Examples of Program-Specific Learning Outcomes
The learning
outcomes below are examples which may be helpful in providing a starting point
for developing learning outcomes for your own syllabi and programs. More than likely they can be improved upon,
especially in terms of having specific learning outcomes that are derived from
competencies and sub-competencies. If your program has an
accrediting agency consider using the learning outcomes they specify,
and including additional learning outcomes unique to your program.
If you would like your program’s learning outcomes to be included in this list, please email them to Susanne Hicklin (hicklins@gwm.sc.edu).
Sample learning outcomes are
provided for:
Arts & Sciences
Business
Engineering
Civil &
Environmental Engineering
Hospitality, Retail, & Sport Management
Industry and Product
Knowledge
Recreation and
Hospitality Services Marketing
Mass Communications & Information Studies
Library &
Information Sciences
Communication Studies (Oral, Written, Visual, Public, Organizational,
Public Relations)
Interpersonal and
Public Communication
Public Health
Health Services and
Policy Management
Health Promotion,
Education, and Behavior
Epidemiology and
Biostatistics
Program-Specific Learning
Outcomes
Arts & Sciences
Knowledge/
Cognitive:
Following Completion of the Microbiology
Course students will be able to:
· Use examples of infections, treatment, and
epidemiologic control to compare and contrast the characteristics of prions, viruses, bacteria, protozoans,
and multicellular parasites.
· Explain the dynamics of commensal
and pathological relationships that occur between microbes and humans.
· Evaluate methods of microbial control and
apply the proper methods necessary when given a scenario.
· Briefly describe sample metabolic pathways
found in microorganisms and their implications for food production and human
disease.
· Summarize basic bacterial genetic principles
and analyze implications for mutation, genetic recombination, and bacterial
control.
·
Articulate
and diagram the role of the immune system in maintaining homeostasis,
challenging infections, and fighting cancer.
Skills/ Psychomotor
Following Completion of the Microbiology
Course students will be able to:
· Apply the scientific method by stating a
question; researching the topic; determining appropriate tests; performing
tests; collecting, analyzing, and presenting data; and finally
· Correctly perform microbiologic lab skills
and display a habit of good lab practices which extends to relevant situations
in the student’s homes.
Attitudes and
behavior/ Affective
Following Completion of the Microbiology
Course students will be able to:
·
Retrieve,
evaluate, and use microbiologic information regarding contemporary issues in
the world and relevant to their everyday lives.
Upon
graduation, students earning any of these degrees should be able to:
· Construct drawings through stages of
development from the gesture to the final contour.
· Record the human figure through objective
adherence to proportional relationships, notice of negative spaces, value
relationships, and line-sighting as methods essential to building the image.
· Create figure drawings that demonstrate
awareness of human anatomy and structure as revealed through the form’s
surface.
· Produce sustained, investigative drawings
that make accurate visual statements of the figure’s form in space.
· Orchestrate the visual elements to produce
expressive figure drawings rooted in consideration of strong design principles,
and conveying subjective meaning beyond objective fact.
· Select appropriate graphic materials to
influence the expressive content of the figurative form.
· Articulate a formal analysis of a drawing and
its interpretation based on that analysis.
http://academicaffairs.cmich.edu/caa/assessment/program/outcomes/ccfa.htm
Goal:
Students should be able to act.
Outcomes:
· apply acting theory to characterization;
· recognize and perform a wide range of acting
styles; and
· act with technical and artistic skill and
understanding.
Goal:
Students should be able to dance.
Outcomes:
· recognize and differentiate between various
forms of dance including, but not limited to, jazz, tap, ballet, and modern;
and
· dance with technical and artistic skill and
understanding.
· design developmentally appropriate
instructional experiences that promote the description and critical analysis of
dance works, using a technical vocabulary based on the common elements of the
discipline, i.e., space, time, force/energy.
· design and modify developmentally appropriate dance
instruction for students of different ages and abilities in a variety of
classroom and ensemble settings.
· create developmentally appropriate standards-based
curricula that include objectives, instructional strategies, and assessments
for dance instruction.
· describe dance and analyze works in their historical
and cultural context.
· to analyze how dance and dance education
function within the context of schools and communities
http://academicaffairs.cmich.edu/caa/assessment/program/outcomes/ccfa.htm
Business
·
Students will think systemically about organizations
and management processes, by showing that they can take a global perspective regarding accounting procedures
and practices, for both descriptive and prescriptive purposes. This perspective
requires that students analyze a system or process according to "the big
picture," moving from the global to the particular or from the particular
to the global.
·
Students will work effectively in teams, by
exhibiting the kinds of
behaviors that mark an effective team member: working cooperatively with
others, accepting divergent views, encouraging active participation of others,
dealing productively with conflict, and taking leadership roles as the need
arises. This will show that they have
the interpersonal skills necessary to be a successful accountant.
·
Students will demonstrate that they can present the results of their
observations and research in a way that is objective, technically accurate, and
legally acceptable.
·
Students
will demonstrate that they can document clearly and precisely their own
procedures of observation and research to satisfy both the client’s needs and
the requirements of the legal system.
Students may demonstrate these abilities in reports to management,
memoranda, working papers, and other similar documents.
·
Students will make appropriate recommendations based
on acute critical analysis.
·
Students will identify existing problems, both long-term and short-term problems, by
bringing appropriate standards and procedures to bear on information.
· Students will make valid and viable
recommendations for solving problems in a way that is useful and convincing for
the intended audience or audiences. Students should demonstrate these abilities
in one or more appropriate forms: report to management, memorandum, feasibility
report, and proposal.
· Students will explain accounting information to lay audiences.
·
Students will translate technical accounting material and terminology into terms that
can be understood by a variety of audiences not trained in accounting in such a
way that it meets the needs of those audiences. Students should demonstrate
that they can provide this information in various appropriate forms, such as
letters, memos, informal and formal presentations, and executive summaries.
