Student Learning Outcomes

The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) general education curriculum strives to help you develop the following skills you need to navigate the demands of the 21st century environment successfully and responsibly:

  • The ability to think clearly about complex problems;
  • The ability to analyze a problem to develop workable and creative solutions;
  • An understanding of the global context in which work is done;
  • The ability to apply knowledge and skills in new settings; and
  • A strong sense of ethics and equality.

The University General Education requirements encompass Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) in the following areas:

English & Writing
Mathematics
Public Speaking
Humanities & Fine Arts
Social Sciences
Natural & Physical Sciences
U.S. Diversity
Global Diversity

English & Writing - Student Learning Outcomes

After completing Composition I, successful students shall be able to do the following:

  • closely read, critically interpret, evaluate, and respond to other writers' texts;
  • write papers with a clear thesis, logical structure, and cohesive, well-developed paragraphs;
  • write papers with clear, varied, well-constructed sentences, with usage and mechanics conforming to standard edited English; and
  • demonstrate an understanding of writing as a complex, recursive process whereby ideas are explored, developed, and communicated to a particular audience for a particular purpose.

After completing Composition II, successful students shall be able to do the following:

  • demonstrate further development of the writing skills learned in Composition I;
  • locate and evaluate information in print and electronic sources and integrate the information into their own texts, citing the sources appropriately;
  • analyze arguments in other writers' texts;
  • craft well-informed, carefully-reasoned arguments of their own, using the genre appropriate for the rhetorical context (e.g. position paper, proposal, and evaluation).

After completing the writing in the discipline (WID) course(s), students shall be able to do the following:

  • demonstrate further development of the writing skills learned in foundational composition courses;
  • engage in the major discipline's research practices, using the databases, bibliographies, and documentation conventions appropriate to the discipline;
  • use the writing strategies and genres expected in the relevant academic and professional communities; and
  • demonstrate command of the major discipline's discourse practices, vocabulary, and style.

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Mathematics - Student Learning Outcomes

  • Successful students shall be able to do the following:
  • demonstrate competency in quantitative reasoning that applies to algebra;
  • demonstrate competency in symbolic reasoning in the solution to real-world problems;
  • demonstrate competency in computational reasoning as it relates to the application of algebraic processes and concepts; and
  • demonstrate an ability to solve real-world problems using quantitative, logical, or computational approaches that are typical of mathematical thinking.

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Public Speaking - Student Learning Outcomes

Successful students shall be able to do the following:

  • create and develop messages demonstrating effective audience analysis and adaptation;
  • create and develop messages demonstrating effective information gathering, analysis, and evaluation;
  • create and deliver messages demonstrating effective organizational development and use of supporting materials from credible sources; and
  • present appropriate messages, including effective use of language, nonverbal delivery, and visual information/technology.

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Humanities & Fine Arts - Students Learning Outcomes

Successful students shall be able to do the following:

  • demonstrate an understanding of the theories, methods, and concepts used to comprehend and respond to the human condition;
  • recognize, articulate, and explore how various humanists/artists have responded to the human condition;
  • comprehend and evaluate how humanistic/artistic expression contributes to individual and/or socio-cultural understanding, growth, and well-being; and
  • use relevant critical, analytic, creative, speculative and/or reflective methods.

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Social Sciences - Student Learning Outcomes

Successful students shall be able to do the following:

  • demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of interactions between human motivations, institutional forces, and/or social behavior;
  • use critical thinking and reasoning skills to analyze theories, perspectives, and/or concepts relative to the discipline(s) studied;
  • identify multiple methods and modes of inquiry and their appropriate application; and
  • communicate ideas and explain concepts and analyses using the language of the discipline(s).

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Natural & Physical Sciences - Student Learning Outcomes

Successful students shall be able to do the following:

  • demonstrate a broad understanding of the fundamental laws and principles of science and interrelationships among science and technology disciplines;
  • demonstrate a broad understanding of various natural and/or physical phenomena that surround and influence our lives;
  • describe how scientists approach and solve problems including an understanding of the basic components and limitations of the scientific method; and
  • solve problems and draw conclusions based on scientific information and models, using critical thinking and qualitative and quantitative analysis of data and concepts in particular to distinguish reality from speculation.

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U.S. Diversity - Student Learning Outcomes

Successful students shall be able to do the following:

  • demonstrate knowledge of the role and contributions of one or more underrepresented groups in the development of the United States;
  • demonstrate specific knowledge of cultural, historical, social, economic, and/or political factors that shape aspects of one or more diverse groups;
  • recognize and articulate differences, expectations, and/or challenges experienced by one or more underrepresented groups; and
  • explain ways in which identity is developed and how it is transmitted within and by members of the group or groups.

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Global Diversity - Student Learning Outcomes

Successful students shall be able to do the following:

  • recognize the cultural, historical, social, economic, and/or political circumstances that produce different social and cultural systems;
  • demonstrate specific knowledge of the cultural, historical, social, economic, and/or political aspects of one or more countries or nations other than the United States;
  • explain the interrelations among global economic, political, environmental and/or social systems; and
  • explain ways in which identity is developed and how it is transmitted within and by members of the group or groups.

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