Legacy General Education (GEL) Goals and ELOs

Goals

Students are skilled in written communication and expression, reading, critical thinking, oral expression and visual expression.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Level One (1110)

1. Students communicate using the conventions of academic discourse.
2. Students can read critically and analytically.

• Level Two (2367)

1. Through critical analysis, discussion, and writing, students demonstrate the ability to read carefully and express ideas effectively.
2. Students apply written, oral, and visual communication skills and conventions of academic discourse to the challenges of a specific discipline.
3. Students access and use information critically and analytically.

Goals

Students demonstrate skills in communication across ethnic, cultural, ideological, and national boundaries, and appreciate other cultures and patterns of thought.

Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Students employ communicative skills (e.g. speaking, listening, reading, and/or writing) in a language other than their native language.
2. Students describe and analyze the cultural contexts and manifestations of the peoples who speak the language that they are studying.
3. Students compare and contrast the cultures and communities of the language that they are studying with their own.

Goals

Students evaluate significant texts in order to develop capacities for aesthetic and historical response and judgment; interpretation and evaluation; and critical listening, reading, seeing, thinking, and writing.

Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Students analyze, interpret, and critique significant literary works.
2. Through reading, discussing, and writing about literature, students appraise and evaluate the personal and social values of their own and other cultures.

Goals

Students evaluate significant works of art in order to develop capacities for aesthetic and historical response and judgment; interpretation and evaluation; critical listening, reading, seeing, thinking, and writing; and experiencing the arts and reflecting on that experience.

Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Students analyze, appreciate, and interpret significant works of art.
2. Students engage in informed observation and/or active participation in a discipline within the visual, spatial, and performing arts.

Goals

Students evaluate significant cultural phenomena and ideas in order to develop capacities for aesthetic and historical response and judgment; and interpretation and evaluation.

Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Students analyze and interpret major forms of human thought, culture, and expression.
2. Students evaluate how ideas influence the character of human beliefs, the perception of reality, and the norms which guide human behavior.

Goals

Students recognize how past events are studied and how they influence today’s society and the human condition.

Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Students construct an integrated perspective on history and the factors that shape human activity.
2. Students describe and analyze the origins and nature of contemporary issues.
3. Students speak and write critically about primary and secondary historical sources by examining diverse interpretations of past events and ideas in their historical contexts.

Goals

Students develop skills in quantitative literacy and logical reasoning, including the ability to identify valid arguments, and use mathematical models.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Basic Computation

  1. Students demonstrate computational skills and familiarity with algebra and geometry.
  2. Students apply these skills to practical problems.

• Mathematical or Logical Analysis

  1. Students comprehend mathematical concepts and methods adequate to construct valid arguments.
  2. Students comprehend mathematical concepts and methods adequate to understand inductive and deductive reasoning
  3. Students comprehend mathematical concepts and methods adequate to increase their general problem solving skills.

Goals

Students develop skills in drawing conclusions and critically evaluating results based on data.

Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Students understand basic concepts of statistics and probability.
2. Students comprehend methods needed to analyze and critically evaluate statistical arguments.
3. Students recognize the importance of statistical ideas.

Goals

Students understand the principles, theories, and methods of modern science, the relationship between science and technology, the implications of scientific discoveries and the potential of science and technology to address problems of the contemporary world.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Biological Science

  1. Students understand the basic facts, principles, theories and methods of modern science.
  2. Students understand key events in the development of science and recognize that science is an evolving body of knowledge.
  3. Students describe the inter-dependence of scientific and technological developments.
  4. Students recognize social and philosophical implications of scientific discoveries and understand the potential of science and technology to address problems of the contemporary world.

• Physical Science

  1. Students understand the basic facts, principles, theories and methods of modern science.
  2. Students understand key events in the development of science and recognize that science is an evolving body of knowledge.
  3. Students describe the inter-dependence of scientific and technological developments.
  4. Students recognize social and philosophical implications of scientific discoveries and understand the potential of science and technology to address problems of the contemporary world.

Goals

Students understand the systematic study of human behavior and cognition; the structure of human societies, cultures, and institutions; and the processes by which individuals, groups, and societies interact, communicate, and use human, natural, and economic resources.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Individuals and Groups

  1. Students understand the theories and methods of social scientific inquiry as they apply to the study of individuals and groups.
  2. Students understand the behavior of individuals, differences and similarities in social and cultural contexts of human existence, and the processes by which groups function.
  3. Students comprehend and assess individual and group values and their importance in social problem solving and policy making. 

• Organizations and Polities

  1. Students understand the theories and methods of social scientific inquiry as they apply to the study of organizations and polities.
  2. Students understand the formation and durability of political, economic, and social organizing principles and their differences and similarities across contexts.
  3. Students comprehend and assess the nature and values of organizations and polities and their importance in social problem solving and policy making.

• Human, Natural, and Economic Resources

  1. Students understand the theories and methods of social scientific inquiry as they apply to the study of the use and distribution of human, natural, and economic resources and decisions and policies concerning such resources.
  2. Students understand the political, economic, and social trade-offs reflected in individual decisions and societal policymaking and enforcement and their similarities and differences across contexts.
  3. Students comprehend and assess the physical, social, economic, and political sustainability of individual and societal decisions with respect to resource use.

Goals

Students understand the pluralistic nature of institutions, society, and culture in the United States and across the world in order to become educated, productive, and principled citizens.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Social Diversity in the United States

  1. Students describe and evaluate the roles of such categories as race, gender and sexuality, disability, class, ethnicity, and religion in the pluralistic institutions and cultures of the United States.
  2. Students recognize the role of social diversity in shaping their own attitudes and values regarding appreciation, tolerance, and equality of others.

• Global Studies

  1.  Students understand some of the political, economic, cultural, physical, social, and philosophical aspects of one or more of the world's nations, peoples and cultures outside the U.S.
  2. Students recognize the role of national and international diversity in shaping their own attitudes and values as global citizens. 

Goals

Students demonstrate an understanding of a topic of interest through scholarly activities that draw upon multiple disciplines and through their interactions with students from different majors.

Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Students understand the benefits and limitations of different disciplinary perspectives.
2. Students understand the benefits of synthesizing multiple disciplinary perspectives.
3. Students synthesize and apply knowledge from diverse disciplines to a topic of interest.

Goals

Students gain and apply academic knowledge through civic engagement with communities.

Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Students make connections between concepts and skills learned in an academic setting and community-based work.
2. Students demonstrate an understanding of the issues, resources, assets, and cultures of the community in which they are working.
3. Students evaluate the impacts of the service learning activity.

Goals

By living and studying outside the U.S, students acquire and develop a breadth of knowledge, skills, and perspectives across national boundaries that will help them become more globally aware.

Expected Learning Outcomes

1.  Students recognize and describe similarities, differences, and interconnections between their host country/countries and the U.S.
2. Students function effectively within their host country/countries.
3. Students articulate how their time abroad has enriched their academic experience.