Critical Thinking (Core I) Courses Info

The Core Curriculum at Marshall University requires students to complete 9 hours of Core I courses: a First Year Seminar (FYS) and two courses with a critical thinking (CT) designation.  Together these courses introduce first year students to the nine Marshall University Learning Outcomes common to all majors at Marshall. While Core I is an introduction to the Marshall outcomes, students will continue to practice these outcomes throughout their degree programs and will demonstrate proficiency in these outcomes in the Capstone Experience.

  1. Communication Fluency
  2. Creative Thinking
  3. Ethical and Civic Thinking
  4. Information Literacy
  5. Inquiry-Based Thinking
  6. Integrative Thinking
  7. Intercultural thinking
  8. Metacognitive Thinking
  9. Quantitative Fluency

First Year Seminar

Taught by faculty drawn from across the university, FYS is an interdisciplinary course that emphasizes the development of critical thinking skills. While the sections may may be a bit different, all sections of the course emphasize problem solving and use student-centered, hands-on experiential activities and projects to address five of the nine Marshall Outcomes (outcomes #4 through #8).

Other Core I Courses

Students are required to complete six-hours of CT-designated courses with an emphasis on critical thinking and learner-centered course design.  Only 100- and 200-level courses are eligible to hold the CT-designation. These courses must meet the Criteria for CT Courses passed by the Faculty Senate.

Questions or Comments

If you have any questions or comments regarding the new Core Curriculum or the General Education Council, please contact us at gened@marshall.edu