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Developmental Education Course Descriptions

The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) offers courses for improving students’ reading, writing and math skills. Classrooms for these courses are on the second floor of Ferguson Hall. Developmental Math classes are taught in Ferguson Hall 201. Developmental Reading and Writing classes are taught in Ferguson Hall 203.  Course syllabi can be viewed @syllabi

Reading Courses

ED 0200 BASE Reading Skills (2-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on an approved assessment instrument does not meet minimum requirements on the reading portion of the assessment. In this course students will develop basic reading skills. Topics included in this course are, building vocabulary; defining contest cues; identifying main and supporting ideas; identifying author’s purpose and tone. Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements for any degree. Students must earn a grade of “C” or better OR retake and pass the reading portion of the TSIA to progress to the next level.

ED 0300 Reading Skills (3-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on an approved assessment instrument does not meet minimum requirements on the reading portion of the assessment. In this course, students will develop reading and study skills. Topics included in this course are: defining vocabulary in context; identifying stated, implied main ideas and central point; identifying details that support and differentiate between fact and fiction; identifying the author’s purpose and tone; determining points and support of a critical argument. This course will emphasize correction of reading problems identified through diagnosis. Students must earn a grade of C or better to progress to any intensive reading course. Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements for any degree. (ED 0300)

Writing Courses

ENG 0200 BASE Writing Skills (2-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on an apporved assessment instrument does not meet minimum requirements on the writing portion of the assessment. In this course students will develop basic grammar and writing skills. Topics included in this course are sentence and paragraph development; grammar; and vocabulary. Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements for any degree. Students must earn a grade of “C” or better OR retake and pass the writing portion of the TSIA to progress to the next level.

ENG 0300 Writing Skills (3-0)
This course is designed for students who score on an approved assessment instrument does not meet minimum requirements on the writing portion of the assessment. In this course, students will develop their writing and reading skills through daily exposure to writing and reading exercises. Topics included in this course are: grammar, sentence structure, paragraph development, and essay writing. Areas which will be emphasized for essay writing are: appropriateness, unity and focus, development, and organization. Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements for any degree. Students must earn a grade of C or better to progress to ENG 1301. (ENG 0300)

ENG 0309 Basic Integrated Reading and Writing (3-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on an approved assessment instrument does not meet minimum requirements on the writing and/or reading portion of the assessment.  Students will develop their writing and reading skills through exposure to writing and reading exercises.  Topics include grammar, sentence structure, paragraph development, main ideas, supporting details, vocabulary, purpose and tone.  Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirments for any degree.

ENG 0310 Integrated Reading and Writing Skills (3-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on an approved assessment instrument does not meet minimum requirements on the writing and/or reading portion of the assessment. The focus of the course will be on applying critical reading skills for organizing, analyzing, and retaining material and developing written work appropriate to the audience, purpose, situation, and length of the assignment. The course integrates preparation in basic academic reading skills in writing a variety of academic essays. Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements for any degree.

Mathematics Courses

MATH 0200 BASE Math Skills (2-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on an approved assessment instrument does not meet minimum requirements on the mathematics portion of the assessment. In this course students will develop basic mathematics skills. Topics included in this course are, operations with whole numbers, integers, fractions, decimals, and percents; univariate linear equations, including multi-step equations and proportions; and verbal and written communication involving mathematical language, symbols and notation. Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements for any degree. Students must earn a grade of “C” or beter OR retake and pass the math portion of the TSIA to progress to the next level.

MATH 0300 Introductory Algebra (3-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on an approved assessment instrument does not meet minimum requirements on the mathematics portion of the assessment. Topics included in this course are: operations on real numbers; the solving of equations and inequalities; basic operations with polynomials; simple graphing techniques; and college readiness skills. Students must earn a grade of C or better to progress to the next level math course. Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements for any degree. (MATH 0300)

MATH 0314 Introduction to College Algebra (3-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on an approved assessment does not meet minimum requirements on the mathematics portion of the assessment.  Students who wish to earn a B.S. degree take MATH 1314.  Topics included in the course are operations with polynomial expressions; methods of solving quadratic equations and inequalities; applications of quadratic equations; rectangular coordinate systems and graphs of quadratic equations.  Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements of any degree.

MATH 0332 Introductory Contemporary Math (3-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on an approved assessment does not meet minimum requirements on the mathematics portion of the assessment.  Topics included in the course are problem-solving, counting, the real number system, sets, geometry, solutions of linear and quadratic equations; elementary probability, financial math; the mathematics of voting, and fair division.  Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements of any degree.  (Students who wish to earn a B.A. degree take MATH 1332)

MATH 0342 Introductory Statistical Methods (3-0)
This course is designed for students whose score on the approved assessment does not meet minimum requirements on the mathematics portion of the assessment.  Students who wish to earn a B.S. degree take MATH 1342.  Topics included in the course are collection; analysis; presentation and interpretation of data, and probability.  Analysis includes descriptive statistics, correlation and regression, confidence intervals and hypothesis-testing.  Credit in this course cannot be used to satisfy requirements for any degree.