NYIT CORE SEMINAR CHECKLIST/JUNE 2009
All Seminars will be evaluated using the following standards. Full description of each item, referenced in the table by number/letter combinations, is provided in the full Seminar Guidelines included on the next page.
Instructor:
Seminar Title:
Standards
1. Emphasizes participation and active learning. (1.A)
2. An upper-level Core course with special topics and themes. (1.B)
3. Employs a balance of instructional styles. (1.C)
4. Uses cutting-edge books, articles, anthologies, etc. (1.D)
5. Utilizes interdisciplinary content. (2.A)
YES
6. Includes at least seventy percent disciplinary content. (2.B)
7. Includes research projects and problem solving. (2.C)
8. Addresses multiple Core learning outcomes. (4.A)
9. Writing intensive. (4.B)
10. Includes academic research writing. (4.B)
11. Open to students from all schools and colleges. (3.C)
Curriculum Approval Process
12. Approved by the appropriate seminar departments. (4.C)
13. Approved by the CAS school curriculum committee. (4.C)
14. Approved by the full Senate Curriculum Committee. (4.C)
YES
15. Approved by the full Senate. (4.C)
Comments:
NO
NO

NYIT Seminar Guidelines
Undergraduates in their Sophomore, Junior, or Senior years will take Core Seminars in four areas:
Philosophy, Literature, Social Science (History, Politics, or Economics), and Behavioral Science (Sociology,
Psychology, or Anthropology). NYIT Seminars on all NYIT campuses are guided by four principles:
1. Active Learning a.
Seminars emphasize participation and are not traditional lecture/survey classes.
b.
Seminars are upper-level core courses that allow students to explore special topics and themes in depth.
c.
All seminars must employ a balance of instructional styles including presentation
(lectures, visual materials, guest presentations, etc.) and interaction
(discussion and collaboration). d.
Seminar instructors should use a combination of cutting-edge books, articles, anthologies, edited collections, websites, and films in order to generate student interest.
2. Interdisciplinary and Discipline Specific a. Each seminar must utilize interdisciplinary content including, but not limited to, readings from different disciplines, films and visual art, fieldwork, service learning, and guest presentations from other faculty. b. Seminar courses must include at least seventy percent disciplinary content in the appropriate seminar areas: Philosophy,
Literature, Social Science (History, Politics or Economics), or Behavioral Science
(Sociology, Psychology, or Anthropology). c. Instructors outside the seminar disciplines should work with faculty from one of the four seminar areas to develop courses that adequately represent the discipline. d. Research projects, broadly defined, should be part of every seminar. The seminars will, if possible, also employ projectoriented teaching approaches or some degree of problem solving activities to encourage active learning.
4. Academic Quality a.
Seminars should address as many of the
Core learning outcomes as is reasonably possible. (See Appendix B)
3. Student Choice and Interaction a.
In general, students must be able to choose the seminars that most interest them. b.
Programs may be allowed to assign a specific core seminar, or require their students to select from a limited choice of seminars, in one, and only one, of the four core seminar areas. (Appendix A provides full rules for designation). c.
All seminars, even those envisioned for majors in a specific area, must still be open to all students in order to encourage interdisciplinary teaching and learning. b.
Seminars must be writing intensive and include academic research writing.
Research can also be engaged in shorter assignments and oral presentations. c.
All Seminars must gain approval from the appropriate departments in New York
(English for Literature; Social Science for
Politics, Philosophy and History;
Behavioral Science for Psychology,
Anthropology and Sociology; and
Management for Economics), school curriculum committees, the Senate
Curriculum Committee, and the Academic
Senate.

