This information does not need to be included in each syllabus, but it will be helpful in designing assignments, lessons and learning outcomes for your courses. Rubrics designed for assessment of skills should be linked to the outcomes below.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking includes the skills - particularly as applied to one’s own work - of 1) articulating the meaning of a statement, 2) judging the truth of a statement, keeping in mind possible biases, 3) determining whether a conclusion is warranted by the evidence provided.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to:
- Convey, to an intended audience, the meaning of a statement.
- Assess the validity of a claim, taking into account different conceptual schemes, contextual factors, and evidence.
- Evaluate an argument by determining whether the conclusion would be probable if the premises were true.
Effective Writing
Effective writing conveys information or argues a point of view using organizational structures, supporting materials, and language appropriate for the topic, purpose, and audience.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to:
- Tailor writing to a specific audience
- Focus writing on a specific purpose
- Produce logical, coherent, and well-structured writing
- Apply appropriate writing standards
Effective Oral Communication
Effective oral communication influences, informs, and/or connects with others by using organizational structures, supporting materials and delivery skills suitable to the topic, occasion and audience.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to:
- Discover, organize and deliver content that is adapted to the audience, purpose, and context
- Use appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication delivery techniques (e.g., loudness, gestures, posture, eye contact, language)
- Listen actively and respond thoroughly and thoughtfully to questions
- Create and use appropriate supporting materials and presentation aids
Scientific Reasoning
Scientific inquiry includes the skills of: 1) formulating hypotheses on the basis of observations, 2) obtaining and analyzing data to test (i.e., refute or confirm) hypotheses, and 3) explaining phenomena by means of accepted principles, theories or laws.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to:
- Formulate hypotheses on the basis of observations appropriate for the discipline
- Formulate and carry out tests of hypotheses employing techniques appropriate for that discipline
- Employ appropriate tools for collecting, analyzing, and evaluating data to test hypotheses
- Communicate results of scientific investigation
- Use a scientific theory to explain features of the world within the scope of that theory
Quantitative Reasoning
Quantitative reasoning is the application of numerical, visual or symbolic reasoning for the purposes of drawing inferences, understanding phenomena or making predictions.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to:
- Assess descriptions of both raw and derived quantitative data
- Select and apply the appropriate mathematical, statistical, or graphical model
- Perform data manipulations, and then organize data graphically, numerically, or functionally (e.g., linearly)
- Interpret the results of models, including margins of error from statistical data
- Use graphs to solve problems such as scheduling, organizing information or finding optimal strategies
- Describe and explain the processes and results applying quantitative literacy skills