Institutional Learning Goals

The Institutional Learning Goals* articulate seven essential learning goals for students at Wilson College and reflect the values in the College’s mission. A specific set of learning outcomes follows each essential goal in order to help students, faculty and staff members develop a fuller, shared vocabulary for learning. These goals and outcomes apply across the curriculum and co-curriculum; thus, students are provided multiple opportunities to develop relevant skills and knowledge through classes in the liberal arts curriculum, in their majors and during experiences beyond the classroom. The goals and outcomes are stated broadly so that students, faculty and staff members may adapt them to a variety of learning contexts.

Overall, the learning goals represent the common core skills and knowledge students will attain during their years at Wilson College. They are:

COMMUNICATION (W1): Students will write and speak well in different contexts.

Outcomes: Communication skills are demonstrated by the student’s ability to:

• Use the writing process to deepen learning.
• Write effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences.
• Deliver effective oral presentations.
• Achieve proficiency in a language other than English at the intermediate-low level or above.

CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING (W2): Students will analyze, synthesize and interpret texts, images, experiences or other information.

Outcomes: Critical and/or creative thinking skills are evidenced by the student’s ability to:

• Demonstrate quantitative literacy.
• Analyze and interpret texts, images or experiences with increasing facility and innovation.
• Gather evidence and analyze it to make a judgment or solve theoretical or practical problems.

RESEARCH (W3): Students will conduct research, collaboratively or independently, using methods and tools that are appropriate to their discipline.

Outcomes: Research skills are evidenced by the student’s ability to:

• Demonstrate information literacy.
• Effectively implement the research process in the major.

ETHICAL AWARENESS (W4): Students will identify and analyze ethical issues in their own lives and as they pertain to questions that arise within their major.

Outcomes: Ethical awareness is demonstrated by the student’s ability to:

• Articulate the meaning and applicability of the Wilson College Honor Principle.
• Recognize and analyze ethical problems from more than one perspective.
• Work cooperatively and responsibly within a group.

ENGAGING DIVERSITY (W5): Students will demonstrate awareness of their own culture in comparison with other cultures and communities within the United States and globally. Additionally, students will learn about the obstacles women and minorities face now and historically, and the contributions they have made to cultures despite those obstacles.

Outcomes: Engaging diversity is demonstrated by the student’s ability to:

• Analyze the implications of global interdependence, including the impact of cultures, worldviews, politics and economic and environmental policies on students’ personal and professional lives.
• Formulate a well-reasoned response to the historical and/or contemporary position of women and minorities in the U.S. or in other cultures.

DISCIPLINARY AND INTERDISCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE (W6): Students will achieve depth of knowledge in at least one field of study and breadth of knowledge through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages and the arts.

Outcomes: Depth and breadth of knowledge are evidenced by the student’s ability to:

• Demonstrate proficiency in at least one field of study through required coursework in the major, including at least one capstone experience, such as a senior thesis, art exhibit, senior-level course or portfolio of written work.
• Learn across the Wilson College foundations and liberal arts curriculum.

INTEGRATION AND APPLICATION OF LEARNING (W7): Students will integrate learning in the major and across the Wilson College liberal arts curriculum to deepen engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring.

Outcomes : Integration of skills and knowledge is demonstrated by the student’s ability to:

• Connect learning from multiple courses.
• Connect learning inside and outside the classroom.
• Extend ideas or ask new questions stemming from learning within or across the disciplines.

* These goals and outcomes are modeled on the Essential Learning Outcomes, as identified in a number of documents from the Association of American Colleges and Universities, including, “Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College” (2002) and others. The format and tone are modeled on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Principles of Undergraduate Learning.