Intellectual Foundations: Quantitative Reasoning I

"Quantitative Reasoning I," the first in a two-part series, is a required Intellectual Foundations course for all University of Austin freshmen. The course covers the interpretation of graphical information, functions, and quantitative modeling. Throughout the course, examples will be drawn from various fields, including physics, biology, and economics; there will be particular emphasis on the laws of nature and analogies among them.

Required Text:

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, (2^nd edition), Edward R. Tufte

Successful Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will have demonstrated basic achievement in quantitative reasoning. In particular, students will be able to:

• Perform mathematical tasks involving percentage change, units and unit analysis, scientific notation, and order of magnitude. 
• Extract information from complicated, quantitative plots and generate written descriptions of the essential information being plotted and what can be concluded from it. 
• Perform mathematical tasks involving functions, functional notation, patterns, and sequences.
• Translate word problems into equations.
• Demonstrate valid reasoning involving basic patterns of change, units and unit analysis, and order of magnitude.
• Extract information from complicated, quantitative plots and generate written descriptions of the essential information being plotted and what can be concluded from it.
• Use functions to construct useful mathematical models.
• Perform computational/mathematical tasks involving functions to extract conclusions from models.

Quantitative Reasoning is part of every UATX student's STEM foundation. Learn more about STEM opportunities at the University:

Please note that course descriptions are illustrative and subject to change.