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West Virginia University Office of the Provost

Student Learning Outcomes

Below are examples of course- and program-level student learning outcomes. The Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee has a guide to writing clear and measurable course and program outcomes. The Office of the Provost also has an excellent resource on writing powerful and effective learning outcomes.

Program Examples

Undergraduate Program Examples

Graduate Program Examples

Course Examples

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to…

  • Apply techniques from feminist science studies to a scientific field (WGST 250, Women in Science).
  • Develop an export business plan (MKTG 410, Export Management).
  • Create a professional-quality poster presentation (FIS 401, Professional Forensic Communication).
  • Synthesize the skills and knowledge required in conducting performance and economic evaluation (HPML 680, Performance and Economic Evaluation for Public Health).
  • Interpret epidemiologic analyses from a range of multivariate models (including linear, logistic, Poisson, and Cox regression models) (EPID 712, Quantitative Methods in Epidemiology).

Undergraduate Program Learning Outcome Examples

Chambers | Creative Arts | Davis | Eberly | Education and Human Services

Health Sciences | Physical Activity and Sport Sciences | Reed | Statler

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

Chambers

  • Distinguish the basic conflict management styles (B.S., Business Administration).

Creative Arts

  • Use typography, images, diagrams, motion, sequencing, color, and other such elements effectively in the contexts of specific design projects (B.F.A., Graphic Design).

  • Analyze and synthesize relevant aspects of human interaction in various contexts (physical, cognitive, cultural, social, political, and economic) and with respect to technologically-mediated communication, objects, and environments (B.A., Interactive Design for Media).

  • Synthesize the use of drawing, two-dimensional design, and color (B.F.A., Painting).

  • Prepare sculpture using the broadest possible range of techniques and concepts (B.F.A., Sculpture).

  • Fluently use tools needed by composers, including keyboards skills, spoken and written language, conducting and rehearsal skills, analytical techniques, and applicable technologies (B.M., Music Composition).

  • Integrate knowledge and skills in music, music industry, and business, to address issues, projects, and problems in the music industry (B.A., Music Industry).

  • Use a keyboard to play at sight, accompany, transpose, and improvise (B.M., Music Therapy).

  • Perform basic through advanced dance techniques within the student’s area of interest (B.A., Dance).
  • Develop and defend informed judgments about theatre (B.F.A., Theatre).

Davis

  • Diagnose and solve applied production problems in ways that minimize adverse local, regional and global impacts (B.S., Agroecology) .

  • Isolate and identify microorganisms from a variety of environments (B.S., Applied & Environmental Microbiology).

  • Design and implement sustainable soil and water management practices (B.S., Environmental, Soil and Water Sciences).

  • Analyze methods to improve productivity and efficiency of horticultural and green industry operations (B.S., Horticulture).

  • Integrate basic knowledge and managerial skills related to the nutritional and food science disciplines (B.S., Human Nutrition and Foods).

  • Integrate design thinking into the business context provided by their minor course of study (B.S., Design Studies).

  • Relate the elements and principles of design to product development, use, and evaluation (B.S., Fashion, Dress and Merchandising).

  • Utilize hand and computer drawing and modeling technologies, techniques and conventions in the study, visualization, and presentation of architectural interiors (B.S., Interior Design).

  • Work cooperatively within a business or professional setting (B.S., Agribusiness Management).

  • Explain the role of media in the energy business, the necessity of appropriate communication in crisis situations, and the concept of non-technical risks associated with energy development (B.S., Energy Land Management).
  • Apply the tools of economic analyses to environmental issues (B.S., Environmental and Natural Resource Economics).
  • Quantify forest resources and predict future growth using growth and yield models (B.S., Forest Resource Management).
  • Design and conduct field relevant research to address natural resource-based recreation and tourism questions and problems (or design and execute a project) (B.S., Recreation, Parks, and Tourism).
  • Identify and classify, using common and Latin names, West Virginia trees, plants, reptiles, mammals and fishes by sight and birds and amphibians by sight and sound (B.S., Wildlife and Fisheries Resources) .

Eberly

  • Synthesize knowledge and skills from across the curriculum and apply them to societal issues and problems (B.S., Biology).

