Wright State Core

Wright State Core Program Information

The Wright State Core is a 38-credit-hour general education program.  The core is an integrated program of courses and experiences that provides students with the breadth of skills, knowledge, and understanding expected of university graduates. The program helps students develop the knowledge and skills essential for critical thinking, creative problem solving, meaningful civic engagement, multicultural competence, appreciation for the arts, and life-long learning.

Wright State graduates will be able to demonstrate mastery of the following University Learning Outcomes (ULO):

• communicate effectively
• demonstrate mathematical literacy
• evaluate arguments and evidence critically
• apply the methods of inquiry of the natural sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities
• demonstrate global and multicultural competence
• demonstrate an understanding of contemporary social and ethical issues
• participate in democratic society as informed and civically engaged citizens

The Wright State Core is divided into six Elements. The Elements are the foundational skills, the broad areas of knowledge and practice, and the global, historical, and cultural perspectives that together provide Wright State University students with the ability to negotiate their roles successfully and constructively in a changing world. Even more than in the past, graduates must be proficient in all methods of communication, must be able to use and interpret mathematical and statistical information, and must understand the methods of inquiry of the historian, the scientist, and the humanist.

Elements and Learning Outcomes for each Element:

Element 1: Communication

The foundational skills students need in academic discourse, research, and documentation in an electronic environment

• Adapt rhetorical processes and strategies for audience, purpose, and type of task
• Organize and produce texts that meet the demands of specific genres, purposes, audiences, and stances
• Employ appropriate mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling conventions
• Find, analyze, evaluate, summarize, and synthesize appropriate source material from both print and electronic environments
• Use reliable and varied evidence to support claims, incorporate ideas from sources appropriately, and acknowledge and document the work of others appropriately
• Present focused, logical arguments that support a thesis
• Use electronic environments to draft, revise, edit, and share or publish texts

Element 2: Mathematics

The foundational skills required to use and interpret mathematics and statistics

• Identify the various elements of a mathematical or statistical model
• Determine the values of specific components of a mathematical/statistical model or relationships among various components
• Apply a mathematical/statistical model to a real-world problem
• Interpret and draw conclusions from graphical, tabular, and other numerical or statistical representations of data

Summarize and justify analyses of mathematical/statistical models for problems, expressing solutions using an appropriate combination of words, symbols, tables or graphs

Element 3: Global Traditions

Historical analysis and global perspectives necessary to understand our diverse world

• Critically describe some of the political, social, or economic systems, historical, cultural, or spiritual traditions, and/or technological innovations around the world
• Demonstrate an awareness of the diversity of people or traditions in our world in ways that promote effective engagement, both locally and globally
• Use political, social, economic, historical, cultural, spiritual, or technological knowledge to evaluate contemporary issues

Element 4: Arts and Humanities

Tools for analysis and appreciation of the arts, philosophy, and religious thought

• Critically analyze significant creative, literary, philosophical or religious works
• Understand and discuss the complex blend of imaginative vision, sociocultural context, ethical values, and aesthetic judgment in creative, philosophical or religious works
• Recognize, evaluate, and respond to creative, philosophical or religious works
• Develop appropriate and ethical applications of knowledge in the humanities or the arts

Element 5: Social Science

Perspectives on human behavior and culture informed by the disciplines of the social sciences

• Critically apply knowledge of social science theory and methods of inquiry to personal decisions, current issues, or global concerns
• Explain and critique the methods of inquiry of social science disciplines
• Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical issues involved in the acquisition or application of social science knowledge

Demonstrate, from a social science perspective, an understanding of the responsibilities of an informed and engaged citizen to the success of a democratic society

Element 6: Natural Science

Introductions to the scientific understanding of the physical and biological phenomena

• Understand the nature of scientific inquiry
• Critically apply knowledge of scientific theory and methods of inquiry to evaluate information from a variety of sources
• Distinguish between science and technology and recognize their roles in society
• Demonstrate an awareness of theoretical, practical, creative, and cultural dimensions of scientific inquiry
• Discuss fundamental theories underlying modern science

General Policy Governing The Wright State Core

Placement for Wright State Core

Testing Services provides placement tests in math and English (writing) to help determine the proper beginning course for new Wright State University students who have not completed a college-level course in mathematics or English composition. Effective March 2, 2021, there are no longer fees for placement testing in Math or Writing.

Transfer Students and the Wright State Core

A transfer student who has completed the Ohio transfer module at a previous institution is considered to have completed the Wright State Core.

