Core Areas

Natural Sciences: Physical (CANP) and Life (CANL)

Students must satisfactorily complete at least six (6) credit hours of approved coursework in the Natural Sciences with at least one course taken from each category of Physical Sciences (CANP) and Life Sciences (CANL).

To be approved for General Education credit, a course in the Physical Sciences (CANP):

  • Must be introductory in nature and present (or have as a prerequisite a college course that presents) the fundamentals of the physical science with relevant applications.
  • Should emphasize scientific methodology by involving the student in making observations, evaluating data, and solving problems.

The course may be required for majors in the Physical Sciences and technology or a course designed for non-specialists. Courses should engage students with the relationship of physical science to human and environmental issues with courses for non-science majors including a greater focus on evaluating and using scientific evidence for decision making.

To be approved for General Education credit, a course in the Life Sciences (CANL):

  • Must be an introductory course which presents (or has as a prerequisite a college course that presents) the fundamentals of biological science, including genetics/speciation/evolution, growth/differentiation, metabolism/bio-energetics and ecology/ethology.
  • Should emphasize scientific methodology by involving the student in making observations, evaluating data, and solving problems.

The course may be required for majors in the Life Sciences or a course designed for non-specialists. Courses should engage students with the relationship of life science to human and environmental issues, with courses for non-science majors including a greater focus on evaluating and using scientific evidence for decision making. Introductory courses for majors in the Life Sciences that do not cover all the topics specified above may be certified for General Education credit by special permission of the General Education Council.

Courses that are approved for General Education credit in the Natural Sciences may or may not include a laboratory. To qualify as a laboratory course, the course must have a laboratory experience requiring substantial active student participation and should involve collecting data from natural sources. The laboratory may also include data collected through computer simulations, statistical problems, or other participant exercises. The enrollments in any laboratory section must be low enough to allow substantial active participation in laboratory work by each student.