System General Education Goals
SGR Goal #1 - Written Communication
Students will write effectively and responsibly and will understand and interpret the written expression of others.
Student Learning Outcomes: As a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will:
- Write using standard American English, including correct punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure,
- Write logically,
- Write persuasively, with a variety of rhetorical strategies (e.g., expository, argumentative, descriptive), and
- Incorporate formal research and documentation into their writing, including research obtained through modern, technology-based research tools.
SGR Goal #2 - Oral Communication
Students will communicate effectively and responsibly through listening and speaking.
Student Learning Outcomes: As a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will:
- Prepare and deliver speeches for a variety of audiences and settings;
- Demonstrate speaking competencies including choice and use of topic, supporting materials, organizational pattern, language usage, presentational aids, and delivery; and
- Demonstrate listening competencies by summarizing, analyzing, and paraphrasing ideas, perspectives and emotional content.
SGR Goal #3 - Social Sciences/Diversity
Students will understand the organization, potential, and diversity of the human community through study of the social sciences.
Student Learning Outcomes: As a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will:
- Identify and explain basic concepts, terminology, theories, and systems of inquiry of the selected social science disciplines.
- Apply selected social science concepts and theories to contemporary or historical issues from different behavioral, cultural, institutional, temporal, or spatial contexts.
- Analyze the extent and impact of diversity among individuals, cultures, or societies in contemporary or historical contexts using social science methods and concepts.
SGR Goal #4 - Arts & Humanities/Diversity
Students will understand the diversity and complexity of the human experience through study of the arts and humanities.
Student Learning Outcomes: As a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of values, beliefs, and ideas embodied in the human experience;
- Identify and explain basic concepts of the selected disciplines within the arts and humanities.
- In addition, as a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will be able to do at least one of the following:
- Identify and explain the contributions of other cultures from the perspective of the selected disciplines within the arts and humanities;
- Demonstrate creative and aesthetic understanding;
- Explain and interpret formal and stylistic elements of the literary or fine arts;
- Demonstrate foundational competency in reading, writing, and speaking a non-English language.
SGR Goal #5 - Mathematics
Students will understand and apply fundamental mathematical processes and reasoning.
Student Learning Outcomes: As a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will:
- Use mathematical symbols and mathematical structure to model and solve real world problems.
- Demonstrate appropriate communication skills related to mathematical terms and concepts.
SGR Goal #6 - Natural Sciences
Students will understand the fundamental principles of the natural sciences and apply scientific methods of inquiry to investigate the natural world.
Student Learning Outcomes: As a result of taking courses meeting this goal, students will:
- Explain the nature of science including how scientific explanation are formulated, tested, and modified or validated.
- Distinguish between scientific and non-scientific evidence and explanations, and use scientific evidence to construct arguments related to contemporary issues.
- Apply basic observational, quantitative, or technological methods to gather and analyze data and generate evidence-based conclusions in a laboratory setting.
- Understand and apply foundational knowledge and discipline-specific concepts to address issues, solve problems, or predict natural phenomena.