Hallmarks Core Learning Goals

Create strategies for expanding knowledge through reflection and research.

This learning goal emphasizes the skills that allow you to identify gaps in your knowledge (reflection) and then take action to fill those gaps (research). Satisfying your curiosity requires you not only to identify what you don’t know, but also to have a set of tools that you can use to learn on your own. These include information literacy skills and an awareness of how you can use different academic disciplines and methodologies to find reliable answers.

• Achieve research goals by locating relevant quantitative and/or qualitative information from multiple sources, evaluating the reliability of sources, and using information ethically.
• Generate or compile information systematically by applying disciplinary methods and techniques appropriate to the topic.
• Comprehend and integrate newly acquired information to expand the boundaries of previous knowledge. 

Challenge concepts, practices and experts with reasoning and evidence.

This learning goal encourages you to apply your critical thinking skills to everything around you.  The status quo can always be questioned, and you can test your own ideas to see if they hold up to scrutiny. The power of reasoning and the use of relevant evidence give you the confidence to question conventional wisdom before deciding whether to accept it or not.

• Justify the reasoning behind an argument or a proposed solution to a problem.
• Identify the assumptions behind claims or arguments and apply appropriate evidence and reasoning to evaluate them.
• Evaluate and/or combine information from the social sciences, humanities, mathematics, and/or natural science appropriately to reach valid conclusions and develop insights into real-world problems.

Develop and share insights using appropriate means of expression.

This learning goal emphasizes the importance of communication skills for developing and expressing your ideas and understandings. Effective communication requires multiple drafts of your message and attention to your audience, your format and the organization and mechanics of your product. It is not just a tool for expression, but also a strategy for developing your thoughts and insights.

• Adapt content, language, and organizational strategies through drafting and revising.
• Produce works of communication that respond to different audiences and contexts.
• Combine appropriate written, oral, and graphic communication skills to convey knowledge and present ideas.

Navigate diverse environments and complex issues by managing multiple systems of knowledge and behavior.

This learning goal allows you to find your way through a world of diversity and competing value systems. In an increasingly globalized world, you need to be able to orient yourself in a variety of different contexts and cultures. Your knowledge of world societies and civilizations helps you understand yourself and others as you manage the complexities of cross-cultural interactions.

• Demonstrate knowledge of political, economic, environmental, and/or cultural developments in a global and historical context.
• GP2: Describe how the specific cultural and social factors of different societies influence the behavior and perspectives of individuals and/or groups.
• GP3: Identify the power dynamics involved in current global issues and relationships.

Consider multiple perspectives in order to relate to others and strengthen communities.

This learning goal highlights the ability to view situations from the perspectives of others. This skill can allow you to overcome barriers to communication and cooperation to build stronger relationships and communities. Thinking empathetically gives you new viewpoints, and can help you see and appreciate aspects of a situation that you might have otherwise missed.

• Identify possible cultural biases when considering the cultural, religious, political, and/or economic realities of groups locally and/or globally.
• Apply cross-cultural knowledge and empathy appropriately when considering real-world problems.
• Incorporate relevant professional, academic, and/or cultural perspectives when addressing contemporary professional and societal challenges.

Achieve goals by integrating skills and knowledge in a team setting.

This learning goal recognizes that working in teams is required for many tasks and can multiply your effectiveness even when it isn’t. Successful collaboration is a combination of leadership, cooperation, planning and the harnessing of diverse skill sets. Managing your work, coordinating the contributions of your teammates, and holding yourself and others accountable for the team’s performance are all part of the art of collaboration.

In the context of this course, you are developing your Collaborative Creation outcome when you:

• Deepen collective knowledge, modify perspectives, and/or solve problems through meaningful interactions with others.
• Acknowledge and integrate the varied perspectives or competencies within a group to generate insights that go beyond possible individual achievements.
• Develop and document a process by which all of the members of a group contribute equitably to its collective work.

Take creative and intellectual risks when exploring ideas and real-world problems.

This learning goal emphasizes the power of connecting new ideas with your existing knowledge in bold and innovative ways. Creative breakthroughs occur when you cross intellectual boundaries and apply knowledge outside of its original context. Initiative is also needed to extend your creative and academic ideas beyond the classroom for real-world problem solving.

• Transfer knowledge by applying previous learning appropriately to new contexts.
• Integrate contradictory or alternative perspectives or ideas relevant to addressing a problem.
• Frame problems in multiple ways to generate a variety of possible approaches or solutions, including novel or previously under-explored strategies.

Affirm an ethical compass to guide personal, civic and professional life.

This learning goal prepares you to use ethical reasoning to make responsible choices about your behavior as a person, citizen and professional. Defining your obligations to others is a personal undertaking, but the study of ethics can provide the framework for you to find your answers. Your education as a professional requires you to understand the ethical standards and reasoning skills required for your practice.

• Evaluate personal core beliefs regarding values and behavior.
• Examine real-world issues critically and apply ethical reasoning to them.
• Interpret the obligations and rights of citizens in local, national, and/or global contexts.