Quantitative Reasoning

S = Objectives

The quantitative reasoning requirement has been established to develop students' abilities to collect, summarize, and analyze numerical data, to make abstract concepts operational, and to think critically about the accuracy and soundness of conclusions based on data or on mathematical models. Quantitative reasoning courses often embed methodological training in the subject matter of the courses that may be the principal focus of the curriculum. These courses vary widely in the skills that are emphasized, but they usually include one or more of the following:

A. Learning to read, construct, interpret, and critically evaluate tables, graphs, and charts.

B. Developing quantitative measures of physical, behavioral, or social phenomena.

C. Using mathematical models to express causal relationships and to explore the implications of changed assumptions or proposed solutions to problems in the physical or social world.

D. Collecting and organizing numerical data from archives, surveys, lab experiments, or other sources.

E. Testing hypotheses, using experimental or statistical controls.

F. Assessing the limitations of research, such as the reliability and validity of measures, adequacy of experimental design, sample size and quality, and alternative hypotheses and interpretations.

Each Brandeis undergraduate is required to take one course from the approved list of quantitative reasoning courses. This list may change, so students should consult the most recent list of approved courses in the Course Schedule to assure that they will receive requirement credit. (However, students will not be denied credit retroactively if a course taken to fulfill the requirement is later dropped from the list.)

Courses with an asterisk (*) satisfy the quantitative reasoning requirement only when they are taken with the corresponding lab.

S = Courses of Instruction

L =

BIOCHEMISTRY

BIBC 22a*

Genetics and Molecular Biology

BCHM 100a

Introductory Biochemistry

L =

BIOLOGY

BISC 10b

Nutrition: Principles, Issues, and Applications

BIBC 22a*

Genetics and Molecular Biology

BIOL 22b*

Cell Structure and Function

L =

CHEMISTRY

CHSC 3a

The Planet as an Organism: Gaia Theory and the Human Prospect

CHSC 5a

The Magnitude of Things and How on Earth They Matter

CHSC 8b

Chemistry and Art

CHEM 10a*

Basic Chemistry

CHEM 10b*

Basic Chemistry

CHEM 11a*

General Chemistry: Principles of Material Evolution

CHEM 11b*

General Chemistry: Principles of Material Evolution

CHEM 15a*

Honors General Chemistry, Lectures

CHEM 15b*

Honors General Chemistry, Lectures

L =

COMPUTER SCIENCE

COSI 21a*

Data Structures and the Fundamentals of Computing

COSI 21b*

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

L =

ECONOMICS

ECON 2a

Introduction to Economics

ECON 83a

Statistics for Economic Analysis

ECON 135a

Industrial Organization

ECON 162a

Regional Economic Integration in Theory and Practice

ECON 184b

Econometrics

L =

HELLER SCHOOL

HSSW 400a

Introduction to Statistics

L =

MATHEMATICS

MATH 8a

Introduction to Probability and Statistics

MATH 36a

Probability

MATH 36b

Mathematical Statistics

L =

NEAR EASTERN AND JUDAIC STUDIES

NEJS 170b

Analyzing the American Jewish Community

L =

PHYSICS

PHSC 2b

Introductory Astronomy

PHSC 4a

Science and Development

PHSC 7b

Technology and the Management of Public Risk

PHYS 10a

Physics for the Life Sciences I

PHYS 10b

Physics for the Life Sciences II

PHYS 11a

Basic Physics I

PHYS 11b

Basic Physics II

PHYS 15a

Honors Basic Physics I

PHYS 15b

Honors Basic Physics II

L =

PSYCHOLOGY

PSYC 51a

Statistics

PSYC 152a

Experimental Psychology

L =

SOCIOLOGY

SOC 106a

Issues in Law and Society

SOC 181a

Quantitative Methods of Social Inquiry

SOC 190b

On the Caring of the Medical Care System