School subjects
In order for students to receive Associate Degrees, as well as meet state high school requirements, the Missouri Academy curriculum is less Math, Science and Computer oriented as you might have originally expected.
Contents
Requirements
The curriculum requires
- Four semesters of English
- Math through Calculus II
- Chemistry through Chemistry II
- Physics through Physics II
- One semester of each history and humanities
- American Government
- One semester of Biology - Two semesters for the Class of 2007 and beyond
- One semester of Computer Science - Two semesters for the Class of 2007 and beyond
- A second semester of either Biology or Computer Science - Only for the Class of 2005 and the Class of 2006
Note: A student with a B average GPA may take one or more elective courses each semester
English
Academy students are required to complete four semesters of English classes.
- English 111 (Composition) (10-111)
- English 112 (More Composition) (10-112)
- Oral Communication (29-102)
- Any one of the following literature classes:
- Multiethnic Literature of the United States (10-224)
- American Literature: Beginnings to 1865 (10-233)
- American Literature: 1865 to Present (10-234)
- English Literature: Beowulf through the 18th Century (10-245)
- English Literature: Romantics to Present (10-246)
- Survey of Women's Literature (10-343)
- Introduction to Shakespeare (10-372)
- Survey of World Drama
Math
Required Courses
These are courses that you either must take or test out of:
- Precalculus (17-117)
- Calculus I (17-120)
- Calculus II (17-121)
Other Available Courses
- Multivariate Calculus (17-321)
- Differential Equations (17-361)
- Discrete Math (17-215)
Biology
You must take at least one biology course; two if you intend to take only one Computer Science course.
- General Biology (04-102/3)
- General Zoology (04-114/5)
- General Botany (04-112/3)
- General Microbiology (04-140)
- Comparative Anatomy (04-322)
- Gross Anatomy (04-414)
- Vertebrate Histology (04-418)
The curriculum change for the class of 2007 requires that students take General Biology and General Microbiology.
Editorial Note: We're terribly sorry about the Micro requirement. Really, it wasn't always this dumb.
Chemistry
Required Courses: Two semesters of chemistry are required:
- General Chemistry I (3 hours) and lab (1 hour) (24-114/5)
- General Chemistry II (4 hours) and lab (1 hour) (24-116/7)
Other Available Courses:
- Organic Chemistry I (3 hours) and lab (2 hours) (24-342/3)
Physics
- Mechanics (Physics I) (4 hours) and lab (1 hour) (25-120/1)
- Electricity and Magnetism (Physics II) (4 hours) and lab (1 hour) (25-230/1)
Computer Science
Computer Science at Northwest is of variety that produces assembly line programmers (not to be confused with assembly language programmers). Sure, they're the factory workers of today, but where's the fun?
- Programming I (44-141)
- Visual Basic for Applications (44-140)
- Fortran
- Programming II (44-241)
- Data and File Structures (44-242)
- Multimedia and Web Development (44-333)
The curriculum change for the class of 2007 requires that students take Visual Basic for Applications and Programming I. However, according to Diana Shmitz, a placement test is being developed to allow students with necessary background to take a more advanced sequence, such as Programming I and II, instead. The exact level of the test (that is, if it covers Programming I material for students to skip that, too) is not clear at this time, but Diana did say that if the test does not cover that much material, gaining approval to skip Programming I is still an option provided the student's test score is high enough to skip VBA.
History/Humanities
- America - A Historical Survey (3 hours) (33-155)
- Introduction to American Government and Politics (3 hours)
Humanities courses are often taken during May, but those available during the normal year include:
- Western Civilization I - Ancient world to 1500 (3 hours) (26-102)
- Western Civilization II - 1500 to Present (3 hours) (26-103)
- Introduction to Philosophy (3 hours) (39-171)
Seminar/Colloquium
- Seminar (81-101,102)
- Colloquium (81-103)
Electives
- French (14-131,132,232,233,234)
