SUNY Potsdam

The FM course (1 course; minimum of 3 credits) is an introduction to quantitative methods and skills that students will build on throughout their academic career.

Knowledge Area: Introduces quantitative methods and strengthens reasoning skills needed to respond with greater sophistication in a complex technological world. 

•   Students will show competence in the following quantitative reasoning skills:
  
  • arithmetic
  • algebra
  • geometry
  • data analysis
  • quantitative reasoning
    
     

Skills: Strengthen students' ability to:

a. collect, analyze, and interpret numerical data or information,

b. interpret and generate tables, graphs, and charts,

c. understand that numerical data is open to multiple interpretations and that numbers are not "neutral" symbols,

d. represent phenomena of the physical world in abstract, symbolic form,

e. identify and use symbols and mathematical operations to algebraically represent a complex phenomenon of the physical world and to test the adequacy of the representation,

f. use of abstract models to describe or explain phenomena, systems, or processes and to be aware that acceptance of a given model changes the perception of the physical world,

g. estimate, approximate, and recognize the reasonableness of results,

h. convert information into one or more formal notation systems and to manipulate elements within that notation system,

i. understand logical and symbolic relationships,

j. recognize appropriate and inappropriate uses of quantification and critically evaluate a number-based argument.