First-Year Common Core

First-Year Common Core

FIRST YEAR COMMON CORE: 

Within the first year at HPU or directly following any required foundational writing course(s), students will complete one course in each of the following curriculum areas:  

This Curriculum Area provides multidisciplinary courses and is required for all HPU students (including transfer students with an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science Degree). These courses are designed to deepen student awareness of the unique place in which they have chosen to live and study. Multidisciplinary courses analyze historical developments, science, politics, values, art, geography, music, religion, and cultural practices within Hawai‘i and across the Pacific. Courses in this Curriculum Area must be taken in a student’s first year at HPU and required for all HPU students (including transfer students with an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science Degree)

Students successfully completing these courses will obtain the following skills, knowledge, perspectives, and values:

SKILLS (MĀKAU NAʻAUAO):

  • Aesthetic Appreciation and Expression – Students will engage in creative practices to interpret and express ideas through various art forms.

KNOWLEDGE & PERSPECTIVES (`IKE):

  • HISTORICAL AND CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES – Students investigate and apply concepts from history or the humanities to describe and analyze phenomena over time.  

  • SUSTAINABILITY – Students identify how ecological, social, and economic systems work together to promote sustainable futures.

VALUES (MEA WAIWAI):

  • CIVIC ENGAGEMENT – Students identify and engage in efforts that constructively influence the public good.

 

COURSES (1 course - 3 semester credits or 4 quarter credits for transfer students):

  • AL 1050 – Languages in the Pacific
  • ANTH 1500 – Contemporary Social Activism in Hawai'i (effective Fall 2018)
  • ARTH 1001 – Arts of Oceania
  • BIOL 2170 – Ethnobotany: People and Plants
  • ENG 1101 – Representations of Pacific Life
  • HAWN 1100 – Beginning Hawaiian I
  • HIST 1558 – Living History of Hawai‘i
  • PHIL 1001 – Philosophies of Hawai‘i and the Pacific 

Courses prepare students for an increasingly data-driven society in which the ability to use and critically evaluate information, especially numerical information, is central to the role and requirements of an informed citizen. Students will acquire the skills necessary to identify and understand a given problem, organize relevant information and assumptions, form a conjecture, decide upon and apply an appropriate strategy, draw conclusions, and communicate the result to others. Through these processes, students will enhance their ability to make rational decisions based on data, and apply mathematical, statistical, or symbolic reasoning to complex problems and decision-making. Courses in this Curriculum Area must be taken in a student’s first year at HPU or directly following any required developmental mathematics course(s).


Students successfully completing these courses will obtain the following skills:

 

SKILLS (MĀKAU NAʻAUAO):

  • Technology and innovation  – Students apply an understanding of technology to solve problems; explore innovative practices for acquiring, analyzing and sharing information; and understand the impact of technology on society.

  • CRITICAL THINKING – Students synthesize information, explain issues, analyze concepts and evidence, assess assumptions, define their own perspectives and positions, and evaluate the implications and consequences of their conclusions.

  • QUANTITATIVE REASONING – Students use quantitative reasoning to analyze problems and identify solutions.

 

COURSES (1 course - 3 semester credits or 4 quarter credits for transfer students):

  • CSCI 1534 - Data Analysis and Visualization

These sequential courses facilitate students' entry into the intellectual life of Hawai‘i Pacific University by helping them to become more capable and independent academic readers and writers. With their small section size and emphases on research, information literacy, the writing and revision process, critical analysis, and collaboration, the courses help students develop academic habits and skills important to their success in future courses. Courses in this Curriculum Area must be taken in a student’s first year at HPU or directly following any required developmental writing course.

Students successfully completing these courses will obtain the following skills:

SKILLS (MĀKAU NAʻAUAO):

  • written COMMUNICATION  – .Students write clearly and effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes.

  • CRITICAL THINKING – Students synthesize information, explain issues, analyze concepts and evidence, assess assumptions, define their own perspectives and positions, and evaluate the implications and consequences of their conclusions.

  • INFORMATION LITERACY – Students locate, interpret, determine the credibility of, and use information effectively, ethically, and legally.

 

COURSES (1 course - 3 semester credits or 4 quarter credits for transfer students)*

  • WRI 1100 - Writing and Analyzing Arguments
  • WRI 1150 - Literature and Argument

Courses in this curriculum area must be taken in the student's first year at HPU or directly following any required foundational writing course(s).  Students must earn a grade of C- or better to move on to Written Communication and Information Literacy II.

*Place out option:  Students who score 630 or above on the SAT critical reading or 28 or above on the ACT English may place out of the Written Communication and Information Literacy I course requirement.  Students will not receive course credit for a course in this category; however, they will have satisfied the Written Communication and Information Litreacy I course requirement. 

 

 

These sequential courses facilitate students' entry into the intellectual life of Hawai‘i Pacific University by helping them to become more capable and independent academic readers and writers. With their small section size and emphases on research, information literacy, the writing and revision process, critical analysis, and collaboration, the courses help students develop academic habits and skills important to their success in future courses. Courses in this Curriculum Area must be taken in a student’s first year at HPU or directly following any required developmental writing course.

Students successfully completing these courses will obtain the following skills:

SKILLS (MĀKAU NAʻAUAO):

  • written COMMUNICATION  – Students write clearly and effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes.

  • Critical Thinking – Students synthesize information, explain issues, analyze concepts and evidence, assess assumptions, define their own perspectives and positions, and evaluate the implications and consequences of their conclusions.

  • Information Literacy – Students locate, interpret, determine the credibility of, and use information effectively, ethically, and legally.

 

COURSES (1 course - 3 semester credits or 4 quarter credits for transfer students)

  • WRI 1200 - Research, Argument, and Writing
  • WRI 1250 - Introduction to Research in the Humanities

Students must earn a grade of C- or higher to satisfy this curriculum area and to enroll in courses requiring a course from this category as a prerequisite.