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 usually embed methodological training in their subject matter. 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 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. (Naturally, 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.

Courses of Instruction

Introduction to Human Evolution

Introductory Biochemistry

Genetics and Molecular Biology

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

The Magnitude of Things and How on Earth They Matter

Forensic Science: Col. Mustard, Candlestick, Billiard Room

Chemistry and Art

Basic Chemistry

Basic Chemistry

General Chemistry: Principles of Material Evolution

General Chemistry: Principles of Material Evolution

Honors General Chemistry, Lectures

Honors General Chemistry, Lectures

Special Topics in Chemistry

Data Structures and the Fundamentals of Computing

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

Introduction to Economics

Statistics for Economic Analysis

Industrial Organization

Econometrics

Household and Family in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1300-1800)

Science on Trial

Introduction to Probability and Statistics

Probability

Mathematical Statistics

Analyzing the American Jewish Community

Introductory Astronomy

Science and Development

Technology and the Management of Public Risk

Introduction to Physics

Physics for the Life Sciences I

Physics for the Life Sciences II

Basic Physics I

Basic Physics II

Honors Basic Physics I

Honors Basic Physics II

Statistics

Experimental Psychology

Issues in Law and Society

Class Structure and Consciousness

Quantitative Methods of Social Inquiry

On the Caring of the Medical Care System