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General Education Philosophy

The MSOE general education program provides graduates the cornerstone of knowledge, skills, and habits of mind necessary to be well-rounded individuals and lifelong learners.

General Education Goals

The goals of the General Education Program at MSOE are as follows:

1. To produce graduates with a foundation in culture and cultural values, ethics and integrity, and social responsibility.
2. To provide a climate which fosters independent thinking and personal development.
3. To produce graduates skilled in communication and information technology.
4. To produce graduates skilled in mathematical and scientific reasoning.

General Education Objectives

In accordance with the General Education Goals, the following set of Educational Objectives has been developed:

Humanistic Studies: Students should gain an understanding of the human condition and the various ways human beings have sought to express themselves and their values. This will include work in both the humanities, which promote a deeper understanding of human meaning and purpose, and the social sciences, which promote an understanding of human society and institutions and how people function within those units.

Communication: Students should be able to communicate audience-centered, well-developed, and well-organized ideas in writing and speaking, using appropriate stylistic devices and graphic/visual media.

Information Technology: Students should gain skills and experience in gathering, analyzing, manipulating, transmitting, storing, and presenting information.

Mathematics: Students should gain a proficiency in mathematical reasoning that will allow them to acquire, process and present quantitative, qualitative, and statistical information using appropriate technologies.

Natural Science: Students should achieve an appreciation and an understanding of the natural environment and the processes that influence it. They should gain an understanding of the scientific method, the purposes, values and limits of scientific investigation; and they should be able to think critically about the evolving relationships among science, technology and society.

Curricular Requirements

1. HUMANISTIC STUDIES (24 credits total).

Being truly well educated means being culturally literate, knowing something about the human condition and the various ways human beings have sought to express themselves and their values. In addition, like most professions, engineering, business and nursing want members who are well versed in basic insights about human nature and motivation. Every MSOE student must take the courses in the humanities and social sciences listed below. This core provides every student with instruction and practice in the process of interpreting texts ("texts" defined broadly as art, film, music, and social contexts); identifying and responding to ethical issues; and working with other people in task-oriented groups.

1. Humanistic Studies Core (9 credits)
1. 3 credits covering an introduction to the humanities
HU-100: Contemporary Issues in the Humanities
2. 3 credits of applied ethics
HU-332: Bioethics or
HU-432: Ethics for Professional Managers and Engineers
3. 3 credits of basic concepts in organizational psychology
SS-461: Organizational Psychology


2. Additional Humanistic Studies (15 credits)
Part of the purpose of a general education should be to teach students as individuals to think and feel with greater clarity and to enable them to establish the self-directed habits of thought and action necessary for lifelong learning. Therefore, students are free to choose from the humanities and social science electives a program of study that develops their own personal interests or enhances their career plans. The only restriction is that the number of credits taken in humanities courses must remain balanced with the number taken in social science courses. A program, in conjunction with the General Studies Department, may require a specific HU/SS course as part of the 15 additional credits.
 

Humanities Electives	Social Science Electives	Other Electives
Language Series	Political Science Series	SS 492-Educational Methods
Literature Series	Psychology Series	HU 494-Creative Thinking
Philosophy Series	Sociology Series	HU 495-Selected Studies
History Series	SS 495-Selected Studies
Fine Arts Series

2. COMMUNICATION (9 credits total)

Strong written and oral communication skills are almost always ranked at or near the top of the list of abilities employers value most. Students need these skills to succeed in their academic, professional and personal lives. As a result, at MSOE, students must take the three communication classes listed below (or equivalent). This core provides every student with instruction and practice in rhetorical strategies, research methodology, report structure, document design, and oral presentation.

1. 3 credits covering the basics of effective writing
EN-131: Composition
2. 3 credits of effective public speaking and basics of speech communication
EN-241: Speech
3. 3 credits of communication covering audience-centered communication and research techniques
EN-132: Technical Composition
or
TC-452: Interpersonal Communication and NU-390 Nursing Research
or
TC-111: Introduction to Technical Communication and
TC-233: Introduction to Report/Proposal Writing

3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (3 credits as defined by program director or participation in the Technology Package program)

Information Technology consists of skills, experience, and knowledge in the manipulating of information, such as the gathering, storing, analyzing, transmitting, and presenting of information. All students must satisfy this requirement as specified by their degree program. Each degree program has the responsibility to develop an approved plan, consistent with the discipline, for implementing and integrating this educational component into the curriculum.

Student use of the computer and software tools of the MSOE Technology Package program is considered one significant factor towards meeting this requirement.

4. MATHEMATICS (6 credits)

Students must have a minimum of six credits of college-level mathematics, including statistics.

5. NATURAL SCIENCE (8 credits)

To meet the General Education Objectives in Natural Science, students must have a minimum of 8 credits of college level natural science courses, appropriate to the program curriculum. At least one of these courses must have an associated lab.

Table 1: Goals Mapped to the Institutional Principles that Apply to General Education

Table 2: Objectives Mapped to Educational Goals