversity in the United States - Take at least one course

Quantitative Literacy - Take at least one course
Academic majors may recommend a specific Quantitative Literacy course or group; students should contact their academic advisor for specific information about fulfilling this requirement.

Group A – Introductory Statistics

Group B – Business Calculus

Group C – Calculus I

Group D – Algebra

Group E – Pre-Calculus

Group F – Technical Mathematics

Group G – Mathematics for the Liberal Arts

Expanded Perspectives - Courses in the Expanded Perspectives category meet the BG Perspective general learning outcomes but come from disciplines outside the traditional domains. Expanded Perspectives courses may be used to fulfill the ninth elective course requirement.