  • Interpret past and present human life-ways holistically and comparatively (B.A., Anthropology) .

  • Perform accurate and precise quantitative analyses (B.A./B.S., Chemistry).

  • Critically analyze messages (B.A., Communication Studies).
  • Describe the sociological approach to crime and social control and how it is similar to and different from other approaches (B.A., Criminology).
  • Evaluate the efficiency of competitive market outcomes relative to alternative arrangements (B.A., Economics).
  • Identify the activities of humans that create environmental problems/hazards (B.A., Environmental Geoscience) .
  • Apply acquired skills, knowledge, and capabilities in professional environments (e.g. internships, professional meetings, interviews, graduate school, etc.) (B.S., Forensic and Investigative Science).
  • Define the range of issues and topics relevant to geographic inquiry and analysis (B.A., Geography).
  • Competently identify minerals, rocks, and fossils using various field and lab techniques (B.S., Geology).
  • Exhibit the intellectual and ethical responsibilities of active global citizenship (B.A., International Studies).
  • Construct valid proofs (B.A./B.S., Mathematics).
  • Think, write, and speak carefully, logically, and creatively about complex ideas and issues (B.A., Philosophy) .
  • Develop experiments to test basic or applied research questions, to perform accurate experimental measurements, and to critically evaluate others’ answers to research questions (B.S., Physics).
  • Carry out systematic empirical research in political science, i.e. articulate a theoretical question, construct a rigorous research design, and analyze data or cases using appropriate methodological approaches (B.A., Political Science).
  • Engage in effective practice that is responsive to changing the social context, with an existing value base and ethical standards of the social work profession (B.S.W.).
  • Critically analyze sociological questions and issues by retrieving and synthesizing appropriate information and evidence and identifying implications for research and practice/policy (B.A., Sociology).
  • Use critical reading skills to analyze, dissect, and criticize, and reflect on arguments to demonstrate an understanding of the scholarship and theoretical underpinning of the field of women’s and gender studies (B.A., Women’s and Gender Studies).
  • Express their own ideas and interpret the messages of others in the target language at the advanced level of proficiency (B.A., World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics).

Education and Human Services

  • Identify anatomical structures/functions that support speech, language, and hearing (B.S., Speech Pathology and Audiology).
  • Construct positive and enriched early childhood environments where the young have the opportunity to develop skills for lifelong learning (B.S., Child Development and Family Studies).

Health Sciences

  • Provide dental hygiene/dental supportive treatment that is both evidence-based and patient-centered (B.S., Dental Hygiene) .

  • Conduct routine and specialized procedures on tissue and autopsy specimens for diagnosis (B.S., Medical Laboratory Science).

  • Provide empathetic, culturally sensitive, and compassionate care for individuals, families, communities, and populations that upholds moral, legal, and ethical humanistic principles (B.S.N).

  • Apply chronic disease management techniques and constructs (B.S., Public Health).


Physical Activity and Sport Sciences

  • Use evidence-based knowledge for designing, implementing and evaluating practice plans that address individual student's needs determined by various forms of assessment (B.S., Athletic Coaching Education).
  • Use different forms of technology to assess skills and provide meaningful feedback (B.S., Athletic Training).
  • Plan, implement, and evaluate physical activity programming for groups in different physical activity settings (B.S., Physical Activity and Well-Being).

Reed

  • Critically evaluate their own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity, appropriate style and grammatical correctness (B.S., Journalism).

Statler

  • Design a system, component or process to meet desired needs (B.S., Mechanical Engineering) .

  • Design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data (B.S., Biomedical Engineering).

  • Design effective laboratory experiments, perform laboratory experiments, gather data, analyze data, and test theories (B.S., Chemical Engineering).
  • Work and learn effectively as members of a team (B.S., Computer Science).
  • Integrate their scientific and engineering knowledge to solve petroleum and natural gas engineering design problems (B.S., Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering).

