Course & Seminar Offerings

Courses:

CM 120 Communication Seminar I (4)

Communication Seminar I focuses on the separate communication abilities of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and information technological literacy as methods of making meaning. As the student explores ideas from print and online resources, personal experience, and active learning situations, they will recognize the impact on meaning of language elements such as audience, context, focus, purpose, and structure. Individually and in small and large group activities, they will expand their understanding of complex topics and critical thinking skills. They will develop an awareness of self-management strategies such as time management, study skills, vocabulary acquisition, and independent research, and they will learn to employ self assessment and feedback to evaluate their progress in this course and across the curriculum.

ENG 055 Integrating English Usage (0)

Integrating English Usage offers the second language/dialect student an opportunity to develop their listening, reading, speaking, and writing. They will engage in reading and discussing a book, developing an academic vocabulary, writing short papers, making short presentations, completing academic listening exercises, and practicing sentence structuring skills. In all acitivites, the student will develop their ability to accurately assess their English language communication abilities .

ENG 056 Advanced English Usage (0)

Advanced English Usage offers second language students opportunities further to improve their English writing skills through weekly grammar instruction and exercises that they apply to written assignments from ENG 056 and other classes.

ENG 057 Advanced English Pronunciation (0)

Advanced English Pronunciation offers second language students the opportunity to refine their English speaking skills. The textbook presents both the physical and affective factors of pronunciation. In-class exercises and out-of-class assignments develop the ability to discriminate between and produce American English sounds, words, and discourse. Students also develop a method for assessing thier needs and planning appropriate learning strategies.

QL 022/122 Quantitative Literacy in the Modern World (4)

Quantitative Literacy in the Modern World focuses on the mathematical and algebraic methods needed to describe, analyze, and respond to our world. Students will work with concept models including percentages, ratios, formulas, variables, and linear equations set within the context of contemporary issues. The course will strengthen students’ ability to read about, write about, and question health, societal, and economic issues. They will do this by solving application-based problems, understanding the use of symbols, and applying various mathematical techniques needed to effectively use and manipulate quantitative information.

QL 156 Mathematical Connections (3) Prereq. QL 122

Mathematical Connections focuses on strengthening the quantitative skills that the student needs to be an effective receiver and producer of information. They will explore current issues in society, financial topics, and concerns from specific disciplines such as business and nursing. In QL 156, there are three major content areas:

1. Representing data, which combines topics in graphing and statistics
2. Predicting data, which combines topics in statistics and probability
3. Measurement, which combines topics in geometry and the metric system

Through exploration of these concepts, the student increases their understanding of the power of mathematics as a communication tool.

QL 301 Applying Quantitative Strategies (0)

Applying Quantitative Strategies, a quantitative literacy course for students enrolled in the Alverno Advantage Program, focuses on the mathematical and algebraic methods necessary for Probability & Statistics and other upper-division coursework. The student works with concept models including percentages, ratios, formulas, descriptive statistics, linear equations, and graphs set within the context of contemporary issues. The curriculum aims to strengthen a student’s ability to solve application based problems, understand the use of symbols, and apply various mathematical techniques needed to effectively use and manipulate quantitative information. 

WE 131 Strategies for College Success (1)

WE 131 Strategies for College Success teaches strategies and processes that can be employed to be successful in courses, including time management, learning and study strategies, concentration and listening strategies, and preparing for and taking assessments.  In addition, students explore how motivation, attitude, interpersonal skills, and anxiety can help or hinder successful learning.

WE 137 Test Taking Strategies for Nursing Students (1) Prereq. N 250

WE 137 Test Taking Strategies for Nursing Students focuses on learning and practicing, test-taking and anxiety reduction strategies, including reading analysis, vocabulary review, error analysis, and research based study strategies, Emphasis is placed on extensive practice with test questions, analyzing test questions and responses, identifying keywords, and using anxiety reducing practices

WE 143 Medication Dosing: Must Know Math for Nurses (1)

WE 143 Medication Dosing: Must Know Math for Nurses focuses on learning the mathematics required to accurately dispense medications. This includes exposure to physical representations of various measurement units that nurses commonly encounter. The student learns frequently used abbreviatons, conversions, approximations, calculations, and rounding in dosing, emphasizing on accuracy and attention to detail.

Seminars:

N 050/150/151/152 Understanding Medication Calculations (0)

This course is designed to help the Nursing student understand the mathematical relationships involved in calculating the dosages of oral, intramuscular, IV, and weight based medications. They will work on conceptual understanding and precise execution of all computations. The student is referred for the course by Nursing faculty.

CM 500

The course reviews the types of reading and writing that most graduate students must interact with and produce, as well as the processes and strategies that support success in professional-level reading and writing. Graduate writers will also develop and practice key editing skills, which are integrated into each lesson. The student will become familiar with seleceted online resources that help writers continue individualized skills development in editing, drafting, composing, and revising processes; doing research; and citing sources. One of the offered sections is for bilingual students.