·
Students
will provide explanations that are suitably brief and organized in a way that
clearly reflects the purpose of the explanation and satisfies the needs of the
audience.
·
Students will give effective oral presentations to a
variety of audiences to show
that in professional occasions that call for speaking students can conduct
themselves with the confidence and naturalness that mark a successful
professional and a careful attention to the value of the presentation for the
audience.
·
Students
will use effective technology appropriately, such as PowerPoint, slides,
posters, handouts, and transparencies in oral presentations.
·
Students
will present information in a form that is useful, clear, and well organized
and in a manner that inspires confidence in the audience. This ability is
especially important when explaining accounting information to lay audiences.
·
Students
will speak persuasively in situations that require the speaker to argue for a
recommendation or to sell a product or service. Students may demonstrate this
ability in reports to management, feasibility reports, proposals, etc.
Adapted from: http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/cwsp/docs/accounting_out.pdf
·
Students will analyze and evaluate positions on
economic issues, showing that they can break an economic issue down into the various
economic principles and concepts that form the basis of the position and
identify the competing sides on the issue.
· Students will critique an economic position
in terms of the accuracy of its representations of economic principles and
concepts and the soundness of its use of those concepts and principles to make
a claim about economics.
·
Students will solve real-world economic problems
effectively in the context of an industry or field of study, showing that they
can identify and collect the
appropriate economic data, analyze data in terms of costs and benefits, present
economic data and solutions to problems in a way that is clear and accurate,
and come to a reasoned judgment concerning benefits within the constraints of
costs and can express that judgment convincingly for an audience who must act
on it.
·
Students will explain economics to lay audiences,
showing that they can translate
economic concepts and principles into terms that can be understood by both
general and specific audiences.
Adapted from: http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/cwsp/docs/ARE_out.pdf
· identify, and describe to the lay person, the
important institutions and determinants of economic activity at the local,
regional, national, and international levels, including the basics of fiscal
and monetary policy and how each affects the economy.
· explain to the non-economist the fundamental
economic problem of scarcity (and tradeoffs); the meaning of a market economy
and how markets allocate society's scarce resources; what it means for markets
to fail and the role of government in finding solutions for market failure.
· analyze the ethical and social justice dimensions of
market and policy outcomes.
· identify key relationships between important
variables understand the difference between correlation and cause-and-effect
apply algebraic, graphical, and statistical tools to analyses of problems and
issues in business and public policy identify the relationship between
assumption and interpretation.
· think critically, for example, be able to:
summarize low-level articles from professional journals. articulate
the connections between the different sub-disciplines of economics. automatically compare and contrast different economic
theories.
· employ their discipline knowledge and skills in
service to the community, for example, present themselves and interact with
others in a professional manner. communicate economic
concepts orally .convey economic ideas in a variety of written forms.
http://www.seattleu.edu/assessment/Albers%20Plans/Economics.htm
· Students will be able to apply small business
accounting and finance concepts and practices in new venture and small business
environments.
· Students will understand and be able to apply
basic human resource management concepts and practices in new venture and small
business environments.
· Students will be able to use microcomputers
for decision support and information retrieval in new venture and small
business environments.
Source:
· Collaborate effectively with others in situations requiring teamwork, leadership, and negotiation
·
Demonstrate the ability to organize and
present business-related information in written reports
·
Demonstrate the ability to organize and professionally present
business-related ideas in oral presentations
·
Identify a business-related problem, consider alternatives, and
reach a conclusion based on logical analysis.
Source:
Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Upon satisfactory
completion of a MS degree in ESE, graduates will be able to:
· Identify sources of environmental
contaminants and processes that affect the movement, fate, and health effects
of such contaminants in environmental/human systems;
· Describe the rationale for and the approaches
used to measure relevant properties of environmental/human systems;
· Develop and/or apply
theoretical/computational models to represent important aspects of
environmental/human systems and assess their uncertainty;
· Explain the relationships among scientific
knowledge, exposure and risk assessment, and environmental management and
policy; and
· Demonstrate written and oral communication
skills related to environmental sciences and engineering issues.
http://www.sph.unc.edu/envr/degree_details_1235_1886.html#PhD
Civil Engineering
Students will be able to:
·
Identify
the broad context of civil engineering problems, including describing the
problem conditions, identifying possible contributing factors, and generating alternative
solution strategies.
·
Design
the fundamental elements of civil engineering systems, system components and
processes, with a good understanding of associated safety, quality, schedule
and cost considerations.
·
Undertake
laboratory, field and other data collection efforts using commonly used
measurement techniques to support the study and solution of civil engineering
problems.
·
Employ
mathematics, science, and computing techniques in a systematic, comprehensive,
and rigorous manner to support the study and solution of civil engineering
problems.
·
Synthesize
analysis results to provide constructive and creative engineering solutions
that reflect social and environmental sensitivities.
·
Exhibit
good teamwork skills and serve as effective members of multidisciplinary
project teams.
·
Articulate
and justify technical solutions to diverse audiences through oral, written, and
graphical communication.
Modified
from “BS Civil Engineering Educational Outcomes,” Department of Civil
Engineering,
Students will be able to
·
to critically
evaluate alternate assumptions, approaches, procedures, tradeoffs, and results
related to engineering problems.
·
to design a variety
of electronic and/or computer-based components and systems for applications
including signal processing, communications, computer networks, and control
systems.
·
to lead a small
team of student engineers performing a laboratory exercise or design project;
to participate in the various roles in a team and understand how they
contribute to accomplishing the task at hand.
·
to use written
and oral communications to document work and present project results.
Modified
from Electrical Engineering Objectives and Outcomes,” Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering, University of