Northwest College

First Year Seminar

First Year Seminar courses, as part of Northwest College's First Year Experience program, are dedicated to successful student transition to college. First Year Seminars pave the way for college success through connecting students to campus areas and programs, providing academic advising, and providing peer mentoring and/or success coaching. These courses empower students to succeed and help solve academic problems.

American & Wyoming Government

Wyoming Statute, Title 21, Chapter 9, Section 102, mandates that all public institutions “give instruction in the essentials of the United States constitution and the constitution of the state of Wyoming, including the study of and devotion to American institution and ideals,” and no student shall receive a post-secondary degree from a Wyoming institution of higher education without having been instructed in the above.  An understanding of politics and government is fundamental to good citizenship and contributes to the foundation of scholarly knowledge expected of college graduates.

Students may fulfill this requirement in one of three ways:

• POLS 1000 American and Wyoming Government (3)

      or

• HIST 1221 United States from 1865 (3)

      or

• a combination of HIST 1210 United States History I (3) and HIST 1250 History of Wyoming (3)

Communication

Effective communication is fundamental to academic success and pursuit of a career. Communication foregrounds the importance of creating messages in English and other languages that are appropriate for a given audience while considering purpose, context, and ethical implications. The emphasis is on written communication and oral communication (audience analysis, composition revision, editing, and documentation, delivery). Providing a foundation for effective communication is information literacy (locating, evaluating, and analyzing materials) to determine sources' accuracy and appropriateness for a given rhetorical situation.

Quantitative Reasoning

Important questions can often be answered through the analysis of quantitative information. The ability to understand, use, and interpret quantitative arguments improves the efficiency of such analysis. Northwest College strives to develop a mathematical skill set that aids in the problem-solving process and guides one to a solution. 

Physical and Natural Science

Northwest College strives to develop a scientific skill set that assists in analyzing data to guide decisions and facilitates problem-solving in the physical and natural realms of the universe. Scientific reasoning includes the practice of recognizing a pertinent question or problem, identifying essential information to solve the question or problem, and using logical and valid reasoning to come to a solution.

Human Condition

The character and complexities of the human species, as well as its behaviors, whether as individuals or in their collectivities as a subject of importance to civil society and the world. The framework of that discussion now includes a range of tools, methods, and vocabularies across many disciplines that are legitimate and expected aspects of the manner in which an educated person contemplates these issues as a basis for evaluating individual and sociocultural structures and perspectives within and beyond one’s own community. More than ever, diverse worldviews inform the educated person as she or he re-examines those structures and perspectives to understand the individual as a component in that context.

Creativity

Creativity is a core human attribute that plays an important role in adaptability, interpersonal communication, inquiry, and innovation. The benefit of creativity to all disciplines is increased knowledge through broader understanding and the generation of new methods and ideas. Creativity can be realized through the processes of conceptions, research, problem-solving, understanding abstract/symbolic representations, and the act of production.