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2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Cluster One: Skills for the 21st Century
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Dr. Sarah Brooks, Cluster One Coordinator
Cluster One is the cornerstone of General Education: The Human Community at JMU. Through course work in three areas and a required information literacy test, this cluster requires students to demonstrate:
- Critical thinking skills
- Effective oral presentation skills
- Effective writing skills
- Competency in information literacy
Competence in these areas is fundamental to subsequent study in major and professional programs. Therefore, all students are required to complete Cluster One requirements during their first academic year at JMU. Cluster One courses may be taken in any order. Cluster One areas and courses are not repeatable without permission. Permission to enroll in additional Cluster One courses is given based on course availability. There are no overrides available in Cluster One courses.
Cluster One Learning Objectives
After completing Cluster One: Skills for the 21st Century, students should be able to use reading, writing, human communication, critical thinking and information literacy skills for inquiring, learning, thinking and communicating in their personal, academic and civic lives.
Critical Thinking
After completing a 100-level Critical Thinking course, students should be able to:
- Identify the basic components of arguments, including premises, supporting evidences, assumptions, conclusions and implications;
- Evaluate claims and sources for clarity, credibility, reliability, accuracy and relevance;
- Evaluate arguments for soundness, strength and completeness;
- Demonstrate an intellectual disposition to be fair-minded in considering evidence, arguments and alternative points of view.
Human Communication
After completing course work in communication, students should be able to:
- Explain the fundamental processes that significantly influence communication.
- Construct messages consistent with the diversity of communication purpose, audience, context and ethics.
- Respond to messages consistent with the diversity of communication purpose, audience, context and ethics.
- Utilize information literacy skills expected of ethical communicators.
Writing
After completing course work in writing, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate an awareness of rhetorical knowledge, which may include the ability to analyze and act on understandings of audiences, purposes and contexts in creating and comprehending texts.
- Employ critical thinking, which includes the ability through reading, research and writing, to analyze a situation or text and make thoughtful decisions based on that analysis.
- Employ writing processes.
- Demonstrate an awareness of conventions, the formal and informal guidelines that define what is considered to be correct and appropriate in a variety of texts.
- Compose in multiple environments using traditional and digital communication tools.
Information Literacy
After completing the Madison Research Essential Skills Test (MREST), JMU’s information literacy test, and course work in critical thinking, human communication and writing, students should be able to:
- Recognize the components of scholarly work and that scholarship can take many forms.
- Demonstrate persistence and employ multiple strategies in research and discovery processes.
- Identify gaps in their own knowledge and formulate appropriate questions for investigations in academic settings.
- Evaluate the quality of information and acknowledge expertise.
- Use information effectively in their own work and make contextually appropriate choices for sharing their scholarship.
- Use information ethically and legally.
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Cluster One Structure
Completion of all courses and tests in Cluster One is required of students in their first academic year at JMU.
Cluster One consists of nine credits and a competency test. All students must earn credit for one course in critical thinking, human communication and writing. In addition to the three courses, students are required to demonstrate information literacy competency by passing the Madison Research Essential Skills Test (MREST).
Critical Thinking
In this area, students study various techniques and approaches to critical thinking such as analyzing and evaluating information, arguments, premises and concepts. Critical thinking fosters inquiry and problem solving abilities. Depending upon the course, the content focuses on the function of language, basic business principles, issues in recent history, mediated communication, informal logical reasoning or problem-solving in science and technology. Cluster One offers six classes that meet this requirement.
Choose one of the following:
Additional Information
Students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree may not use either PHIL 120 or PHIL 150 to fulfill the B.A. philosophy course requirement.
Students who have received credit for one critical thinking class are not eligible to receive credit for a second critical thinking class without permission.
Human Communication
In this area, students are introduced to the study of human communication as a process. Emphasis is on examining the role of self-concept, perception, culture, verbal and nonverbal dimensions in the communication process; applying critical listening skills; and developing skills in oral presentations. Depending upon the course, the content focuses on an overview of the principles and practices of interpersonal, small group and public communication, or constructing informative and persuasive speeches with an emphasis on individual public speaking contexts, or constructing informative and persuasive group presentations. Cluster One requires completion of one of three courses offered in human communication.
Choose one of the following:
Additional Information
Students who have received credit for one SCOM class are not eligible to receive credit for a second SCOM class.
Writing
In this area, students study the role of the writer, the purpose of documents, and the contexts and audience expectations within which documents are produced. Writing is taught as a process involving invention, collaboration, research and revision. Students read, analyze and create texts in multiple genres using traditional and digital communication tools. Content areas may include public and professional discourse, culture, humanities, and technology.
Additional Information
Students may not repeat WRTC 103 for credit.
Information Literacy
Information literacy is the ability to locate, evaluate and use information effectively to accomplish a purpose. Cluster One requires completion of the Madison Research Essentials Test (MREST). All entering students must pass the MREST by the deadline announced by the university. Students not completing the requirement by the deadline will have a hold placed on their academic record until the MREST is passed.
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