Arizona General Education Curriculum

20001

Advisor: Chris McKillip (Payson), Norma Rios and Marcella James (Gila Pueblo)

The completion of the Arizona General Education Curriculum (AGEC) fulfills the lower-division General Education requirements at Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University (NAU), and the University of Arizona (UofA). All courses in the AGEC are accepted for transfer credit as a direct equivalent, departmental elective, or general elective credit at ASU, NAU, and UofA. 

This certificate provides students with a broad education. It can serve as a route towards an associate or bachelor’s degree. Because program requirements differ between universities, the official transfer pathway of the school which you plan to attend should be consulted in order to adjust this program to your personal needs. 

There are six (6) categories in the AGEC from which students are required to take a total of 32 to 35 credits. The categories and required credit ranges are as follows:

1. Written and Oral Communication (6-10 credits; the first 6 must be composition/technical writing, and the remaining 3-4 credits can be in communication studies or languages)
2. Arts & Humanities (6-9 credits)
3. Quantitative Reasoning (3-4 credits)
4. Natural Sciences (4-8 credits)
5. Social & Behavioral Sciences (6-9 credits)
6. Institutions of the Americas (3 credits)

It is in the best interest of the student to complete the AGEC if planning to transfer to ASU, NAU, or UofA. Should a student elect not to complete the AGEC certificate, they will not be afforded the same transfer status as those who do. Instead of courses being packaged together as the AGEC certificate, individual courses will be evaluated on a course-by-course basis by the university to which the student transfers.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Written and Oral Communication:
   • Communicate information, ideas, and arguments effectively utilizing oral, written and other media as appropriate for the audience, context, and purpose, while effectively using listening and observing skills.
   • Employ the recursive writing process.
   • Employ the research process of collecting, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing primary and secondary research.
   • Describe the responsible use of sources and ethical citation of source material.
2. Arts and Humanities:
   • Analyze, interpret, and/or create cultural, artistic, and/or intellectual artifacts.
   • Situate cultural, artistic, and/or intellectual artifacts in a diverse range of cultural, historical, and intellectual context in demonstrating the importance of global awareness, intercultural knowledge, and intellectual humility.
   • Develop informed civic and ethical identities through study and/or creative self-expression.
   • Create artistic works culminating in individual or group exhibition, publication, production, or performance.
3. Quantitative Reasoning:
   • Solve meaningful quantitative problems from a wide variety of contexts and life situations.
   • Express quantitative information symbolically, graphically and/or in written or oral language.
   • Interpret, analyze, and critique information.
   • Apply critical and mathematical reasoning to solve problems while following logical procedures.
4. Natural Sciences:
   • Describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena using scientific, logical, and quantitative reasoning and empirical evidence from observation and experimentation.
   • Use experimentation and/or observation to study natural phenomena.
   • Communicate information about the natural world using written, numeric, and/or visual formats.
   • Critically evaluate scientific information, including visual displays and quantitative data.
   • Describe how the tools and techniques of natural sciences are applied to global and local issues.
   • Describe the importance of investigating and understanding how natural phenomena vary by culture and location, including perspectives of indigenous peoples.
5. Social and Behavioral Sciences
   • Describe the importance of understanding and respecting cultures through social, family, historical, political events, and /or processes using social scientific theories, methods, principles, and/or perspectives.
   • Apply social scientific methods of inquiry to understand human behavior within individuals, societies, and across cultural groups.
   • Describe the diversity of human development for individuals and/or social groups, including behaviors across time, culture, and historic/social/political/economic contexts.
   • Describe challenges of understanding the diverse natures of individuals and cultural groups who live together in a complex and evolving world.
   • Explain social consequences of large-scale and group economic, technological, scientific, political, ecological, and cultural change.
   • Describe the importance of global awareness, intercultural knowledge, and intellectual humility, objectivity, and/or curiosity, by situating cultural, social, and/or intellectual artifacts in a diverse range of cultural, historical, and intellectual contexts.
6. Institutions in the Americas
   • Explain the importance of developing civic and global engagement and participation as evidenced by respectful dialogue, intercultural competence, self-awareness, civic identity, and consideration of multiple perspectives.
   • Explore and/or examine the histories and cultures of different people including historically marginalized groups, inhabiting the geographic area now considered the United States to explain how they have shaped current experiences and institutions of government.
   • Compare the government structure and/or philosophies of the United States to non-U.S. structures and/or philosophies.
   • Outline the basic principles of American constitutional democracy and republicanism and/or indigenous political theories and describe how they are applied through the analysis of the U.S. Constitution, Tribal governance systems, and/or other founding documents, significant treaties, and landmark court cases.
   • Explain how ethics applies to public policy and professional decision making.

   • Analyze documentary evidence and compare and contrast scholarly interpretations.