University Learning Outcomes
Introduction
Many universities (e.g. Portland State, Texas A&M, Fairleigh Dickinson, Central Oklahoma, IndianaPurdue at Indianapolis) have created and highlight “University Level” outcomes associated with their
undergraduate students. Although some of these outcomes may be aspirations rather than actual
results, just having such goals clearly articulated nevertheless helps define what an undergraduate
degree from these institutions means in concrete terms. One question that arises with respect to such
outcomes is that of “Why?” Specifically, why do institutions devote the time and resources to create,
highlight, and (hopefully) assess student learning outcomes?
The answer is that specific and concrete student learning outcomes focus on the benefits institutions
accrue from and for both internal and external constituencies.
For internal constituencies at NAU, university-level student learning outcomes can:
1.
Create a set of common goals for NAU and its students
2.
Establish tangible learning objectives for each NAU student
3.
Help NAU students identify and recognize potential career options
4.
Help create a common identity for the NAU campus
5.
Specifically link strategic plans and goals to the NAU curriculum
6.
Serve as a catalyst for clarifying discussions of NAU’s educational goals
7.
Serve as a model for assessment activities across the NAU campus
8.
Serve as evaluative criteria for the entire NAU curriculum
For external constituencies beyond the NAU community, the prime value for university-level student
outcomes is to strengthen NAU’s identity, by showing that NAU students have more concrete and
rigorous goals, standards, and learning outcomes than do students at other universities.
Specifically, such detailed and demanding learning outcomes can:
1.
Improve marketing to prospective students and parents
2.
Increase alumni connections and support
3.
Improve relationships with current and potential donors
4.
Improve relationships with current and potential employers
5.
Serve as clear measures of accountability to the larger non-academic community
6.
Create research funding opportunities
7.
Help NAU communicate to the Arizona Board of Regents and the State Legislature the
importance and relevance of the breadth and depth of what we do as a university (and the
importance of the Liberal Arts foundation to that effort)
Specific and concrete student learning outcomes highlight the importance of LEARNING to the mission
of the University. While NAU’s mission statement calls for "education," having detailed learning
outcomes makes that generalization more concrete and rigorous, and hence more applicable to the
results-oriented environments of employers and donors. Specific, concrete, and detailed learning
outcomes help students succeed both inside and outside the University.
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What does it mean to be an NAU Graduate?
NAU students participate in, and contribute to, curricular, co-curricular, and community learning
environments typified by excellent teaching, cutting-edge scholarship, inspired expression, useful
undergraduate research, engaged service learning, authentic civic engagement, and practical
experience.
Our “NAU Graduates Can” statements communicate university-level student learning outcomes that
reflect our shared educational values and articulate degree program, liberal studies, diversity, and global
learning initiative goals. Learning outcomes explicitly state what students will know, what they will be
able to do, and how they will approach problem solving and decision-making in their disciplines after
successfully completing the requirements of a course, major, and degree. While degree program student
learning outcomes vary from major to major due to specialized disciplinary skills, knowledge, values, and
dispositions, an intentional and results-oriented curriculum simultaneously demands, builds, and
supports learning opportunities that facilitate students’ cumulative, cohesive education. When everyone
on campus works toward collective outcomes, students experience coordinated learning experiences
that increase the opportunities for enriched student learning that lasts beyond the student’s time at the
university. In a word, NAU’s learning environment is holistic.
To enhance the development of students as responsible, productive, engaged citizens of a dramatically
changing world, NAU creates learning opportunities for students to gain a deeper understanding of the
natural environment and the world’s peoples, to explore the traditions and legacies that have created
the dynamics and tensions that shape the world, to examine their potential contributions to society, and
thus to better determine their own places in that world. Through liberal arts education, students gain a
breadth of knowledge that complements the depth of knowledge and expertise that they acquire in
their specific disciplines. Breadth and depth in education are complementary, not just in terms of
acquired disciplinary knowledge, but also for development of the skills, methods, and ways of knowing
essential for thorough exploration, understanding, and addressing of the issues that arise in our everchanging, global world.
The fundamental goals of a liberal education express the most important learning outcomes of all. They
include the dispositions and competencies that students should strive to develop over the course of
their lives as they aspire to be engaged and thoughtful members of the human community, regardless of
their particular career paths. As such, the specific outcomes listed below serve to enhance and support
the basic aims and values that we seek to cultivate in every member of our university community. NAU
students will develop a robust intellectual curiosity, appreciate the value of mutual collaboration, and
develop the habits of character and the practice of ethical reflection required for rigorous and honest
inquiry and for living well.
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NAU Graduates Can……
Analyze, integrate, and synthesize concepts and theories, along with experiential knowledge, to identify
and creatively solve both theoretical and practical problems, promote lifelong learning, and act as a
catalyst for positive change in local and in global societies.
Demonstrate the depth and breadth of knowledge required to meaningfully participate in local and in
global societies.
•
Analyze and articulate disciplinary and interdisciplinary theories, concepts, principles, skills, and
practices
•
Synthesize and apply knowledge from discipline-based courses and other experiences in a range
of contexts to identify and creatively solve problems that inform decision making
•
Integrate knowledge from general education courses, discipline-based courses, and experiential
learning experiences in a range of contexts to identify and solve problems that inform decision
making
Articulate the shared and unique contributions that result from diversity in global, social, cultural, and
environmental systems.
•
Articulate the importance of equity, while recognizing the diversity of ethnic, cultural, and
ethical perspectives
•
Articulate the importance of and options for environmental sustainability, both locally and
globally
•
Analyze important local, national, and global issues from multiple viewpoints, with an
understanding of the interdependence of political, economic, environmental, and social systems
•
Appreciate the importance of artistic expression
Apply critical thinking, information literacy, quantitative reasoning, and scientific reasoning.
•
Develop well-reasoned positions that include ethical reflection
•
Use appropriate strategies, tools, and technologies to identify, evaluate, analyze, integrate, and
represent information from a variety of sources
•
Analyze and interpret quantitative information to solve problems
•
Translate the use of formal reasoning in logic and math to strengthen skills in informal reasoning
in the arts, letters, and sciences
•
Apply the scientific methods of inquiry as a problem-solving approach
Communicate effectively, in written, oral, and non-verbal forms of expression.
•
Effectively communicate original and creative ideas
•
Create essays, reports, proposals and other written documents that demonstrate competence in
any given subject matter and mastery of the grammar, mechanics, and format that are effective
for a range of purposes and audiences
•
Create and deliver effective oral presentations that demonstrate competence in any given
subject matter and mastery of presentational techniques and styles that are effective for a
range of purposes and audiences
•
Use non-verbal communication effectively
•
Listen actively, thoughtfully, and critically
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