General Education

St. Clair County Community College (SC4) believes that through exposure to our general education competencies, students acquire knowledge that can apply to many situations and areas, expanding their appreciation and capacity to respond to a variety of perspectives and situations. Learning is a developmental process wherein we build and apply knowledge and showcase skills. Ultimately, we want students to show their knowledge and skill at the start of the course and see improvement as they progress through the course.

A college education implies, in part, the attainment of knowledge and skills in broad areas such as quantitative reasoning, communication, civic responsibility, and information literacy. This general education is included in every program, empowering our students to be productive citizens, successful employees, and lifelong learners.

At SC4, General Education competencies are intertwined within every associate degree program. This ensures that no matter what degree a student completes, exposure to all four general education competencies is achieved. 

Quantitative Reasoning (QR) is the ability to understand and manipulate numerical representations of data.

Outcomes:

1. Interpret quantitative information such as using graphs.
2. Perform basic calculations in the context of the subject matter.
3. Apply number sense to evaluate conclusions.

Civic Responsibility (CR) is understanding the political, economic, social, and global influences on society and our contribution to society.

Outcomes:

1. Demonstrate civic and social awareness, knowledge, and responsibility at the local, national, and global scale.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of personal responsibility in one’s civic and social life, including support for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of global awareness through a knowledge of international political, economic, social, and environmental factors.

Information Literacy (IL) is the ability to find and use information and evaluate its reliability.

Outcomes:

1. Demonstrate technological competence to obtain information from data.
2. Demonstrate how and where to search for reliable information.
3. Demonstrate how to form conclusions based on reliable information.

Communication (CM) is the ability to exchange information and ideas using various methods of delivery, such as writing and speaking.

Outcomes:

1. Select, develop, arrange, revise, and present ideas effectively.
2. Employ and document credible sources of information.
3. Use diction, grammar, and sentence structure appropriate to audience and occasion.