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Course Descriptions

Course Numbering

Courses are numbered to indicate level of instruction. Freshman level courses are designated in the 1000 sequence; sophomore level courses are designated in the 2000 sequence; junior level courses are designated in the 3000 sequence; senior level courses are designated in the 4000 sequence. All Del Mar College courses are identified with letter abbreviations followed by a set of numbers. Courses are alphabetized in the Catalog according to their abbreviations. The numeric sequence in parentheses after the course title is indicative of the course's lecture hours, lab hours, and credits, respectively. For example, course CHEM 1411, General Inorganic Chemistry I (3-3-4) meets for three lecture hours and three lab hours a week in a regular semester and awards four semester hours of credit.

Four-Digit Course Number System

Del Mar College has adopted the Texas Common Course Numbering System for most academic courses and the Workforce Education Course Numbering System for occupational and technical courses. These four-digit numbers were developed to simplify the process of transferring credits from Del Mar College to other Texas colleges and universities and to ensure the maximum credit possible for each transfer student. These numbers are approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

In the four-digit common course number, the first digit usually indicates the level of the course. A 0 indicates the course is developmental level; a 1 indicates the course is freshman level; a 2 indicates the course is sophomore level; a 3 indicates the course is junior level; a 4 indicates the course is senior level. Some exceptions to this rule exist. The second digit indicates the credit value in semester hours. The third and fourth digits are used to differentiate courses or as an indicator of course sequence.

Assessment Levels

The Del Mar College faculty has established specific Assessment Levels for many college-level courses. These levels refer to diagnosed abilities in the basic skills of Reading, Writing and English, and Mathematics (REM). They are listed as Assessment Levels at the end of most course descriptions. Using course BIOL 1406 (Biological Concepts I - Cellular And Molecular) as an example, an Assessment Level listing for this course of R3, E3, M2 means this course requires the student to have a level 3 (college-level) in Reading and English and a level 2 (intermediate developmental level) in Math. Level 1 denotes basic developmental level. If no REM levels are listed, the assessment level defaults to level 1.

Students must meet the assessment levels when shown for a course either by placement testing or by previous course work.

For additional information, please see the Assessment and Placement section of the Catalog.

Course Inventory

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