Learning Outcomes & Performance Indicators

The purpose of an undergraduate education at the Mount is to provide students with a broad range of learning experiences in order to create a habit of mind conducive to a lifetime of learning in a diverse society. The College of Mount St. Joseph has developed baccalaureate learning outcomes and performance indicators (LOPIs) to assist in the evaluation of student learning. These LOPIs are not intended to capture all of the personal and professional development students should achieve over four years of a collegiate experience, nor should a student expect to realize these outcomes solely through core curriculum or discipline-specific courses. Rather, students should be able to demonstrate through their collective experiences (e.g., coursework, research, cooperative education, service learning, travel abroad, work study, campus activities, volunteer work, etc.) how they have achieved these outcomes.

Baccalaureate Degree

Communication
Write and speak effectively:

1. Speak using language appropriate to the audience;
2. Write using language appropriate to the audience;
3. Document sources properly;
4. Construct a message that is relevant to its purpose.

Critical Thinking
Develop an appropriate response to a problem or question:

1. Describe the ambiguous nature of an issue;
2. Distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information;
3. Utilize data to evaluate a problem or question;
4. Support a position with appropriate evidence.

Sociocultural Relationships
Understand the nature of human cultures:

1. Describe the influence of cultural diversity within a society;
2. Identify bias within a culture;
3. Explain how religious values influence a society;
4. Describe causes of cultural change.

Ethics
Understand ethical responsibility from the perspective of duty, consequences, or virtue:

1. Define your personal ethical responsibilities;
2. Describe your professional ethical responsibilities;
3. Explain how Catholic teaching emphasizes social justice and social responsibility;
4. Illustrate how values inform our ethical decisions.

Interdisciplinarity
Solve a problem by integrating the perspectives of multiple disciplines:

1. State the views of multiple disciplines on an issue;
2. Compare views from multiple disciplines;
3. Create a solution to a problem by integrating the perspectives of multiple disciplines.

Definition of Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinary studies (IDS) may be defined as a process of answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic that is too broad or complex to be dealt with adequately by a single discipline or profession… IDS draws on disciplinary perspectives and integrates their insights through construction of a more comprehensive perspective.
(Klein & Newell, “Advancing Interdisciplinary Studies,” in Gaff & Ratcliff, Handbook of the Undergraduate Curriculum (Jossey-Bass 1996)

Citizenship
Recognize your responsibility to the community and the world:

1. Define your responsibilities as a citizen of the local community;
2. Define your responsibilities as a citizen of the global community;
3. Describe the relationship between community and world issues;
4. Evaluate your own involvement as a citizen.

Associate Degree

Communication
Write and speak effectively:

1. Speak using language appropriate to the audience;
2. Write using language appropriate to the audience;
3. Document sources properly;
4. Construct a message that is relevant to its purpose.

Critical Thinking
Develop an appropriate response to a problem or question:

1. Describe the ambiguous nature of an issue;
2. Distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information.

Sociocultural Relationships
Understand the nature of human cultures:

1. Describe the influence of cultural diversity within a society;
2. Identify bias within a culture.

Ethics
Understand ethical responsibility from the perspective of duty, consequences, or virtue:

1. Define your personal ethical responsibilities;
2. Describe your professional ethical responsibilities.

Interdisciplinarity
Solve a problem by integrating the perspectives of multiple disciplines:

1. State the views of multiple disciplines on an issue;
2. Compare views from multiple disciplines.

Citizenship
Recognize your responsibility to the community and the world:

1. Define your responsibilities as a citizen of the local community;
2. Define your responsibilities as a citizen of the global community.