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 21^st 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
Quantitative Literacy
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.

Quantitative Literacy - Student Learning Outcomes

Successful students shall be able to do the following:

Solve real-world problems;
Draw inferences based on a set of data or quantitative information; and
Justify conclusions derived from quantitative information

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.

Humanities & Fine Arts - Students Learning Outcomes

This area of the General Education curriculum encourages students to explore how the humanities and fine arts can illuminate our world and the experience of being human. For as long as humans have been on the Earth, they have recorded their experiences through literature, art, music, philosophy, language, and other subjects. The study of human experience is essential to make sense of our contemporary world and our place in it.

Outcome(s): Show a broad understanding of the theories, perspectives and methods of the Humanities and Fine Arts by:

Demonstrating knowledge of the human conditionusing discipline appropriate criteria;
Respond to the human condition using discipline specific criteria;
Explaining how context (historical, cultural, etc.) influences the creation or interpretation of the topic of study.

Social Sciences - Student Learning Outcomes

Social Science -Courses in this area examine how members of societies organize themselves to satisfy individual needs/wants and collective goals. Courses in this category will allow students to gain an understanding of the complex dynamics that make up the world, and particularly the challenges, problems, and factors that lead to social stability and change. This understanding is essential for contributing to, and living in, a contemporary society.

Outcome(s): Demonstrate broad understanding of the theories, perspectives, and/or issues of the social sciences by:

Describing signature ideas, concepts, theories, or perspectives using the language of the discipline;
Analyzing Implications, conclusions, or consequences of a particular issue relevant to the discipline
Evaluating evidence of truth-claims;

Natural & Physical Sciences - Student Learning Outcomes

Courses in this area explore science as a way of knowing about the natural, physical, and technological worlds, highlighting the process of scientific inquiry. Emphasis is placed on students making connections between science and their daily lives. Understanding the nature of scientific inquiry is essential for making personal and public policy decisions

Outcome(s): Demonstrate a broad understanding of scientific inquiry by

Identifies key elements of scientific inquiry relative to problem;
Solves problems based on data, information, or models
Evaluate conclusions, limitations, and/or implications

U.S. Diversity - Student Learning Outcomes

In an increasingly interconnected and diverse country, it is important to have a broad understanding of different cultures, people, and institutions that exist within the United States to promote intellectual flexibility, cultural understanding and informed citizenship

Outcome(s): Demonstrate an informed and attentive knowledge of diversity across the spectrum of differences in the United States by:

Demonstrating specific knowledge of the cultural, historical, social, economic, and/or political aspects of one or more diverse/underrepresented groups in the United States;
Explaining/describing the implications or consequencesof these characteristics upon the development of the United States

Global Diversity - Student Learning Outcomes

In an increasingly interconnected world, it is important to have a broad understanding of cultures and institutions around the world in order to promote intellectual flexibility, cultural understanding and informed citizenship

Outcome (s): Demonstrate an informed and attentive knowledge of global diversity across the spectrum of differences by:

Demonstrating specific knowledge of the cultural, historical, social, economic, and/or political aspects of one or more countries or nations other than the United States;
Explaining/describing the implications or consequences of these characteristics to human endeavors