Associate of Arts Degree Program at THEARC

• Overview
• Degree Requirements
• Course Descriptions

Overview

The Associate of Arts degree in General Studies consists of core requirements and courses across various areas of emphasis.

Based on a skills inventory, students may also be asked to take some pre-foundational courses, which prepare students for college-level work in both mathematics and English.

The A.A. program is a 61 credit hour program (not including any pre-foundational courses).  All credits earned in the A.A. program can be applied toward a Bachelor’s degree program at Trinity.

Associate’s Degree Requirements

For specific courses fulfilling the core and area requirements listed below, see Course Descriptions. Students must take courses in each of the following areas:

• Introduction to College
• Skills for Life and Work
• Understanding the Self, Society, and Nature
• Areas of Emphasis (select courses from Arts and Humanities, Business, and Social and Behavioral Sciences; students can select an Early Childhood Education emphasis as well)
• Capstone Course

Total Credits Required for Degree: 61 credits

Course Descriptions

Introduction to College

• The Learning Experience (3 credits):
  • INT 113 Academic AchievementIntroduces students to the concepts and practices associated with a successful college experience.
    
    Students are taught skills that will lead to self-management and self-responsibility in terms of their academic success.
    
    The course will familarize students with Trinity's policies and procedures, academic services and student services. Students will be assisted in the transition to college with emphasis placed on the adult learner. Topics covered will include: returning to college, balancing work, family and school, and managing time.
    
    In addition, the course will help students to identify different learning and teaching styles, develop critical thinking skills, and acquire effective study habits and valuable classroom skills.
    
    This course is open only to students in the Associate's degree program. Formerly known as INT 106.

Skills for Life & Work

• Writing (3 credits):
  • ENGL 106 Writing for Academic & Profess. SuccessFocuses on planning, writing, and revising compositions for academic and professional purposes, including informational, analytical, evaluative, and persuasive compositions. Develops skills in accessing, evaluating, using, and documenting informational sources. Introduces students to professional writing applications, including memos, resumes, and reports. This course is only open to students in the Associate's Degree program. No other students are allowed to register.
• Communication (6 credits):
  • COM 101 Introduction to Comm. & Public SpeakingStudies principles of communication, with an emphasis on developing the skills needed to communicate effectively in personal and professional relationships, and in informative and persuasive public speaking contexts. This course is only open to students in the Associate's Degree program. No other students are allowed to register.
  • COM 224 Cross-Cultural CommunicationCross-cultural Communication examines basic principles of communication in multi-cultural contexts. Students will analyze the impact of cultural assumptions and values on understanding and communication between individuals and among communities.
    
    This course is only open to students in the Associate's Degreee Program. No other students are allowed to register for this class.
    3 credits
• Numeracy (3 credits):
  • MATH 112 Finite Math with ApplicationsThis course is intended to provide students with extended critical thinking and reasoning skills. Topics include logic, set theory, problem solving, linear equations and inequalities, and unit conversions. Students will learn about truth values, operations on sets, analysis and representation of material using Venn diagrams, and use of the metric system.
    3 credits
    Prerequisites: MATH 060 or placement test proficiency.
    Gen Ed Area: Skills for Work and Life - Numeracy
• Information Literacy (3 credits):
  • INT 117 Introduction to Information LiteracyIn order to be successful in both the academic and professional realm, a student must be able to discover, retrieve, evaluate, manage and communicate all forms of information. The purpose of this course is to help students learn the importance of the internet as a research tool and to enable students to evaluate the quality of information and understand how information is to be used in a way that supports critical thinking and communication of thoughts, ideas, and/or opinions. This course will also give students a clear understanding of the ethical and legal issues surrounding the use of information.
    
    This course is only open to students in the Associate's Degree program. Formerly ISYS 102.

Understanding the Self, Society & Nature

• Arts & Humanities (6 credits chosen):
  • FNAR 248 Music and CultureSurveys global music, examining the relationship between music and culture in both western and non-western music. Formal musical traditions, popular culture music, and folk music will all be included. Students will develop listening skills as well as an appreciation for the music of diverse cultures.
    3 credits
    
    This course is only open to students in the Associate's Degree Program at THEARC. No other students are allowed to register.
  • HIS 250 Contemporary World HistoryContemporary World History examines major forces that have shaped the world since 1945, including nationalism, revolution, democratization, globalization, ethnic and racial conflict, and technological transformation and the information revolution.
    3 credits
• Social Sciences (9 credits chosen):
  • POLS 102 Politics and CitizenshipDevelops student understanding of current political and policy issues. Through a study of academic, newspaper, and broadcast journalism sources on American and global politics, students will learn how to conduct research, asess sources, analyze policy debates, construct written and oral arguments, and become more informed and active citizens. This course is open only to students in the Associate's Degree progam. No other students are allowed to register.
    3 credits
  • PSYC 100 Fundamentals of PsychologyIntroduces students to the primary concepts of psychology, and to the tools of psychologists use to study the wide variety of human behavior. Provides a general overview of the fields of psychology through lectures, readings, shsort thought papers, and interactive class activities. The course surveys several major topic areas: the biology of behavior, learning, memory, conciousness, personality, and abnormal behavior. Students will learn to critically evaluate the state of knowledge in the field, particularly as it applies to a higly diverse society as or own.
  • SOCY 101 Social IssuesExamines contemporary social issues in the United States using current sociological approaches and theories. Topics include poverty, racism and sexual discrimination, health care, aging, violence, family and community structures, and substance abuse. This course is open only to students in the Associate's Degree program. No other students are allowed to register.
    3 credits
• Scientific Understanding (3 credits):
  • ENVS 102 Science of the EnvironmentIntroduces non-science majors to evolution, earth science, and plate tectonics with an emphasis on the mid-Atlantic region. Labs include use of the scientific method, development of observational skills, computer-assisted learning, and several field trips. There is an additional laboratory fee for this course. Formerly ENV 101 Discovering Planet Earth.
    