Graduate Program Learning Outcome Examples

Chambers | Creative Arts | Davis | Eberly | Education and Human Services

Health Sciences | Reed | Statler

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

Chambers

  • Identify an ethical dilemma and propose a solution (M.Acc.).
  • Integrate and apply the functional areas of business to experiential business problems (M.B.A.)
  • Evaluate the data security of businesses from a data and systems security perspective, and recommend and initiate appropriate procedures, policies, and security controls to ensure improved data and systems security (M.S., Business Cybersecurity Management).
  • Use business analytics to synthesize data trends and competitive drivers (M.S., Business Data Analytics).
  • Construct, evaluate, and manage diversified portfolios and effectively communicate the process (M.S., Finance).
  • Evaluate evidentiary material associated with asset misappropriation (i.e., theft of assets) and complete fraud examinations that meet judicial standards of investigation (M.S., Forensic and Fraud Examination).
  • Use foundational knowledge of individual behavior and interpersonal relations in order to successfully manage and resolve conflict through processes such as mediation and facilitation (M.S., Industrial Relations).

Creative Arts

  • Plan and manage music production processes and activities in recording and live music business sectors including scheduling, budgeting, equipment, personnel, union issues, and regulatory requirements (M.A., Music Industry) .
  • Employ a broad range of acting knowledge and skills in the creation and presentation of roles (M.F.A., Acting).
  • Work with theatre professionals in their processes of production (M.F.A., Costume Design and Technology).
  • Develop settings for productions of plays covering a range of styles, periods, and types of theatre, and utilization of techniques for production of a full range of theatrical effects (M.F.A., Scenic Design and Technology) .
  • Develop the lighting design of a production from concept to finished product (M.F.A., Lighting Design and Technology).
  • Supervise the safe construction of scenery and properties within the scope of allocated/budgeted materials, labor/time, and space (M.F.A., Technical Direction).

Davis

  • Construct a theoretical framework that addresses a particular opportunity or problem in agriculture, natural resources, or design and generalize that framework to aid in understanding similar opportunities or problems (M.Agr.).
  • Incorporate professional information through the study of real-life problems in Morgantown, the state of West Virginia, and the region (M.L.A.).
  • Produce and defend original research in their major area of study within forestry (M.S.F.).
  • Design, conduct, and interpret the results of experiments (M.S., Entomology).
  • Apply iterative design process to solve real world problems (M.S., Design and Merchandising).
  • Critique and assess peer-reviewed literature and apply research findings to the resources and management of their emphasis area (Ph.D., Forest Resources Science).
  • Engage in and conduct original research in Forest Resources Management or Wood Science and Technology (M.S., Forestry).
  • Organize and to assess a community engagement project (Ph.D., Human and Community Development).
  • Apply a broad range of social science theories and methods to policy, planning, and management challenges and opportunities in the recreation, tourism, and natural resource fields (M.S., Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Resources).
  • Apply microeconomic theories to analyze resource economics and management issues (M.S., Resource Economics and Management) .

Eberly

  • Interpret the meaning and implication of their data (M.S./Ph.D., Chemistry).
  • Present and argue the historical, philosophical, and theoretical issues in communication studies (M.A./Ph.D., Communication Studies).
  • Clearly articulate aesthetic principles (M.F.A., Creative Writing) .
  • Apply basic forensic science concepts and of specialty knowledge to problem solving (M.S./Ph.D., Forensic and Investigative Science).
  • Engage in an applied geography project oriented to their professional goals (M.A., Geography).
  • Identify research questions in geology (Ph.D., Geology).
  • Abide by the ethical and professional principles of the discipline of history (M.A./Ph.D., History).
  • Independently design and execute new experimental, theoretical, or computational studies that can address important scientific questions in physics and astronomy (M.S./Ph.D., Physics and Astronomy).
  • Carry out systematic empirical research in political science, i.e. articulate a theoretical question, construct a rigorous research design, and analyze data or cases using appropriate methodological approaches (M.A./Ph.D., Political Science).
  • Conduct and interpret statistical analyses (Ph.D., Psychology) .
  • Integrate public service values into human resource management (M.P.A.)
  • Construct an integrated evidence-informed theoretical framework appropriate to the level and context of practice situations (M.S.W.).
  • Apply sociological theories and methodological skills to evaluate social issues and develop a research program (Ph.D., Sociology).
  • Responsibly and competently practice statistics in order to attainpersonal goals, either in a profession or in further educational experiences (M.S., Statistics).

