2022-2023 Catalog

Foundation Courses

These courses are designed to ensure that all MMC students develop a range of skills necessary for future academic and professional success. They include the Writing Seminar sequence and Mathematics.

1. The Writing Seminar Sequence

In these courses, students develop their critical reading, writing and thinking skills and their academic research and presentation skills.

 

The Learning Goals in The Writing Seminar Sequence are:

  • Develop well-structured and thesis-driven argumentative essays.
  • Design an original academic research project, which will include relevant and appropriate sources and will be structured in accordance with the current standard of academic dialogue.
  • Demonstrate competence in the ability to deliver an organized and effective oral presentation.

 

Students are placed in the appropriate course based on their current skills level. Completion of both Advanced Placement Capstone Seminar and Research with a score of 3, 4 or 5 will result in placement directly into WRIT 201.

Students must take either:

WRIT 101Writing Seminar I

3

and

WRIT 102Writing Seminar II

3

or

WRIT 201Advanced Writing Seminar

3

2. Mathematics

Students hone their mathematics skills by completing one of the following required courses:

MATH 113Quantitative Reasoning

3

MATH 129Intermediate Algebra

3

MATH 141Precalculus

3

MATH 209Discrete Mathematics

3

MATH 210Calculus I

3

MATH 224Statistics

3

MATH 230Cryptography

3

Students in the Biology, Biomedical Sciences, or Environmental Studies majors should, depending on placement, take MATH 141, MATH 210, or MATH 224 in place of MATH 113.

Other students with advanced preparation in mathematics may take MATH 141 or higher in place of MATH 113.

The Learning Goals in The Mathematics Foundation Course Are:

  • Demonstrate competence in applying basic quantitative skills in solving problems from various areas of mathematics.
  • Select and implement an appropriate mathematical method to solve real-world problems.
  • Demonstrate critical thinking in that they can analyze an article in the media and identify flaws in the claims and methods presented there, as well as formulate substantive questions regarding the article.
  • Effectively communicate mathematical ideas both in written and oral form.
  • Produce graphs, do calculations, and present their results using appropriate software.