Summary

Integrative Studies Program Outcomes

September, 2006

Courses being created or redesigned for the Integrative Studies Program will be identified as a TW course, a QL course, a perspectives course, or an interdisciplinary course. Each course submitted must include outcomes as follows: content outcomes, skills outcomes, and integrative outcomes. It is important for faculty to identify only those outcomes that are applicable to the course and that will be assessed. Faculty need not use the exact language of the approved outcomes for the IS Program in their proposals. 

If the course is a Thinking and Writing course – the proposal identifies ISP outcomes for thinking and writing, one or more integrative outcomes, the skills students will be expected to utilize and the expectations faculty members have for those skills.

If the course is a Quantitative Literacy courses - the proposal identifies ISP outcomes for quantitative literacy, one or more integrative outcomes, the skills students will be expected to utilize and the expectations faculty members have for those skills.

If the course is a Perspectives course – the proposal identifies one or more outcomes from the perspectives area the faculty member will be addressing, one or more integrative outcomes, the skills students will be expected to utilize and the expectations faculty members have for those skills.

If the course is an Interdisciplinary course - the proposal identifies one or more outcomes from the interdisciplinary area the faculty member will be addressing, one or more integrative outcomes, the skills students will be expected to utilize and the expectations faculty members have for those skills.

In addition faculty may identify specific course content outcomes.

	Requirement	Thinking/ Writing Outcomes: See “A”	Quantitative Literacy Outcomes See “B”	Perspectives Outcomes See “C”	Interdisciplinary Outcomes See “D”	Skills Outcomes See “E”	Integrative Outcomes See “F”	Course Content Outcomes
Thinking/ Writing	1 course in first year	All				As many as apply	At least one	As determined by faculty
Quantitative Literacy	1 course in first year		All			As many as apply	At least one	As determined by faculty
Perspectives Courses	8 Courses- A&H: 4 courses, all from diff. discip.: 2 Humanities, 1 Fine/Performing arts plus 1 from either Sciences: 4 courses all from different disciplines 2 natural science 2 social science			At least one		As many as apply	At least one	As determined by faculty
Interdiscip- linary Course	1 course				At least one	As many as apply	At least one	As determined by faculty

Prerequisites/Guidelines

100 level ISP courses have no prerequisites

200 level ISP courses may require either or both ITW or IQL

400 level ISP courses may require that certain perspectives courses be completed

A minimum of two upper level (300 or 400) ISP courses must be completed. Students may enroll in upper level courses once they have completed a minimum of 28 credits of lower level IS courses.

Courses in the Integrative Studies Program may meet major, minor and elective requirements. No admission to the major, major content or major course prerequisites may be required for ISP courses.

For the two foundation courses, the essential question is - How do critical and creative thinking, researching, writing and evaluating quantitative information inform scholarly endeavors?

“A”; Thinking/Writing Outcomes:

Students will be able to:

• Demonstrate skills and ways of thinking that are essential for all students as they move through the academic curriculum.
• Write about an issue of special interest to them by focusing on a creative and complex question, investigating the question with critical analysis of readings, research and data, and using appropriate research techniques in documentation.

“B”; Quantitative Literacy Outcomes:

Students will be able to:

• Apply the basic methods of descriptive statistics, including both pictorial representations and numerical summary measures, to analyze data.
• Use appropriate software to create spreadsheets, tables, graphs and charts.
• Read and interpret visually represented data.
• Distinguish among various types of growth models (e.g., linear, exponential) and the types of situations for which the models are appropriate.

· Critically read and interpret a quantitative problem.

· Pose a question in the form of a mathematical model in order to solve the problem.

· Apply prior knowledge to solve a new problem.

The essential questions for the perspectives courses are:

• How are the arts and humanities constructed and defined and how do they change, shape, provoke, and represent our perceptions and our world?
• What assumptions, methodologies and theoretical constructs define today’s sciences and how are they used to understand our world?

“C”; Perspectives Outcomes:

Students will be able to:

• Articulate an understanding of representative theories in the natural and social sciences
• Explore language use, linguistic forms, and language’s ability to change society and ourselves.
• Distinguish and assess the impact that knowledge and methodology in the natural and social sciences have on our understanding of self, society and environment
• Critically and creatively engage in the aesthetic and intellectual components of the fine and performing arts.
• Articulate the ways that the arts and humanities shape, change, provoke, and represent our world and our perception of the world.
• Understand and interpret diverse evidence about past societies and cultures.
• Understand how the scientific method differs from other modes of inquiry and ways of knowing.
• Evaluate diverse approaches to the study of history and their relationship to power, privilege and difference
• Use and understand the power of mathematics, statistics, and qualitative analysis to represent and investigate ideas and evidence, as well as evaluate data dependent arguments.
• Analyze a creative text within its cultural, aesthetic, historical, and intellectual contexts.
• Identify the values and concerns expressed in creative works.

The essential question for interdisciplinary courses is - How are the skills, concepts, and values developed across disciplines applied to questions fundamental to today’s interdependent world?

“D”; Interdisciplinary Outcomes:

Students will be able to:

• Cross disciplinary boundaries to reveal new patterns and connections that reframe knowledge.
• Analyze the assumptions and actions of society from multiple perspectives.
• Examine national and international issues through artistic, philosophical, cultural, scientific, technological, economic, social and political lenses.
• Assess their own roles and responsibilities as members of diverse communities

“E”; Skills Outcomes:

Students will gain proficiency in:

:

1. Reading:

· Identify contextual issues (author, date of publication, etc.)

