Learning Outcomes

Program Goals and Student Learning Outcomes

Goal #1 Students will demonstrate subject matter competency to a degree and in the manner appropriate to the course level.

  • Demonstrates learning of facts and terms
  • Demonstrates learning of concepts and theories
  • Demonstrates an understanding of different perspectives
  • Demonstrates a capacity to synthesize and integrate information and ideas
  • Demonstrates a capacity to read and comprehend course-relevant, discipline-based literature

Goal #2 Students will demonstrate an ability in critical thinking to a degree and in a manner appropriate to the course level (and all the outcomes associated with Goal 1).

  • Identify the arguments and conclusions in the work(s) under study
  • Contextualize the argument to debates in the discipline
  • Provide a cogent critique of the conclusions in the work(s) under study

Goal #3 Students will demonstrate an ability in analytical thinking to a degree and in the manner appropriate to the course level (and in all the outcomes associated with goals 1 and 2).

  • Identify how the work (e.g., scholarly work or student project) presented fits into the larger literature
  • Identify how the work (e.g., scholarly work or student project) presented contributes to the development of the literature
  • Ability to collect and synthesize information
  • Ability to view a problem from a variety of perspectives and to propose several alternative answers to this problem
  • Ability to gauge alternative answers by analyzing their internal logic or relevant empirical evidence

Goal #4 Students will demonstrate an ability to employ and understand social science research methods to a degree in the manner appropriate to the course level (in addition to the outcomes associated with goals 1, 2, and 3).

  • Explain the methodologies, i.e., how the scholarship progressed from argument to conclusion
  • Demonstrate the ability to identify and use appropriate types of data in the methodology
  • Explain the advantages and disadvantages of various methods

Goal #5 Students will demonstrate professional skills to a degree and in the manner appropriate to the course level (in addition to the outcomes associated with goals 1, 2, 3, and 4).

  • Written work follows the rules of conventional English and the norms of the discipline
  • Student is capable of making an effective oral presentation
  • Student is capable of making an effective argument
  • Student demonstrates the ability to advance an original argument that is supported by evidence

Goal #6 Students will demonstrate “workplace readiness” in experiential learning opportunities, e.g. internship simulations, at a level appropriate for juniors and seniors.

  • Dependability
  • Respect for others
  • Work productively with others
  • Follow directions, instructions, and plans
  • Speaking skills
  • Writing skills

Political Science


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