UCF Topics for QEP Generated from Campus Discussions 2004-05
INFORMATION FLUENCY
Graduates will be able to:
 Use information technologies
 Find and retrieve information
 Employ critical thinking to evaluate the validity and value of the information and sources
 Use information for problem solving, both individually and in teams
 Write for scholarly and professional audiences
 Communicate verbally, in writing, and using information technologies
 Represent, interpret, and use quantitative information
COMMUNICATIONS FLUENCY
Addresses all aspects of communication in English using proper grammar, spelling, and
word usage:
 Verbal communication – formal presentations and professional deportment
 Nonverbal communication – discussions of meanings and understanding of personal space
 Written communication – letters, e-mails, online postings
 Scholarly and professional writing
 Technical communication – discipline specific
 Listening – attending behaviors and verbal cues
 Critical Analysis – of the content
 Assessment of the media used to communicate
 Professionalism and integrity in communications
LEADERSHIP, INTEGRITY, AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
Graduates will develop and exhibit skills and understanding in:
 Personal leadership and organizational performance
 Community involvement and service
 Ethical conduct
 Inter-personal skills
 Empowerment and communication
 Group decision-making and creating consensus
 Authenticity and self-authorship
ADAPTABILITY AND LIFE SKILLS—WHAT THEY NEVER TAUGHT ME IN SCHOOL!
Focuses on foundational personal insights that create direction for more effective student
learning:
 Finding one’s purpose in life
 Professional orientation
 Self-awareness
 Valuing intuition and creativity
 Advanced people skills (e.g., group decision making, handling conflict, developing rapport,
persuasion and negotiation)
 Awareness of choice in life plans
 Financial planning
 Health and wellness
 Personal safety
 Deal effectively with change
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GLOBAL AND MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE
Focuses on development of international and cross-cultural appreciation and the skills
required to function effectively in increasingly complex global environments:
 Infuse the curricula with international and cross-cultural perspectives
 Encourage socially enriching experiences that lead to international and cross-cultural
understanding
 Facilitate cross-cultural opportunities for the university community and the metropolitan
region
 Create partnerships that develop the university’s community’s global competence
CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING
Graduates will be able to:
 Identify problems
 Solve problems creatively
 Determine key points from reading
 Analyze information
 Synthesize information
 Evaluate information to defend a position
CREATING A CULTURE OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
Foundation for a transformative, emancipatory pedagogy that stimulates and promotes:
 Processes of understanding and intervention with social and professional implications
 Personal interpretation and multi/inter/transdisciplinary views of knowledge and reality
 Research and problem solving abilities
 Abilities to develop personal projects and to engage in professional contexts
 Openness towards innovation.
CREATE AN INTELLECTUALLY CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT
Graduates will be able to:
 Seek higher levels of knowledge
 Respond to higher expectations
 Use technology to expand knowledge
ACHIEVE RESEARCH CAPABILITY
Focuses on developing the capability to develop deeper understanding of a discipline and
contribute to its development:
 Undergraduate and graduate research opportunities
 Professional development
 Expanded critical thinking
 Innovative product and process development capability
 Scholarly and professional writing
 Scholarship of teaching and learning
 Research awareness and utilization
 Quantitative ability and use
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Addresses learning that moves beyond the classroom and engages the student in the
community or the profession:
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Service learning
Internships, practica, clinicals
Undergraduate and graduate research
Communities of practice
(Co-curricular?) Community volunteering
Community projects
Co-op education
ENGAGED LEARNING INITIATIVE
Focuses on improving student learning by increased engagement of students in active
learning environments:
 Department or program professional organization support and development
 Learning communities
 Teaching communities
 Applied learning
 Breadth of experiences and experiential learning
 Common theme
 Active learning strategies
 Study abroad
 Undergraduate and graduate research
INTERDISCIPLINARITY
Graduates will be able to:
 Appreciate different paradigms associated with different disciplines
 Integrate perspectives from other disciplines
 Encourage systems thinking built on interdisciplinary perspectives
ADAPTIVE, DYNAMIC, OPTIMAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Focuses on creating an environment that will enhance learning in academic programs and
prepare graduates for effective lifelong learning:
 Expand understanding of underlying learning environment and instructional processes
 Apply understanding of declarative, procedural, conditional, and structural knowledge of
optimal instructional strategies to improve the learning of teaching, student learning, and the
learning of learning
 Create a learning environment that is authentic, adaptive, and dynamic to be responsive to
changing needs
BUILDING/FOSTERING/NURTURING ACADEMIC CHALLENGE
Focuses on creating a learning environment that will strengthen graduates’ command of
their discipline:
 Establishing appropriate program standards
 Communication across the curriculum
 Methods for developing analytical and synthetic thinking
 Applied learning across the curriculum
 Supporting student success outside the classroom
 Fostering academic extra-curricular activities
 Creating a campus environment supportive of academics
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