· Read with an awareness of purpose

· Identify goals to focus attention

· Ask questions that lead to greater understanding of material

· Select information relevant to a purpose

· Demonstrate the ability to summarize and identify key points

• Demonstrate an understanding and ability to relate discipline-or interdiscipline specific information to theories presented in a course

2. Writing

· Write with purpose

· Write for an audience

· Organize, state and develop ideas clearly

· Write with syntactical and grammatical competence

· Understand and value academic honesty

· Write with an organizational schema

· Ask questions that lead to a richer product

· Incorporate research appropriately

· Write with authority

· Cultivate disciplinary and interdisciplinary expertise necessary to question sources, develop ideas, and offer interpretations

· Develop complex positions or arguments through writing

3. Information literacy

· Identify general kinds of information available in Mason Library and at KSC

· Find a broad array of informational material both physically, in the stacks, and on electronic sources

· Evaluate usefulness and reliability of information and sources

· Incorporate information into written work and oral presentations

· Properly cite sources

· Identify discipline-specific scholarly sources within and beyond KSC

· Utilize discipline-specific resources in order to find information

· Evaluate sophistication of sources for potential information appropriate to task

· Develop research (paper or project) using information appropriately

4. Critical Thinking

· Demonstrate the ability and willingness to approach a particular idea, problem, task, or goal from multiple perspectives

· Ask sophisticated questions when engaging an idea, problem, task, or goal

· Analyze and interpret evidence, conjectures, and alternative strategies related to a given idea, problem, task, or goal

· Gather evidence, formulate conjectures, and implement alternative strategies related to a given idea, problem, task, or goal

· Analyze and interpret arguments made by oneself and by others to formulate and defend a conjecture or thesis

· Synthesize information, arguments, and perspectives in order to create new meaning, insight, and understanding

· Develop analytical arguments

· Apply critical thinking to important ethical and societal issues and problems

· Acknowledge and develop both insight and perspective

5. Critical Dialogue

§ Organize what one wishes to convey

§ Speak with purpose when conveying thoughts/ideas

§ Avoid “fillers” (uh, you know, like) when conveying thoughts/ideas

§ Develop the skill to use emotional involvement as a tool of respectful engagement with the listener

§ Meet allotted time guidelines

§ Project voice so all can hear

§ Use language appropriate for the audience or other discussion participants

§ Demonstrate thoroughness of research and effective preparation in making a formal presentation

§ Engage the listener through verbal and non-verbal behaviors

§ Demonstrate an awareness of the listener and the response of others to what is being said

§ Use paraphrase or restatement in responding to a listener

§ Demonstrate active listening in order to avoid disengagement with the speaker

§ Maintain focus on the content of the presentation, regardless of the speaker’s style of delivery

§ Demonstrate appropriate nonverbal behaviors (attention, engagement)

§ Practice listening objectively

§ Recognize emotional involvement while listening

§ Practice mental engagement with the speaker in order to formulate thoughtful questions based on conversations and presentations

Make notes regarding key points in order to question or respond effectively

6. Technological Fluency

§ Use email to communicate with classmates and professors (successfully sending, receiving, and manipulating a variety of file-formats)

§ Use Internet search techniques and engines with discrimination to find resources and information

§ Format text documents, including academic papers, using an approved style

§ Use appropriate presentation software to deliver a formal presentation

§ Use a database and/or spreadsheet to access and set up information

§ Use an information management program (e.g., SPSS, e-portfolio, institutional repository) to organize, interpret and convey ideas

§ Employ computer media (visual images, sound, graphical displays, etc.) as appropriate in academic work

7. Quantitative Reasoning

§ Use an array of numerical manipulations to interpret basic information

§ Read and interpret graphs, charts and tables in common media

§ Analyze the relationships between two variables

§ Use the basic measurements of statistics

§ Use symbolic expressions to represent, convey, and interpret relationships among variables

§ Develop and apply appropriate quantitative-oriented problem-solving strategies

§ Read and interpret graphs, charts and tables in discipline specific media

§ Perform simple data analysis, both numerical and graphical

§ Draw conclusions and inferences supported by own data analysis

§ Critically evaluate conclusions and inferences drawn by others based on data presented as support

8. Creative Thinking

§ Use novel ideas, perspectives, or solutions when engaging with a problem, task, or goal

§ Engage a problem, task, or goal with sustained effort over a period of time

§ Use multiple models or representations of ideas

§ Express personal ideas, points of view, or feelings and bring those to a product

§ Invent and re-apply ideas

§ Confront questions with multiple answers

§ Form new combinations of ideas

§ Reframe new ides (metaphors, analogies, use of models)

§ Consider diverse points of view in order to reconstruct them imaginatively, emphatically, and accurately

§ Demonstrate open-mindedness and flexibility in thinking

§ Create new uses for existing patterns or structures

§ Go beyond standard schema when investigating a problem

§ Solve unstructured problems

“F”; Integrative Outcomes:

Diversity

Students will be able to:

· recognize how differences shape approaches to identity, knowledge, and power.

· apply diverse perspectives and experiences to develop disciplinary arguments.

Ethics

Students will be able to:

· identify the ethical issues within a discipline.

· solve an ethical problem associated with a discipline.

Global Issues

Students will be able to:

· approach global issues from multiple perspectives in deriving solutions to potential conflicts.

· critique a discipline through the lens of other cultural values.

· demonstrate a commitment to analyzing and/or solving global issues.

· demonstrate knowledge about cultures, societies, religious worldviews and /or political/economic systems outside of the western context.

· demonstrate an understanding of non-western cultures from the context of those cultures.

Social and Environmental Engagement

Students will be able to:

· identify elements of social and/or environmental structures: individual, group and system.

· demonstrate a commitment to analyzing and/or solving social and/or environmental issues.

· articulate the interrelations of natural and social-cultural systems, and the ways in which human agency can both degrade and sustain the environment