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UCORE: University Common Requirements Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement
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Quantitative Reasoning [QUAN]

Course designator within the area of Foundational Competencies

The fundamentals of quantitative reasoning (e.g., calculations and memorization of numerical equations and formulas) are important and must be included in any QUAN course. However, students should also perform work to move beyond these basics and develop an understanding of how to interpret, evaluate, and critique the results of such analyses, and how to identify the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative methods.

Quantitative Reasoning represents one of the three UCORE foundational competencies [QUAN, WRTG, COMM – 9 total credits] intended for completion in a student’s first year of study.

⇒ View approved QUAN courses

Required Elements for all QUAN Courses

QUAN courses are required to:

  • Meet requirements for all UCORE courses for critical thinking, written communication, information literacy, and assessment / evidence of student progress on learning.
  • Broaden students’ understanding and facility with mathematical and/or statistical reasoning.
  • Develop students’ abilities to understand, create and evaluate information in mathematical or quantitative formats, such as equations, inequalities, charts, graphs, or tables.
  • Provide many opportunities to explore real-world applications using quantitative reasoning.
  • Help students develop the skill of translating information into quantitative formats.

Also, the UCORE committee suggests* that QUAN courses:

  • Help students identify methods of data evaluation common to many fields of study.
  • Foster an appreciation for long-range planning or modeling based on mathematical assumptions.
  • Help students to formulate their arguments with quantitative methods appropriate to the subject.

*These suggestions provide a sense of the possible breadth of approaches in QUAN courses, but will not be criteria in the approval process.

Required Learning Outcomes Grid

Whether submitting a course for the first time or resubmitting an updated course as part of the UCORE committee’s periodic re-review, faculty should submit a completed QUAN Learning Outcomes Grid embedded in the course syllabus in order to demonstrate clearly the relationship among WSU/UCORE learning goals, UCORE category designation learning outcomes, course learning outcomes, assignments, and assessment of student learning. Consult the sample ROOT syllabus with learning outcomes grid as a model.