FSD 16-05 General Education Learning Outcomes for PNW

PURDUE UNIVERSITY NORTHWEST FACULTY SENATE

Faculty Senate Document 16-05

Submission Date: 11/13/2016 (General Education Committee)

Senate Action and Date:

• For Discussion, 12/9/2016;
• For Action, 1/13/2017;
• Approved: 1/13/2017;

PDF version of this document available

Resolution on General Education Learning Outcomes for Purdue University Northwest, November 11, 2016

The General Education Committee of the Purdue University Northwest Faculty Senate proposes
the following resolution.

Expressing a commitment to the highest standards of baccalaureate education for all PNW
students, the Purdue University Northwest Faculty adopt the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes
as General Education Learning Outcomes for Purdue University Northwest.

The adoption of these outcomes represents an important step in developing a General
Education Policy for Purdue Northwest. The General Education Committee plans to follow
this with a proposal for a comprehensive General Education Assessment Plan in early 2017.
This plan will provide procedures for adding and removing courses from the approved lists,
and detail assessment expectations for general education courses, and general education in
PNW’s academic programs.

The Essential Learning Outcomes

Beginning in school, and continuing at successively higher levels across their college studies,
students should prepare for twenty-first-century challenges by gaining:

Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World

• Through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories,
  languages, and the arts

Focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring

Intellectual and Practical Skills, including

• Inquiry and analysis
• Critical and creative thinking
• Written and oral communication
• Quantitative literacy
• Information literacy
• Teamwork and problem solving

Practiced extensively, across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging
problems, projects, and standards for performance

Personal and Social Responsibility, including

• Civic knowledge and engagement—local and global
• Intercultural knowledge and competence
• Ethical reasoning and action
• Foundations and skills for lifelong learning

Anchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges

Integrative and Applied Learning, including

• Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies

Demonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems

Note: This listing was developed through a multiyear dialogue with hundreds of colleges and universities about needed goals for student learning; analysis of a long series of recommendations and reports from the business community; and analysis of the accreditation requirements for engineering, business, nursing, and teacher education. The findings are documented in previous publications of the Association of American Colleges and Universities: Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College (2002), >Taking Responsibility for the Quality of the Baccalaureate Degree (2004), and College Learning for the New Global Century (2007).
For further information, see the LEAP website.

Background

The Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs) were first presented in 2008 in College Learning for
the New Global Century, a publication of the Association of American Colleges and Universities
(AAC&U). The ELOs are part of AAC&U’s Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP)
initiative. Working with a wide variety of higher education institutions, the ELOs attempted to
establish common ground for American higher education in response to a wide variety of
institutional visions, and the changing needs of employers. It was followed by the creation of
detailed rubrics for each outcome, as well as state and national efforts to join the outcomes to
useful and high-quality assessment. Many colleges and universities have adopted the ELOs,
along with a number of states, including Indiana. Purdue University North Central adopted the
ELOs in December, 2010. In recent years, several faculty from both campuses have participated
in the Multi-State Collaborative, receiving training in conducting assessment using the ELOs and
their associated rubrics.

General Education unification efforts during academic years 2014-15 and 2015-16 resulted in the
following being approved by both Faculty Senates of PNC and PUC:

The Core Categories reflect the merger of previously existing General Education course
categories in the two universities:

Currently, the lists of approved courses in these categories reflect the combined lists as of the last
academic year.

Approved November 11, 2016

General Education Committee

• Arifin Angriawan
• Michelle Block
• Paul Hecht (Chair)
• Liberty Pelter
• Richard Rupp (Vice Chair)
• Kim Scipes

Not present

• Jessica Thomas (Assessment Steering Committee Liaison)