General Education
Students who graduate from Oakland University have demonstrated success in two programs of study: Their major degree program and OU’s innovative General Education program. 在为职业成功而深入学习的同时, the General Education program provides students opportunities to cultivate the skills valued by employers and essential to successful engagement as citizens and members of local and global communities.
批判性思维的核心技能, effective communication, information literacy, and social awareness shape all of the courses offered in our General Education program. Because they are essential to our students’ educational and future success, these core skills are recognized as University Learning Outcomes (ULOs).
- Critical thinkers 是否具备全面探索问题的能力, ideas, artifacts, 在接受或形成一种观点或结论之前. They analyze, evaluate, 并综合相关信息, 不同的观点, inferences, and/or assumptions, 为了得出有根据的结论.
- Effective communicators 分析修辞情境, 使他们的话语适应不同的体裁和媒介, 道德地对待他们的来源和原始材料, and meet the expectations of a variety of discourse communities in the academy and beyond. They convey ideas, arguments, 或口头分析清楚，有说服力, written, or visual form, and they apply effective communication skills as appropriate to the context and intended audiences.
- OU graduates are information literate citizens 谁会反思地发现和评估信息, 了解这些信息是如何产生和价值的, and use information responsibly and ethically to create new knowledge and participate as lifelong learners in society. 他们有效地整合相关信息源，构建新的, or add to existing, 公众或专业的理解.
- 有社会意识的公民 demonstrate their intercultural competence and consider the ethical implications of their words, actions, 对其他社区的参与或漠不关心. They apply principles, methods, value systems, 或者将伦理与当地和全球社区面临的社会问题联系起来.
Oakland University’s General Education program has a three-part structure that complements every major, 给学生一个很好的平衡, refined education. 完整的需求可在 course catalog.
- Foundations courses prepare students for writing and reasoning in their professional lives.
- Explorations courses offer understanding of the universe, of society, and of humankind.
- Integration 课程培养学生解决现实世界的问题.
Foundations courses prepare students for writing and reasoning in their professional lives.
公开大学学生必须满足写作基础要求. 你会学到有效写作和修辞的要素. Composition II (WRT 1060) meets this requirement, but students who do not qualify (based on course placement tests)将首先需要完成先决条件课程. 参见写密集的 Integration tab.
What will I learn?
- 具备写作要素、写作过程和组织的知识 分析性和解释性散文的创作策略
- 有效的修辞策略，适合主题，听众， context and purpose
This area incorporates courses from disciplines such as computer science, mathematics, statistics, linguistics and logic that require students to use formal reasoning systems to model and solve problems. A formal reasoning course must be taken prior to junior standing (56 credits).
What will I learn?
- Knowledge of one or more formal reasoning systems such as computer programming, mathematics, statistics, linguistics or logic
- 形式推理在阅读中的应用, understand, 建立模型并解决各种应用程序中的问题
OU students are required to take one course in each of the seven knowledge explorations categories outlined below. This is where you'll learn a breadth of knowledge and analytical skills.
在完成这些课程的同时, keep in mind that some also may count as the diversity requirement (see the Integration 选项卡)和/或写作密集要求(参见 Foundations tab).
What will I learn?
- 具有文化或历史艺术传统的视觉知识, auditory, movement, 戏剧或电影艺术
- Knowledge of the role of art as critical commentary on society and as an aesthetic expression of experience
What will I learn?
- 具备以下两种或两种以上的知识:环境, political systems, economies, societies, 以及美国以外任何地区的宗教信仰
- Knowledge of the role that different cultural heritages (past and present) play in forming values in another part of the world, 使学生能够在全球环境中发挥作用
What will I learn?
- 具备一门外语及其相关文化的知识
- Knowledge of linguistic and cultural diversity and the contributions of such diversity to the global society
What will I learn?
- 文学是文化表达的知识
- 文学形式知识
What will I learn?
- 了解自然科学或技术的主要概念, including developing and testing of hypotheses; drawing conclusions; and reporting of findings and some laboratory experience or an effective substitute
- 如何评价科技信息的来源
What will I learn?
- Knowledge of concepts, methods and theories designed to enhance understanding of human behavior and/or societies
- Application of concepts and theories to problems involving individuals, institutions, or nations
What will I learn?
- Knowledge of the historical events and/or philosophical ideas of European or American culture
- 了解西方的思想或制度是如何随着时间的推移而演变的
知识整合领域侧重于伦理问题, 将知识应用于具体问题, 以及本科经历与生活的相关性.
Explore the ways in which knowledge can be applied in areas outside your own field of study. You'll compare and contrast methods used in your major with those in another field. 这门课必须与你的专业无关.
What will I learn?
- How knowledge in a field outside of the student’s major can be evaluated and applied to solve problems across a range of applications
- Knowledge of the personal, professional, ethical, and societal implications of these applications
The capstone experience will create an explicit link between general education and your major (or between general education components if you take a general education capstone instead of one in your major). 顶点可以是跨学科的，也可以是特定学科的. If taken in the major, it must explicitly address the relevance to the major of a combination of at least three of the general education knowledge areas and capacities to the major.
Although students who change majors may be required to take a second capstone as part of their major, you are only required to meet the general education capstone requirement once.
What will I learn?
- Appropriate uses of a variety of methods of inquiry and a recognition of ethical considerations that arise
- The ability to integrate the knowledge learned in general education and its relevance to the student’s life and career
Writing intensive courses help students develop advanced writing competency within their major (WIM) and in a discipline outside of their major (WIG). 写作强化课程要求完成 写作基础要求.
What will I learn?
- 多于一种书写格式, such as written papers, laboratory reports, abstracts, quizzes, examinations, journals, 不评分的写作作业, writing during class, 小组写作
- 通过写作过程进行批判性探究, including gathering, interpreting, evaluating, 并修改适合学习领域的信息
Make sure one of your general education courses and/or courses for your major also fulfills the diversity requirement. A course can qualify to meet the diversity requirement if one-half of its content deals with issues relating to at least two of the following: race, gender or ethnicity.
What will I learn?
- Knowledge of how diverse value systems and societal structures are influenced by at least two of the following: race, gender and ethnicity
- 这些给社会带来的主要挑战和问题