Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies

at Kaplan Group - Arizona State University - Polytechnic Campus USA

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior. This diverse field includes mental health and counseling as well as child development, neuroscience and brain function, memory and decision-making, behavior analysis, statistics and crosses into other disciplines such as medicine, law, business and economics.

Emphasizing critical thinking and reasoning, and quantitative research methods and writing, this BS program in psychology goes beyond the classroom with practical experiences through internships, service-learning and faculty-supervised research. (Some opportunities are not available to students enrolled in the degree offered through ASU Online.)

The Bachelor of Science degree differs from the Bachelor of Arts degree in that it requires two additional lab courses and advanced statistical training, providing a greater depth of knowledge in the biological and neuroscientific aspects of psychology that are increasingly important both for research and for clinical practice. The advanced statistical training further prepares students for careers and graduate training involving psychological research, clinical research and legal policy research.

BAE programs in secondary education prepare educators to teach youth enrolled in grades 6-12. While teacher candidates develop a strong theoretical background in their specific content areas, education program courses focus on developing the skills and teaching abilities required to be successful in the classroom. This program offers the Structured English Immersion instruction that qualifies them to receive the endorsement that enables them to work with English language learners and also provides extensive experiences throughout the program in integrating technology into teaching.

Secondary education professional pathway programs are clinically embedded during the junior and senior years. The primary goal of all professional experiences is to provide students with multiple opportunities to apply knowledge learned in ASU coursework to classroom practice in grades 6-12. Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College students complete internships one day a week during the junior year and first semester of the senior year. In the final semester, students complete a full-time teaching residency. Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College faculty and highly qualified lead teachers from partner school districts and charter schools collaboratively coach interns and residents during required professional experiences. The professional experience provided by the program provides students an opportunity to work directly with youth and make an immediate impact on classroom achievement. Students are also given the opportunity to work collaboratively with fellow interns in content area and interdisciplinary teams. This intensive, hands-on model of teacher preparation creates highly sought-after graduates.

The MS program in human systems engineering with a concentration in aviation human factors provides students with a deep understanding of the science of human performance and experience in the aerospace and aviation industries.

Students in this program participate in courses focusing on methods and tools in applied cognitive science, foundations of human systems engineering, uses of simulation, aviation physiology, and crew resource management, among other topics. The understanding of cognitive science and human systems concepts and tools gained enable students to effectively analyze, design and develop aerospace and aviation products, workspaces, operations and training programs.

The BS program in environmental and resource management provides critical scientific, engineering, regulatory and management skills for students who plan to pursue careers in industry, government or nongovernmental organizations, focusing on ensuring the health of engineered and natural ecosystems and mitigating the environmental impact of the industrial world.

The curriculum combines a strong foundation in chemistry, physics, biology and mathematics with a solid grounding in environmental law and policy, engineering and management principles. Students learn to apply environmental technologies to manage engineered environmental operations such as drinking water and wastewater treatment, management of hazardous and solid wastes, and the control of industrial and mobile sources of air pollution. They study OSHA, EPA and DOT regulations on health and safety, as well as strategies to protect workers in hazardous environments. International environmental issues and legal frameworks are included along with U.S. environmental laws.

The BA in business with a concentration in sustainability is an innovative, transdisciplinary program that combines the latest trends in business with cutting-edge knowledge of sustainability.

Students in this program complete rigorous courses within the sustainability concentration in addition to the skill and core courses required of all W. P. Carey School of Business majors. Graduates are prepared for positions in a variety of professions in which both business and sustainability play important roles.

The ABET-accredited BSE program in engineering prepares graduates to collaborate across disciplines to design and build solutions to real-world problems. In the program, students apply fundamental engineering knowledge and design thinking to real projects every semester.

Students in the mechanical engineering systems concentration of the Bachelor of Science in engineering build a broad engineering foundation to which they add the skills and knowledge necessary to contribute mechanical subject matter expertise in transdisciplinary engineering teams. This expertise includes theory and application of materials, machine design, thermal fluid systems, and energy and power from a systems perspective. The mechanical systems curriculum also provides significant hands-on experience designing and implementing mechanical systems to meet the needs of users.

The BS program in human systems engineering provides students with an understanding of the science of human performance and with experience using methods and tools to apply this understanding to design and problem-solving in a wide variety of domains, such as product usability, learning design, sports performance and workplace and hospital safety.

A wide variety of professions need experts in human factors to work on problems that involve an understanding of human performance. Interest areas include user experience, aviation human factors, cognitive performance, consumer psychology, transportation human factors, patient safety, effective teamwork, health psychology, learning optimization, social cognition, threat detection and sports psychology.

In the BA program in business with a concentration in business administration, students gain a breadth of knowledge and the skills needed for managing business operations. The program provides the full business core plus a concentration with 18 hours of coursework focused on skills such as forecasting demand; planning inventory; purchasing services; conducting skillful negotiations; building strategies for the future and managing people, finances and risk.

The BA program in history introduces students to a broad span of history that covers the ancient world through the modern period and extends from Europe to Latin America and the United States. In addition to learning about the origins and development of various peoples, ideas and institutions of the past, students engage in the practice of history by learning to conduct research, analyze historical evidence and formulate arguments using historiographical perspectives and methodological approaches.

The BSE program in electrical engineering prepares students for positions as electrical engineers.

Following initial coursework in mathematics and sciences, the foundation classes build a solid base of engineering knowledge. The electrical engineering curriculum includes a number of required upper-division electrical engineering and technical elective courses in such areas as circuits; communication, signal processing and control systems; computer engineering; electromagnetics; power; and solid-state devices.

Approved technical elective courses provide students with an opportunity either to broaden their background in electrical engineering or to study in greater depth the technical subjects in which they have special interest.