By Subject Area
The following list offers examples of measurable outcomes for select disciplines that are appropriate for the undergraduate level:
Subject level Undergraduate Outcomes Heading link
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Anthropology
- Articulate how culture, biology and the environment interact in shaping human behavior.
- Explain how culture constructs the ideas and behaviors that make up everyday life.
- Summarize the ethical guidelines provided by the major professional Anthropological organizations
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Biology
- Recognize and use appropriate terminology to explain evolutionary relationships
- Describe information storage and transfer at the molecular and cellular level
- Explain how organ systems maintain homeostasis and apply feedback principles to physiological regulation.
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Business
- Apply an ethical framework for their managerial behavior and decisions.
- Explain the influence of the globalization of business on institutions and society.
- Evaluate the financial position of an organization.
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Chemistry
- Explain why chemistry is an integral activity for addressing social, economic, and environmental problems.
- Design and conduct scientific experiments, as well as accurately record and analyze the results of such experiments.
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Communication
- Articulate the importance of communication expertise in career development and civic engagement.
- Identify and critically reflect on meanings embedded in messages.
- Differentiate between various approaches to the study of communication
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Computer Science
- Design algorithms to solve moderate to complex problems.
- Create websites using best practices in design, accessibility and flexibility.
- Explain the need for security mechanisms in major spheres of computing, including databases, networks and web applications.
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Economics
- Apply economic tools to formulate positions on social problems and engage in policy debates.
- Identify the relevant benefits and costs to consider when comparing policy options.
- Explain major types of market failures.
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Fine Arts
- Relate key historical people and artifacts to contemporary works.
- Identify relationships between artistic forms and their creators and the cultures in which they are created
- Express relationships between and among diverse artistic forms.
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History
- Distinguish between primary and secondary sources and critically evaluate source material
- Explain and incorporate key concepts in the study of history such as chronology, periodization, historical causality and distinction between fact and interpretation.
- Analyze and critically compare interpretations about the impact of past events on contemporary life.
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Literature
- Analyze texts in relation to their historical and social contexts.
- Identify how formal elements of language and genre shape meaning.
- Identify the major traditions of literature and analyze texts using critical and theoretical models appropriate to those traditions.
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Mathematics
- Use models to make predictions, draw conclusions, and find optimal results, using technology when necessary and appropriate.
- Develop mathematical models of real-world situations and explain the assumptions and limitations of those models.
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Philosophy
- Recognize historical approaches to traditional philosophical problems.
- Analyze and evaluate logical arguments.
- Connect modern ideas and arguments to the historical heritage of these ideas.
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Political Science
- Identify the institutions and processes of the government of the United States.
- Discuss the structure of the discipline of political science, including basic issues treated in the subfields of comparative politics and public policy.
- Evaluate the strengths and limitations of a variety of significant analytical approaches used in political science.
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Psychology
- Describe ethical issues in conducting psychological research.
- Explain how different empirical and theoretical strategies in psychology are employed to study human behavior within varied cultures.
- Describe key concepts, principles and overarching themes in the discipline.
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Sociology
- Apply sociological theory to a social reality within the global context.
- Apply concepts such as culture, social change, and institutions to analyze social trends and conflicts.
- Analyze and evaluate data to inform the explanation of the phenomenon being studied.