    This course is only open to students in the Associate Degree Program.
• Religious Studies/Ethics (6 credits):
  • PHIL 252 Practical EthicsDevelops students' abilities to handle problematic ethical situations in their lives and work, and to come up with constructive responses to ethical dilemmas. The course will build skills in respectful, open dialogue about values and ethics. It will also increase students' awareness of and responsiveness to diverse values, including an understanding of tensions between values as well as the importance of seeking common ethical ground. This course is open only to students in the Associate in Arts program.
    3 credits
  • RST 289 Comparative ReligionsThis course surveys the relationship of several religious traditions of the world -- Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Raoism, CHristianity, and Islam -- concentrating on their development, belief systems, and practices of today. Special emphasis will be placed on their differences as well as similarities. This course is restricted to those students enrolled in Trinity's Associate of Arts program.
    3 credits

Pre-Foundational Courses
All students must demonstrate or develop fundamental academic competencies at the beginning of their studies for the A.A. degree. Incoming students will take skills inventories in reading, composition, and mathematics. The purpose of the skills inventory is to promote student success by placing students in classes appropriate to their skill level.

Based on the skills inventory, students will be placed either in college-level courses or pre-foundational courses. All collegiate bridge coursework must be completed within the first 24 credit hours of enrollment. Students who place out of the pre-foundational classes take the college-level courses.

Pre-Foundational level courses include:

• MATH 060 Elementary AlgebraThe course will cover ratios, percentages, integers, introduction to algebraic expression and solving basic equations. The course is open only to students in the Associate's Degree program. This course may not be taken pass/fail. Students must achieve a minimum C grade to proceed to the next level of pre-foundational math.
  3 credits.
  Prerequisite: Students must score a 70 or higher on the Arithmetic portion and 40 or lower on the Algebra portion of the Accuplacer
• ENGL 060 Composition SkillFocuses on writing clear, effective compositions. Students will learn how to construct paragraphs, how to state topics, and how to develop narratives and analyses. This course may not be taken pass/fail. This course is only open to students in the Associate's degree program.
  3 credits
  Prerequisite: Grade of C or higher in ENGL 030 OR score of 57 or higher on Sentence Skills portion and score of 7 or 8 on Writing portion of Accuplacer test.

Electives
Students select four courses to fulfill their elective requirement.  These electives come from several different disciplines, including the arts and humanities, business, and social and behavioral sciences.

FOUR of the following courses:

• BADM 100 Fundamentals of BusinessAn introductory course designed to provide students with an overview of business organizations. This course will explore the following aspects of business: forms of business ownership, research and development, marketing, finance, accounting, production, materials management, and human resources management.
  3 credits.
• BADM 230 Marketing Theory and PracticeAddresses the theory and practice of marketing consumer goods and services. This course will introduce marketing principles, concepts, and tactics; including consumer behavior theory. Emphasis will be placed on the use of research and analytical tools in the promotion of goods and services.
  
  This course is only open to students in the Associate's Degree program.
• BADM 250 Principles of Management & LeadershipDiscusses the theory and practice of management. Teaches the functions of management (planning, organizing, and leading) through participation in discussions, simulations, role-playing, and team activities. Students will develop effective management and leadership skills, with a focus on personal awareness and growth.
  
  This course is the equivalent of BADM 251. The name, number, and description have been changed for use in the AA program.
  
