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