General Education Learning Objectives

Final Draft of 5/99

Amended and Approved by Faculty Senate 5/01/00

 

Learning Objectives: At the completion of the Wright State University General Education Program a student will be able to do the following:

Program Learning Objectives

“ to develop skills and knowledge that will form the basis for … lifelong learning”
“… sharpen critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills while learning about the aesthetic, ethical, moral, social and cultural dimensions of human experience”

Area Learning Objectives

Area

Learning Objectives

Examples for assessment

1.    Communication and Mathematical Skills

 

English Comp.

Mathematics

a.    use writing processes to explore, think, and learn, and to write appropriately for various tasks and audiences

b.    develop logical and fair arguments, and observe appropriate writing conventions.

c.     show ability to identify main ideas and evaluate, analyze and synthesize primary and secondary sources

d.    use, formulate and interpret mathematical models

e.    summarize and justify analyses of mathematical models or problems using appropriate words, symbols, tables and/or graphs

1.     an essay discussing the impeachment process of the U.S. Congress incorporating secondary sources

2.     explanation of calculating one's own G.P.A.

3.     a portfolio of writing that includes various genres, multiple drafts and exploratory writing

4.     an explanation of why two measures of center (mean and median) can greatly differ in the same set of data.

5.     interpret and draw conclusions from a graph

Area

Learning Objectives

Examples for assessment

2. Cultural-social Foundations

 

History

The Non-Western World

a.    describe and analyze historical-social elements of western culture

b.    describe and analyze historical-social elements of nonwestern cultures

c.     describe and analyze the global interdependence of groups and of individuals

1.    the answer to a marker question about the role of logos in the Golden Age of Greece

2.    an essay discussing the choice of Islamic women to wear the yasmak

 

 

 

 

   

3.    Human Behavior

 

Economics

Political Science

Psychology

Sociology

a.   use multiple approaches/perspectives to systematically analyze complex individual and institutional behavior culturally, subculturally and/or cross-culturally

b.   recognize appropriate ethical uses of social scientific knowledge

 

1.    a paper analyzing the rates of personal saving in Japan and the U.S.

2.    the answer to a marker question about the role of the Religious Right in the upcoming presidential election

3.    the answer to a multiple-choice question about the ethics of collecting of data about customers using the Internet

 

4.    Human Expression

 

Great Books

Fine & Performing Arts

a.    recognize and critically discuss significant creative, philosophical and religious works

b.    understand the complex blend of personal vision, social-cultural background, ethical values and aesthetic judgment in such works

c.     discuss the diverse means of communication in such works

1.    the answer to a marker question identifying a not hitherto seen in class painting by Morisot as an Impressionist painting

2.    a paper discussing the Gospel of Luke's author as providing an  historically accurate account of the life of Christ

3.    journal entry discussing the ethical dilemma in The Merchant of Venice

Area

Learning Objectives

Examples for assessment

5. Natural Science

 

Biology

Chemistry

Geology

Physics

a.    understand the experimental basis of scientific inquiry

b.    understand the importance of model building for understanding the natural world

c.     understand the theoretical, practical, creative and cultural dimensions of scientific inquiry

d.    discuss some of the fundamental theories underlying modern science

e.    understand the dynamic interaction between society and the scientific enterprise

f.      recognize appropriate ethical uses of knowledge in the natural sciences

1.    a multiple-choice question requiring the identification of the correct conclusion to be drawn from a set of data

2.    an essay question describing and summarizing evidence supporting theories of evolution, motion, matter, energy, gravity or inheritance

3.    a paper describing recent scientific advances in nutrition, transportation, communication or material recycling

4.    a marker question applying gas laws to coal-fired boiler operation in an electrical power generating station

     

6.    College Component

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a.    communicate with individuals who are in the student’s major,  in allied fields, and non-specialists

b.    understand important relationships and interdependencies between the student’s major and other academic disciplines, world events or life endeavors

Or

c.     additionally meet the objectives of area 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.

 

1.    essay applying Aristotle's notion of the Good to the question of abortion

2.    apply mathematical models to problems in physics

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