Education and Human Services

  • Respond responsibly to the legal, ethical, social, and cultural issues encountered when working with young children with special needs and their familiesin today’s world (M.A., Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education).
  • Empower individuals and families to participate in program planning and decision making (M.A., Gifted Education).
  • Provide high quality educational services to children and adolescents with mild/moderate disabilities in inclusive classrooms and resource rooms in elementary and secondary schools (M.A., Multicategorical Special Education).
  • Design, implement and evaluate accommodations, adaptations, and interventions that are grounded in current evidence-based practices documented to be successful in the professional literature (M.A., Special Education) .
  • Critically evaluate and interpret relevant research to support evidence-based audiological practice (Au.D.).
  • Plan, perform, and evaluate intervention of individuals with disorders of speech, oral and written language, swallowing, and related systems (M.S., Speech Pathology).
  • Create informative reports of research and evaluation studies tailored appropriately for multiple stakeholders and decision-makers (M.A., Program Evaluation and Research).
  • Design, implement, and evaluatethe use of technology and media in instruction and to support learning (M.A./Ed.D., Instructional Design and Technology).Health Sciences

Health Sciences

  • Exhibit behaviors and values consistent with the professional trust given by patients, healthcare providers, and society (Pharm.D.).
  • Formulate and implement the therapeutic intervention plan to facilitate occupational performance and participation that is culturally relevant (M.O.T.)
  • Design experimental protocols and in conduct productive self-directed research (Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
  • Apply responsible research practices to the conduct of their experiments (Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences) .
  • Recognize and explain the interrelationships within and between anatomical and physiological systems of the body (Ph.D., Cellular and Integrative Physiology).
  • Communicate with and understand the research challenges and perspectives of each of the three branches of clinical and translational science (basic, clinical, and population sciences) (Ph.D., Clinical and Translational Science).
  • Apply theories and methodologies to address fundamental questions in health-specific issues related to exercise physiology (Ph.D., Exercise Physiology).
  • Advocate for quality patient care, as evidenced by recognizing system limitations and failures and contributing to healthcare safety and improvement (M.D.).
  • Pursue independent research in specialized fields of Neuroscience and work with and contribute to interdisciplinary teams (Ph.D., Neuroscience) .
  • Provide culturally sensitive care distinguished by advocacy, trust, respect, and an appreciation for individual differences (D.P.T.).
  • Design, obtain financial support for, conduct, manage, evaluate, and present research projects (M.S., Dental Hygiene).
  • Determine a differential, provisional or definitive diagnosis for patients of all ages by interpreting and correlating findings from the history, clinical and radiographic examination and other diagnostic tests (D.D.S.).
  • Assume a leadership role in advocacy and health care policy development (D.N.P.).
  • Assume collaborative leadership roles in academia, health organizations, research teams, and scholarly networks (Ph.D., Nursing).
  • Disseminate research findings through appropriate peer-reviewed publications and presentations, and to other public health community audiences (Ph.D., Public Health).
  • Evaluate public health research data using inferential statistical techniques (M.P.H.).
  • Manage standard statistical software to efficiently manage data structures (M.S., Biostatistics).
  • Explain how marketing communicators use current analytic methods such as segmentation, profiling, and recency, frequency and monetary (RFM) analysis to deliver return on investment (ROI) for their clients (M.S., Data Marketing Communications).
  • Design and organize marketing communications materials in a professional manner consistent with contemporary industry-specific standards (M.S., Integrated Marketing Communications) .
  • Articulate journalistic concepts, values and skills (M.S., Journalism).

Statler

  • Build a comprehensive Safety and Health program based on loss control and regulations (M.S., Safety Management).
  • Work independently in a collaborative environment (M.S., Aerospace Engineering) .
  • Recognize the need to engage in life-long learning (M.S., Civil Engineering).
  • Investigate and develop solutions to advanced mining engineering problems (M.S., Mining Engineering).