general education learning objectives assessment resources best practices
General Education Learning Objectives: Overall Outcomes
Category Subcategory Minimal 1 Outcome
Advanced
Intellectual Skills
(Tier I) 2 		General Students will have “a capacity for logical thinking as well as some ability to use or understand the quantitative, mathematical, statistical, and computational techniques increasingly demanded by a complex technological society.” Students will have “the ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and with some sense of style.” 4
Writing Tier I Writing 3
Quantitative or Symbolic Reasoning Tier I Quantitative Skills 5
Intellectual Breadth
(Tier II) 6		 Students will have a breadth of knowledge that will allow them to have a “rounded and balanced intellectual development and to enhance their effectiveness in careers and in the attainment of life satisfaction” 7
Students will have a “broad acquaintance with the major fields of learning and understanding of the basic principles of some of them.” 8
Students will have “basic understanding and appreciation of the ways we gain knowledge and analyze natural, behavioral, and cultural phenomena.” 9
Applied Science and Mathematics Tier 2A 5
Cross-cultural Perspectives Tier 2C 5
Fine Arts Tier 2F 5
Humanities Tier 2H 5
Natural Sciences Tier 2N 5
Social Sciences Tier 2S 5
Evaluation and Synthesis
(Tier III, Capstone) 10 		 

Students will “understand that problems and issues are often only successfully approached from a variety of perspectives.” 11
Students should have the ability to “weave many complex strands into a fabric of definable issues, patterns and topics.” 12
Students will have the ability to “make independent judgments and to carry out constructive changes in existing systems.13
”Students will have an “awareness of the values implicit on life, work, society and culture.” 14

Other Intellectual and Practical Skills 15 Oral Communication Students will have the ability to effectively present information orally.
Information Literacy Students are able to appropriately utilize technology to present, acquire and analyze information.
Teamwork Students will have “the ability to work collaboratively.” 16
Other Individual and Social Responsibility 17 Civic Responsibility and Engagement “Students will be able to participate effectively in the society and culture in which they will live.” 18
Students will be “acquainted with the values associated with the public good”. 19
Ethical Reasoning Students will have a “sense of personal responsibility”. 20
Students will have an understanding of ethics as they relate to their personal and professional lives. Students will be able to apply an understanding of ethics in a manner that leads to ethical behavior.
Students will demonstrate ethical behavior.
Intercultural Knowledge and Actions Students will be able to live and participate effectively in a culture and society that is “multicultural, both nationally and internationally.” 21
Students will have acquired “intercultural fluency”. 22
Students consider perspectives outside their own experience to better understand society and culture.
Students appreciate and seek out diversity in their every-day life.
Students are globally conscientious.
Propensity for Lifelong Learning Students will have the ability to “acquire increasingly complex intellectual skills.” 23
Students will have the ability to follow the process of gaining new knowledge and skills.
Students should have an appreciation for the process of gaining new knowledge and skills.

NOTES:

  • “… the total undergraduate experience enables students to achieve minimal standards in advanced intellectual skills, breadth of knowledge, and integrative competencies.” (emphasis added) “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 3.
  • Includes outcomes of Written communication, and Quantitative literacy from AACU,“Liberal Education Outcomes: A Preliminary Report on Student Achievement in College”, URL: http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/pdfs/LEAP_Report_FINAL.pdf, accessed 12/05/06.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 3.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 3.
  • These outcomes are being developed by specific general education outcome subcommittees.
  • Includes outcomes of Science, Social Science, Mathematics, Humanities, and Arts from AACU, “Liberal Education Outcomes: A Preliminary Report on Student Achievement in College”, URL: http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/pdfs/LEAP_Report_FINAL.pdf, accessed 12/05/06.
  • Study Group on General Education, “Discussion Document on General Education”, 1978, pp. 11.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 3.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 3,4.
  • Includes outcomes of Inquiry, critical and creative thinking, and Integration of learning from AACU,“Liberal Education Outcomes: A Preliminary Report on Student Achievement in College”, URL: http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/pdfs/LEAP_Report_FINAL.pdf, accessed 12/05/06.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 6.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 6.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 3.
  • Study Group on General Education, “Discussion Document on General Education”, 1978, pp. 17.
  • From AACU, “Liberal Education Outcomes: A Preliminary Report on Student Achievement in College”, URL: http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/pdfs/LEAP_Report_FINAL.pdf, accessed 12/05/06.
  • From “Vision Ohio, Undergraduate Education Goals”, URL: http://www.ohio.edu/vision/AcademicPlan.cfm.
  • From AACU, “Liberal Education Outcomes: A Preliminary Report on Student Achievement in College”, URL: http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/pdfs/LEAP_Report_FINAL.pdf, accessed 12/05/06.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 3.
  • Students will be “acquainted with the values associated with the public good”.
  • From “Vision Ohio, Undergraduate Education Goals”, URL: http://www.ohio.edu/vision/AcademicPlan.cfm.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 3.
  • Students will have acquired “intercultural fluency”.
  • “General Education at Ohio University,” 1986, pp. 3.
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