General Education

All syllabi should include course SLOs. Courses that are listed in the NMCNS must include all SLOs listed by the state for that course. The state rules allow for institutions/instructors to add additional SLOs as long as the added SLOs constitute no more than 20% of the total number of SLOs. (Note: Essential-skill SLOs, described below, may be added if desired and do not count toward this 20%.)

All “G” course syllabi should include a statement such as: All general education courses are required to include instruction and evaluation of a variety of essential skills. There are three such skills associated with this course:

Alignment of Essential Skills to Content Areas within the New Mexico General Education Curriculum

General Education content area and the skills associate with the content area.
General Education Content Areas	Skills associated with the content area
Communications	Communication Critical Thinking Information & Digital Literacy
Mathematics	Communication Critical Thinking Quantitative Reasoning
Science	Critical Thinking Personal & Social Responsibility Quantitative Reasoning
Social & Behavioral Sciences	Communication Critical Thinking Personal & Social Responsibility
Humanities	Critical Thinking Information & Digital Literacy Personal & Social Responsibility
Creative and Fine Arts	Communication Critical Thinking Personal & Social Responsibility
Other*	Select any three of the five essential skills for association with course learning outcomes.

*Courses within an institutions discretionary nine credits, including interdisciplinary courses may fall outside of the six content areas as the institutions discretion.

Essential Skills and Component Summaries

Instructors may choose to include essential skill component descriptions such as shown in the table below, or to create and provide essential-skill student learning outcomes (SLOs) that align with the state's rubrics. Essential-skill SLOs should be identified as such in the syllabus.

General Education Essential Skills and their components.
Essential Skill	Component Skills
Communication	Identify and communicate in various genres and mediums Apply strategies to understand and evaluate messages Evaluate and produce arguments
Quantitative Reasoning	Express quantitative information symbolically, graphically, and in written or oral language Interpret, analyze, and critique information or a line of reasoning presented by others Apply appropriate quantitative models to real-world or other contextual problems
Critical Thinking	Delineate a problem or question Identify and gather information/data necessary to address a problem or question Evaluate evidence/data for credibility, probable truth, and relevance to a situation Develop conclusions, solutions, and outcomes that reflect an informed evaluation
Information & Digital Literacy (courses should address 3/4 components)	Recognize the interdependent nature of the authority and value of information and use this knowledge ethically Understand, communicate, compute, create, and design in digital environments Select, use, produce, organize, and share information with appropriate formats, collections, systems, and applications Engage in an iterative process of inquiry that defines a problem or poses a question to generate a reasonable solution or answer through research
Personal & Social Responsibility (Courses should address 2/5 components)	Intercultural reasoning and intercultural competence Sustainability and the natural and human worlds Ethical reasoning Collaboration skills, teamwork, and value systems