  This course is only open to students in the Associate's Degree Program THEARC. No other students are allowed to register.
• ENGL 217 Early African-American LiteratureStudies African-American Literature from colonial times to the 20th century. The course will survey folklore, poetry and prose.
  3 credits
• FNAR 222 Architecture, Cities and SocietyExamines the relationship between human behavior and designed environments. Studies the application of psychological facts to the design of buildings and cities. The course will cover both urban planning and architecture in relation to function and aesthetics. The history of both architecture and urban planning will be addressed; however, the main focus of the course will be modern cities and buildings.This course is resticted for students taking courses at THEARC (Associate in Arts program).
  3 credits
• HUMR 213 Introduction to CounselingThis course provides an overview of professional counseling in helping professions. Topics will include the history, and philosophies and theories of counseling; in addition to the implications of current economic and social climates on the practice of counseling. Students will explore the roles, functions, and limitations of counselors and leave with an understanding of basic counseling skills.
  3 credits
• POLS 274 Politics, Literature, and FilmThe course explores various themes in politics as they are presented in both literature and film. Academic materials will be integrated with excerpts from novels, short stories, poetry, film, and television. Some topics examined will be: democracy, social inequality, justice, citizenship, and oppression.This course is only open to students in the Associate's Degree program.
  3 credits
• PSYC 210 Theories of Social PsychologyThis course will study the influence of others, real or imagined, on an individual's thoughts, emotions, and actions. Topics covered will include social perception and social influence in the context of leadership, conformity, persuasion, aggression, altruism. The course will expose students to theories of social interaction that will be useful in both their academic and career development.
  This course is only open to students in the Associate's Degree Program.
  3 credits
• SOCY 240 Work and SocietyThis course studies work from a sociological perspective in the context of the modern American workplace. Topics include career choices, occupational socialization and commitment, issues of gender, race and age discrimination in the workplace, larger social forces that shape the world of work, such as the relationship of work to the economy, and the future of work.
  3 credits

Note: Students may also take courses from the early childhood education Area of Emphasis, below, to fulfill the elective requirement

Early Childhood Education Area of Emphasis

To fulfill their elective requirement, students may choose to complete a 4-course area of emphasis in early childhood education that will prepare them for work as an assistant teacher in early childhood classrooms in public schools and private centers with courses in child development, curriculum development and assessment. The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (N.A.E.Y.C) standards and regulations are embedded in each course.

ALL of the following courses:

• EDCC 204 Child, Family, Culture and CommunityThis course examines the relationships among the school, child and family, introducing the complex social and cultural factors that influence children’s development and learning, as well as the ethical guidelines that determine professional conduct. Within an orientation to the theoretical and developmental foundations of early learning education of young children, the course emphasizes current issues regarding families, community, and cultural diversity. This course is only open to students in the Associates Degree Program at THEARC.
  3 credits
  Prerequisites: None
• EDCC 206 Developing Learning Experiences in Early ChildhoodThis course examines the historical, theoretical, and developmental foundations for learning in young children, birth to age 8 (specifically, pre-K to 3rd grade.) Students learn how to create developmentally and individually appropriate lesson and activity plans. Learning experiences integrate the various content areas of literacy, math, science, social studies, and the arts, and incorporate the social-emotional, cognitive, and physical domains of child development. This course is only open to students in the Associates Degree Program at THEARC.
  3 credits
  Prerequisites: None
• EDCC 210 Developing Oral Language and Literacy in Early ChildhoodThis course introduces strategies for helping young children acquire communication skills. The contribution of appropriate children's literature to literacy development is demonstrated. Activities, materials, and lessons in these areas emphasize developmentally appropriate practices.
  This course requires a 10 hour on-site, field component.
  3 credits
  Prerequisites: None
• EDCC 212 Observing, Describing, and Measuring Growth in Early ChildhoodIn this introductory course, students use developmentally appropriate observation and record keeping strategies to reflect on, improve, maintain, and extend learning. Tools and techniques that promote growth across all domains of early childhood development—social-emotional, cognitive, and physical, and across language and other content areas—will be discussed and explored.
  This course is only open to students in the Associates Degree Program at THEARC.
  This course requires a 10 hour on-site field component.
  3 credits
  Prerequisites: EDCC 206

Note: These four courses form part of the undergraduate Bachelor of Arts program in early childhood education on the Main Campus.  Credit earned at the “B” (3.0) level or above for these courses as part of the A.A. program at THEARC can count towards the B.A. program.

Early Childhood Education- Field-Based Instruction

Teacher preparation at Trinity emphasizes field-based instruction that includes a series of mandated integrated field experiences and practicum experiences at different grade/age levels in a variety of school settings.

School districts, individual schools, and other service providers vary in their requirements for entering their site and observing students. Most schools and service providers require a Tuberculosis test (TB), fingerprinting, and a criminal background check prior to activities that bring the university candidate into working contact with clients/students.

Prior to observing or working with individuals or groups as required by courses (course assignments, field experience, practicum), a Trinity candidate must have communicated with the site, prior to their arrival, to ensure the candidate will have met any specific site prerequisites .

A sample course requiring field experience:

Capstone Learning Experience
During their final semester, students will enroll in a capstone course in their area of emphasis. The capstone course will review and assess the skills a student has learned in the program of study. Capstone courses require a grade of C or better for graduation.

• INT 290 Capstone ProjectThe capstone course allows students an opportunity to create a body of work which will show that they have met the goals of the Associate Degree Program.
  
  Specific student goals include: preparedness to metriculate to a Trinity Bachelor's Degree program; acquisition of core skills in quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, technological literacy, and communication; an appreciation of the interrelatedness of knowledge from various academic disciplines, and an understanding of how the program goals will assist students in becoming ethical, engaged citizens as well as successful professionals.
  
  This course is open only to students in the Associate's degree program.