Geneseo Learning Outcomes for Baccalaureate Education
Learning Outcomes
The Geneseo learning outcomes for baccalaureate education described below are designed to guide the entire Geneseo education. Inspired by the AAC&U’s statement on Liberal Education and America’s Promise, this document provides the curricular and co-curricular foundation for students to achieve an integrative education that supports the College’s mission.
Broad and Specialized Knowledge
The Geneseo curriculum introduces a broad range of methodologies, concepts, and problems through a rigorous general education program and fosters the pursuit of deep and complex understanding through engagement with academic majors and minors. The college mission to promote “pursuit of an enriched life” and “success in the world” requires that students acquire, use, and communicate knowledge; practice intellectual flexibility; and investigate domains beyond their professional interests.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate:
Broad Knowledge: To develop broad knowledge of Physical and Life Sciences; Behavioral and Social Sciences; Arts, Languages, and Humanities.
Specialized Knowledge: To develop deep understanding of a body of specialized knowledge.
Intellectual and Practical Skills
In support of Geneseo’s institutional mission as “a center of excellence in undergraduate education,” college values stress “high standards for intellectual inquiry and scholarly achievement.” Geneseo prepares students for twenty-first century challenges through the development of intellectual and practical skills that transcend disciplinary boundaries and are applicable throughout their lives.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate:
1. Critical Thinking: To formulate questions or frame issues in ways that permit examination or investigation; to explicate and evaluate the assumptions underlying the claims of self and others; to establish and pursue systematic and valid methods for collecting and evaluating relevant evidence; to draw soundly reasoned and appropriately limited conclusions on the basis of evidence; to relate conclusions to a larger body of knowledge.
2. Communication: To demonstrate proficiency in English and skill in another spoken language; to compose written texts that effectively inform or persuade, following Standard English conventions and practices of academic disciplines; to engage in discussion, debate, and public speaking in a manner suitable to the listener(s) and the discourse; to be mindful of the interplay between rhetorical style and purpose.
3. Quantitative, Computational, and Symbolic Reasoning: To construct and interpret mathematical, computational, or symbolic depictions of information (e.g., equations, algorithms, graphs, diagrams); to generate accurate calculations or plausible estimates; to draw valid conclusions from quantitative evidence or computational or symbolic results; to clearly communicate the conclusions drawn from quantitative, computational, or symbolic analysis.
4. Informational and Digital Literacy: To work in information-rich and digital environments; to identify when information and data are needed to support claims; to search effectively and efficiently for relevant information, evidence, and data; to evaluate the credibility of information obtained; to share and cite information and ideas that inspire or support one’s own work responsibly and ethically, respecting privacy and intellectual property rights; to use digital tools to create, communicate, and collect information for the benefit of others.
5. Creativity and Creative Thinking: To produce scholarly or artistic work, independently or collaboratively, that makes inventive connections among existing forms and ideas; to engage divergent or contradictory perspectives; to transform existing ideas or solutions into new forms; to understand and articulate the relationship between individual creative work and wider contexts; to practice techniques for presenting and performing creative work.
6. Leadership and Collaboration: To engage others in developing collaborative solutions; to experiment, take risks, and learn from mistakes; to enable, encourage, and recognize contributions to collaborative efforts by all group members; to manage and share work fairly and respectfully; to envision, promote, consider, and respond to diverse viewpoints.
7. Diversity and Pluralism: To work effectively in a pluralistic society, recognizing and respecting diverse identities, beliefs, backgrounds, and life choices; to practice effective communication and collaboration across diverse communities and organizations; to critically reflect on the reasoning and impact of one’s personal beliefs and actions.
8. Global Awareness and Engagement: To situate individual and community experiences in multiple historical contexts, global systems, and power relations; to assess interconnections among local and global systems; to apply global perspectives in addressing challenges and solving problems.
Integrative and Applied Learning
Geneseo’s mission underscores an institutional commitment to “transformational learning experiences” and “a rich co-curricular life.” Integrative learning fosters the ability to connect and combine knowledge and skills acquired through the curriculum and the co-curriculum to new complex situations within and beyond the college and to foster reflection on the ways that such knowledge is utilized. Such learning develops through such high-impact practices as international experiences, service and community-based learning, intensive research activities, internships, advocacy, learning communities, and capstone courses and projects.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate:
1. Integrative Inquiry: To ask meaningful questions connecting personal experiences to academic study and co-curricular life; to synthesize multiple bodies of knowledge to address real-world problems and issues.
2. Application and Transfer: To adapt and apply skills, theories, and methods gained in one or more domains to new situations.
3. Reflection: To reflect upon changes in learning and outlook over time; to make personal, professional, and civic plans based on that self-reflection.
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