A transfer student who has not completed the transfer module may satisfy Wright State University’s Core requirements by combining courses completed at a previous college or university with courses in the WSU Core initiated in Fall 2012. These courses must total at least thirty-seven credits and comply with the following distribution requirements:

Element I: Communication
One first-year writing course
One second-year writing course

Element II: Mathematics
One mathematics course

Element III: Global Traditions
One interdisciplinary Global Studies course
One history course

Element  IV: Arts/Humanities
One course

Element V: Social Science
Two courses from different social science categories

Element VI: Natural Science
Two lecture/lab science courses

Two additional Core courses from any of the Elements

Courses Completed Prior to Matriculation at Wright State

A transfer course completed prior to matriculation at WSU that meets any one of the following three criteria may be applied toward WSU’s Core requirements.

1. The course is equivalent to a WSU Core course.
2. The course is not equivalent to a WSU Core course but is part of an institution’s approved Ohio Transfer Module.
3. The course was completed at an institution without an approved Ohio Transfer Module and both of the following conditions are satisfied:
   • The course is included in the institution’s General Education program.
   • The course significantly addresses the learning objectives of an Element of the WSU Core.

A transfer course that meets one of the above criteria may be applied to any Core Element for which the learning objectives are significantly addressed.

Courses Completed Subsequent to Matriculation at Wright State

To be applicable to a WSU Core requirement, a transfer course completed subsequent to matriculation at WSU must be equivalent to the WSU Core course being replaced.

Approved Transfer Module Courses

All Ohio public institutions of higher education have identified courses as part of their Ohio Transfer Module (OTM), which is a subset or the complete set of that college’s or university’s general education requirements in A.A., A.S., and baccalaureate degrees. The OTM contains 54-60 quarter hours or 36-40 semester hours of course credit in English composition; mathematics, statistics, and formal/symbolic logic; arts/humanities; social and behavioral sciences; and natural sciences.

Courses approved in each of the five OTM areas will be applied toward the Wright State Core as follows:

• English: Composition-Approved OTM courses will be applied toward Element 1.
• English: Oral Communication-Approved OTM courses will be applied toward Element 1 (does not satisfy the writing requirement of Element 1 but may be counted as an additional Core course).
• Mathematics, Statistics, and Logic-Approved OTM courses will be applied toward Element 2.
• Social Sciences-Approved OTM courses will be applied toward either Element 5 or Element 3, depending on the learning outcomes of the course and the student’s need to meet distribution requirements.
• Arts and Humanities-Approved OTM courses will be applied toward either Element 4 or Element 3, depending on the learning outcomes of the course and the student’s need to meet distribution requirements.
• Natural Sciences-Approved OTM courses will be applied toward Element 6.

Note: Any additional Transfer Module courses not applied to the categories above may count toward the required 37 hours in the Wright State Core provided the area distribution requirements have been satisfied (using courses listed above) and the courses were completed prior to matriculation at WSU.

Integrated Writing (IW) Courses in the Wright State Core

A transfer student who has completed the transfer module that is part of the Ohio Articulation and Transfer Policy will be considered as having met the Writing in the Core requirements.

Transfer students who have not completed the Ohio Transfer Module but who have completed the equivalent of the Wright State Core when they matriculate at Wright State will be considered as having met the IW requirement in the Wright State Core.

Transfer students who have completed the equivalent of less than 50% (less than 19 semester hours) of the Wright State Core when they matriculate at Wright State must complete two IW courses in the Wright State Core.

Transfer students who have completed the equivalent of 50-75% (19-28 semester hours) of the Wright State Core when they matriculate must complete one IW course within the Wright State Core.

Transfer students who have already completed the equivalent of 75% or more of the Wright State Core may satisfy the IW requirement by completing one IW course in the Wright State Core or by preparing an acceptable portfolio that includes writing on demand or by completing an approved advanced writing course.

NOTE: All transfer students must complete two IW courses in the major. Any additional IW course completed in the major beyond the two used to meet the major requirement can be used to complete the IW requirement in the Core.

Integrated Writing (IW) Courses in the Wright State Core

A transfer student who has completed the transfer module that is part of the Ohio Articulation and Transfer Policy will be considered as having met the Writing in the Core requirements.

Transfer students who have not completed the Ohio Transfer Module but who have completed the equivalent of the Wright State Core when they matriculate at Wright State will be considered as having met the IW requirement in the Wright State Core.

Transfer students who have completed the equivalent of less than 50% (less than 19 semester hours) of the Wright State Core when they matriculate at Wright State must complete two IW courses in the Wright State Core.

Transfer students who have completed the equivalent of 50-75% (19-28 semester hours) of the Wright State Core when they matriculate must complete one IW course within the Wright State Core.

Transfer students who have already completed the equivalent of 75% or more of the Wright State Core may satisfy the IW requirement by completing one IW course in the Wright State Core or by preparing an acceptable portfolio that includes writing on demand or by completing an approved advanced writing course.

NOTE: All transfer students must complete two IW courses in the major. Any additional IW course completed in the major beyond the two used to meet the major requirement can be used to complete the IW requirement in the Core.

For more information about the Wright State Core, please refer to policy 4130.