Appendix A: Seminar Rule Details

Programs may be allowed to assign a specific core seminar, or require their students to select from a limited choice of seminars, in one, and only one, of four core seminar areas

If a program has assigned specific courses within one of the seminar areas, no further assignment shall be allowed in the other three core seminar areas by that program

The courses so assigned may be co-constructed by the seminar area discipline and the program discipline so that they are an interdisciplinary effort

The student learning outcomes shall be determined in the following manner, listed in priority order: o learning outcomes will be consistent with those mandated by the core for the seminar courses o learning outcomes will be consistent with the methods and theories of the specific discipline as in other courses offered in that core seminar area
(i.e., social science, philosophy, literature, or behavioral sciences) o content related student learning outcomes, and the percentage of disciplinary material (seventy percent), will be consistent with those for all seminars

The determination of the instructor for the assigned seminar shall reside in the chair of the department supervising the core seminar area; the discipline may appeal this decision to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and then to the Provost whose decision is final.

Only the Chair of the department supervising the core seminar has the ability to request the section be scheduled and opened by the Registrar.

Students communicate clearly, concisely, accurately through writing, speaking and visual representations appropriate for various topics and audiences.
Upon graduation, students will be able to:
1.
Describe the communication process.
2.
Demonstrate a thorough understanding of purpose, context, audience, and presentation format(s).
3.
Prepare communications in which the content is well-organized, the central message is compelling, and supporting materials are highly credible.
4.
Choose and employ delivery techniques, including appropriate language usage, visual representations, and media choices, which enhance the effectiveness of the communication.
Students are proficient in reading, writing, accessing, evaluating, and using information, using technology and quantitative methods.
Upon graduation, students will be able to:
1.
Identify and engage major components of literacy including reading, writing, information technology, and quantitative reasoning.
2.
Access and evaluate information and its sources, and use it ethically and legally.
3.
Identify and productively use discipline-specific methodologies and technologies in their professional areas.
Students make decisions and solve problems based on research, logic, and qualitative and quantitative analyses of appropriate and relevant data and information.
Upon graduation, students will be able to:
1.
Identify and summarize the problem, issue, or question to be investigated.
2.
Present existing knowledge, research, and/or views.
3.
Design an inquiry process
4.
Analyze research/evidence
5.
Draw inferences and conclusions from analyses
tudents approach issues or problems with interdisciplinary perspectives .
Upon graduation, students will be able to:
1.
Identify different disciplines along with their unique methods and perspectives on issues or problems.
2.
Analyze a problem or intellectual issue by integrating knowledge, concepts, and/or tools from multiple disciplines.
3.
Contribute their knowledge and expertise to an interdisciplinary team.

Students understand ethical concepts, how different cultures define ethical or moral behavior, and gain a fuller understanding of the responsibilities of citizenship.
Upon graduation, students will be able to:
1.
Articulate the bases of ethical/moral behavior for themselves and cross culturally.
2.
Recognize ethical issues from a wide variety of contexts in their personal, professional, and civic lives.
3.
Apply different ethical perspectives/concepts to questions in an articulate and developed way.
4.
Participate in community service via volunteerism, internships and/or field placements.
Students gain an understanding of the nature and influence of culture as well as global interdependence.
Upon graduation, students will be able to:

Recognize the impact of the global interconnectedness of issues, processes, trends, and systems on their academic specializations and worldviews.

Practice well-researched oral, written, visual, and digital communication in its diverse cross-cultural forms.

Describe a complex global issue from multiple cultural perspectives and explain how those perspectives affect the treatment of the issue.

Employ effective and appropriate interaction and teamwork with people of different nationalities and cultures, demonstrating respect for social, cultural, and linguistic diversity.
Students understand and apply research and creative processes.
Upon graduation, students will be able to:
1.
Compare scientific and artistic processes and explain the interdependence of inquiry, research, creativity, and technology.
2.
Illustrate ways in which art, science, and society have and continue to influence each other.
3.
Develop or adopt criteria by which to critique artistic and scientific creations, and use those criteria to evaluate different genres of works.
4.
Discriminate between association and causation, and identify the types of evidence used to establish causation.
5.
Articulate the creative process as it applies to your discipline, referencing specific work(s) you have created.