Increasingly, the world is full of numerical information that every educated person must learn to process, evaluate and understand. Without certain basic skills in quantitative or analytical reasoning, full participation in modern society is difficult. There are two designations in this curriculum area: Basic Math (R1) and Analytic Reasoning (R2). Faculty may create a Gen Ed course in either of these designations, or a course designated R1/R2.
R1 courses are those that offer instruction or presuppose prior knowledge of basic math skills; advanced courses in mathematics or statistics are also usually eligible for the R1 designation. Analytic Reasoning (R2 designation) courses may be in mathematics, formal logic, formal linguistics, computer programming or applications, statistics, quantitative research methods, data analysis, etc.
Courses with the R2 or R1/R2 designations should accomplish the following, when appropriate:
- Advance a student’s formal or mathematical reasoning skills beyond the level of basic competence
- Increase the student’s sophistication as a consumer of numerical information
- Provide computer literacy
- Indicate the limits of formal, numerical, quantitative, or analytical reasoning and discuss the potential for the abuse of numerical arguments
This information derives from Faculty Senate Special Report 85-024A and 85-024B and Form M