International Year program (1-Quarter) - Bachelor of Arts in Education in Early Childhood Education in Early Childhood Special Education P-3

at Study Group - Western Washington University USA

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Canadian-American Studies
Canada and the United States share a continent and are linked by deep economic ties, common historical experiences, and many cultural similarities; they are also marked by real and important differences. The Canadian-American Studies major helps students better understand the impact of these similarities and differences, as well as how they affect key cultural, environmental, and economic issues in North America today and in the future.

On its own, the major provides an excellent international and interdisciplinary course of study for students looking for a broad-based, liberal arts education. Through identified specializations, the major is also designed to combine with other majors to add depth and international expertise.

Sociologists examine subjects encompassing a vast array of human behavior: crime and punishment, the formation and dissolution of families, bureaucracy in organizations, conflicts between classes, and global inequalities. Sociology focuses on the way individuals’ lives are embedded within multiple social contexts that facilitate and constrain the range of possible actions. These contexts include generation, occupation, gender, religion, sexual orientation, family, health, nation, race, and ethnicity among many others. Students study and examine these phenomena with a variety of scientific tools, including collecting and analyzing statistical data and conducting surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews.

In this major, Politics, Philosophy, and Economics are combined in a multidisciplinary effort to study modern political science, questions of political philosophy, pursue social scientific research, and apply economic analysis in problem solving. The multidisciplinary trio provides a foundation in philosophy, logic, critical thinking, and political processes within the U.S. and in the international system, and the functioning of the economy with attention to economic analysis tools.  Students are given preparation in the foundational materials of each of these fields, and encouraged to explore classes at the intersection of political and economic issues.  Because it draws on three different research disciplines, this combined major strives to provide students with an interdisciplinary set of skills related to critical reasoning and analysis, problem solving and decision making, and social scientific research.  The PPE combined major is not a triple major; rather, it strives to provide a broad exposure to these three fields.

Mathematics is the study of pattern, structure, and change. Although it is one of the most ancient disciplines, new mathematics is being created every day. It can be found in everything from internet security, to green energy technology, to Wall Street investment strategies.

Classes in the Department of Mathematics emphasize the analytical thinking and problem-solving skills that create a strong foundation not just in mathematics, but in many other careers including law, business, and a range of technical fields.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

East Asian Studies
The East Asian Studies program offers an interdisciplinary study of the area, with a primary focus on the countries of China and Japan. Under special advisement, Korea and Mongolia are also subjects for study.

The program is designed to attain three major objectives. First, it offers students an opportunity to acquire accurate, detailed, and comprehensive knowledge of a region that is becoming increasingly important in world affairs. Second, it prepares students who are attracted by job opportunities related to East Asia in business, government, or teaching. Third, it provides solid undergraduate training for students who plan to enter East Asian programs in their graduate studies.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Economics/Environmental Studies
Economics is concerned with how people living in a world of scarcity make choices. These choices inevitably involve costs. Questions examined in environmental economics include efficient resource use, preservation of wilderness and biological diversity, local and regional air pollution, global climate change, and treatment of toxic substances. Students learn how to use economic principles to help understand the causes of environmental problems and to identify potential remedies.

Western’s combined major in Economics and Environmental Studies is available to students who have a strong interest in the economic aspects of environmental studies and natural resources. The curriculum is designed to provide a broad area of study in the economic choices involved in how humans interact with natural systems.

The Biology—Molecular and Cell Emphasis major is part of an interdisciplinary program between the Biology and Chemistry departments. Cell biology is the study of cells at the biochemical or molecular level. Molecular Biology investigates the interactions among DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis to understand how these interactions are regulated using the tools and principles of genetics and bioinformatics—it is among the most rapidly growing fields, and is making strides with recent accomplishments such as the sequencing of the entire human genome.

The B.S. degree in Molecular and Cell Biology places emphasis on the molecular biology and biochemistry that control cell functions. Students take courses in math, physics, and chemistry, along with the core biology curriculum. Once in 400-level biochemistry and molecular biology courses, students get to pursue their specific interests.

The integrated conceptual foundation in biology, the critical thinking skills, quantitative problem-solving abilities, leadership with team-building skills, and scientific research skills that students obtain from lecture and laboratory courses in Western’s Molecular and Cell Biology curriculum are ultimately critical for post-baccalaureate studies and for future job performance.

Western's Business Administration majors explore leadership roles in business and the community, providing students with the perceptual and analytical skills necessary to make decisions and evaluate policies in business, and develop an understanding of the social, economic, and regulatory environments in business. All students earning a degree in Business Administration develop significant understanding of management information systems and computing.

The field of finance encompasses many different areas including investments, financial institutions, corporate finance, and real estate. The Finance Concentration includes coursework in each of these areas as well as courses in options and futures, multi-national finance, and insurance. Managing finances requires you to answer intricate questions like: Can we afford to give employees a raise? Is it better to rent or buy office space? How should we finance our business? Typically, a student who pursues a concentration in Finance is good with math, money, inherently a problem solver, and is well organized.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Communication Sciences and Disorders
Communication Sciences and Disorders includes two disciplines, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, which have developed out of a concern for people with communication disorders. Many people easily talk with family, friends, and colleagues every day. Although we often take language, speech, and hearing for granted, these processes are extraordinarily complex. Furthermore, anyone at any age can be affected by illness or injury that will impair the ability to talk or hear. In fact, one out of every six Americans has a communication disorder. Each one can be helped in some way by a speech-language pathologist, audiologist, or speech, language, and hearing scientist.

The International Year program is specially designed to prepare international students with the solid foundation needed to succeed in an undergraduate degree at Western Washington University.

You will learn in a supportive environment to develop your academic and English language skills, while adjusting to living and learning in the USA. After successfully completing the program with the required grades, you can continue your undergraduate degree with the confidence to engage and succeed.

Chemistry/Mathematics — Secondary
The program of study for the chemistry/mathematics majors provides many benefits to students, such as close student-faculty contact and relatively small classes. The students have direct access to modern laboratory equipment and instrumentation, and there are opportunities for research work under the direction of a faculty advisor.

As a practical matter, Mathematics is a science of pattern and order. Its domain is not molecules or cells, but numbers, chance, form, algorithms, and change. As a science of abstract objects, Mathematics relies on logic rather than on observation as its standard of truth, yet employs observation, simulation, and even experimentation as means of discovering truth.” From: Everybody Counts: A Report to the Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education (c) 1989 National Academy of Sciences.

Teaching mathematics and chemistry is a challenge, a responsibility, and an opportunity. Learning to teach mathematics and chemistry occurs through a variety of means: the study of a wide variety of mathematics and chemistry, pedagogical preparation within a mathematical and science context, formal clinical preparation in education, an extended internship, and continual experiences as a student, learner, and problem solver in mathematics and chemistry.