Ways of Beginning

WAYS 101: Critical Thinking Seminar (3 cr.)

(SUNY Critical Thinking/SUNY Information Management)

WAYS 101 will be a “Big Ideas” course focusing on “wicked problems” and the contexts in which those problems occur. The courses focus on significant and messy issues with which the faculty experts are deeply engaged. They feature explicit instruction in critical thinking—the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do and what to believe—as well as oral and written applications of those abilities. Critical Thinking has been characterized as “... the awakening of the intellect to the study of itself.” This is important, as it implies a high degree of self-consciousness about and reflection on one’s thinking processes. Wicked problems seminars are specifically designed to introduce students to a rigorous and demanding liberal arts curriculum, to provide the opportunity for students to work closely with a faculty mentor, and to establish a sense of community among participants.

WAYS 101 Seminar Student Learning Outcomes

Through oral and written assignments, students:

1. Articulate the complexities, subtleties, and nuances of the wicked problem. (Understanding)
2. Map out claims made (what is being argued for) and reasons/evidence given in support of those claims. (Analyzing)
3. Evaluate arguments, including detecting inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning (i.e., logical fallacies, or common forms of logical error, e.g., mistaking a correlation for causation). (Evaluating)
4. Construct arguments, anticipating likely objections to those arguments and formulating possible responses to these objections. (Creating)
5. Analyze their own and others’ assumptions in framing the problem and in defining the relevant evidence, and reflect on how those assumptions affect their position. (Analyzing)
6. Critically evaluate the reliability of source materials (Evaluating)

WAYS 102: College Writing Seminar (3 cr.)

(SUNY Basic Communication/SUNY Information Management)
WAYS 102 helps students develop skills as critical readers, compelling writers, and thoughtful participants in the academic community. This course is designed to help students write effectively in other university courses; develop critical thinking and writing fluency; and find, critically evaluate, and incorporate source materials. Each WAYS 102 seminar will have a particular framing question/issue that provides a focused context within which students will approach texts and assignments. Students will read, discuss, and write about a variety of texts, identifying underlying assumptions, evidence, and points of view, drawing inferences, and reaching independent conclusions. They will begin to work with resources—evaluating, incorporating, and acknowledging them—with increasing sophistication.

Some students will choose to take a Core Writing course to help prepare them for WAYS 102: College Writing Seminar. View Student Learning Outcomes for Core Writing

WAYS 102 Student Learning Outcomes*

Upon completion of this course, students:

1. Respond to the arguments of a diverse range of texts. (Evaluating)
2. Construct (plan, draft, revise, and edit) extended writing in drafts of increasing quality, in response to feedback from diverse readers (peers, instructors). (Creating)
3. Craft arguments with clear purpose, logical organization, internal consistency and appropriate tone. (Creating)
4. Integrate appropriate outside sources into their own writing. (Applying)
5. Apply conventions of grammar, structure, and citation appropriate to the disciplinary lens. (Applying)

*Faculty teaching WAYS 102 can also include student learning outcomes that are section specific.

WAYS 103: Talking about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Seminar (3 cr.)

(SUNY Basic Communication/SUNY Information Management)
WAYS 103 is a speaking class that exposes students to concepts necessary to live, work, and create in the diverse populations and social identities that characterize the U.S., including but not limited to the following: race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability status, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, gender identity and expression, and age. Students will explore personal and societal assumptions about differences, and will examine systemic cultural, political, and economic imbalances. Students will model civil and respectful discussions about difficult topics and charged issues.

WAYS 103 Seminar Student Learning Outcomes

After completion of this seminar, students:

1. Describe historical and contemporary social factors that shape the development of individual and group identity, involving but not limited to race, class, and gender. (Understanding) 
2. Analyze the social construction of inequality at the individual, interactional, institutional, and ideological levels of society. (Analyzing)
3. Describe challenges (and responses to said challenges) regarding rights, access, and equity that are faced by underrepresented population(s) traditionally marginalized or oppressed in the U.S., especially in terms of social justice action. (Understanding)
4. Demonstrate oral communication that informs, persuades, or otherwise engages with audience(s) appropriately. (Applying)
5. Evaluate communication for substance, bias, and intended effect. (Evaluating)