SLO Examples

SLO refinement examples (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis):

Too general & hard to measure	A little better, but still general and hard to measure	Specific & Easy to measure
Students will appreciate the benefits of exercise science.	Students will appreciate exercise as a stress reduction tool.	Students will explain how the science of exercise affects stress.
Students will understand the scientific method.	Students will apply the scientific method in problem solving.	Students will design a grounded research study using the scientific method.
Students will become familiar with correct grammar and literary devices.	Students will demonstrate the use of correct grammar and various literary devices.	Students will demonstrate the use of correct grammar and various literary devices in creating an essay.
Students will develop problem-solving and conflict resolution skills.	Students will demonstrate critical thinking skills, such as problem solving as it relates to social issues.	Students will analyze and respond to arguments about racial discrimination.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) @ CSUF

 

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) Examples @ other institutions

Campus-wide undergraduate SLOs (Portland State University)

• Students will gain mastery at a baccalaureate level in a defined body of knowledge through attainment of their program’s objectives and completion of their major.
• Students will develop the disposition and skills to strategize, gather, organize, create, refine, analyze, and evaluate the credibility of relevant information and ideas.
• Students will communicate effectively in a range of social, academic, and professional contexts using a variety of means, including written, oral, numeric/quantitative, graphic, and visual modes of communication using appropriate technologies.
• Students will recognize and understand the rich and complex ways that group and individual inequalities and interactions impact self and society.
• Students will develop ethical and social responsibility to others, will understand issues from a variety of cultural perspectives, will collaborate with others to address ethical and social issues in a sustainable manner, and will increase self-awareness.
• Students will understand the richness and challenge of world cultures and the effects of globalization, and will develop the skills and attitudes to function as “global citizens.”
• Students will engage in learning that is based on reciprocal and mutually beneficial relationships, and through this engagement will apply theory and skills in diverse venues, linking the conceptual to the practical.
• Students will identify, act on, and evaluate their professional and personal actions with the knowledge and appreciation of interconnections among economic, environmental, and social perspectives in order to create a more sustainable future.

Accounting (University of Melbourne ):

On completion of this subject students will be able to:

• Understand the main areas of accounting namely financial accounting, financial management and management accounting;
• Apply accounting concepts to business scenarios;
• Understand simple cost concepts and their relevance to small business management;
• Explain the characteristics of successful businesses;
• Apply basic management accounting techniques in order to provide solutions for simple business decisions;
• Identify the key activities and processes used by businesses to achieve their goals and objectives;
• Make business decisions and identify the financial consequences that flow from those decisions;
• Evaluate the financial performance of businesses;
• Make and justify accounting policy decisions in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

Critical thinking (Humboldt State University ):

Upon completion of this requirement, students will be able to:

• Identify the premises and conclusion of an argument and determine its validity and soundness.
• Analyze, criticize and advocate ideas.
• Distinguish deductive from inductive argument forms, identify their fallacies, and reason inductively and deductively.
• Distinguish matters of fact from issues of judgment or opinion and reach well-supported factual or judgmental conclusions from a wide diversity of real world examples.

English (Brigham Young University ):

• Interpretive and Communicative Skills: Students will develop and demonstrate critical reading strategies, professional writing expertise, and sophisticated analytical skills.
• Interpretive and Communicative Contexts: Students will explore the development of literary traditions and genres as well as become familiar with the critical methodologies and scholarly conversations in the discipline; they will engage with these contexts in their written, oral, and visual work.
• Interpretive and Communicative Ethics: Students will embrace literature as a source of wisdom, spiritual insight, and aesthetic pleasure; as a medium for encountering and reflecting upon the diversity of human experience; and as a method of building conversations about relationships and discerning value.
• Interpretive and Communicative Skills: English graduates will develop and demonstrate critical reading strategies, professional writing expertise, and sophisticated analytical skills.
• Interpretive and Communicative Contexts: English graduates will explore the development of literary traditions and genres as well as become familiar with the critical methodologies and scholarly conversations in the discipline; they will engage with these contexts in their written, oral, and visual work.
• Interpretive and Communicative Ethics: English graduates will embrace literature as a source of wisdom, spiritual insight, and aesthetic pleasure; as a medium for encountering and reflecting upon the diversity of human experience; and as a guide for building relationships and discerning value.

Geology (University of Akron):

On completion of the program students will be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability to identify rocks and minerals and their origin.
• Interpret the origin of land forms.
• Collect, analyze and interpret geological and environmental data in the form of a written report.

Library literacy (University of Illinois ):

• Students will be able to search a database using boolean logic and flexible vocabulary in order to retrieve articles that are on-target and topic-relevant.
• Students will know the name and contact information for their subject librarian in order to get subject specific library help.
• Students will be able to develop topic-relevant vocabulary in order to search databases with maximum flexibility and effectiveness.
• Students will be able to use a thesaurus or controlled language list in order to select topic relevant vocabulary.
• Students will be able to construct a search statement using topic-relevant and controlled vocabulary in order to search databases with maximum effectiveness.

Research literacy (University of Toronto):

Students will be able to:

• Describe the research process in social interventions
• Evaluate critically the quality of research by others
• Formulate research questions designed to test, refine, and build theories
• Identify and demonstrate facility in research designs and data collection strategies that are most appropriate to a particular research project
• Formulate a complete and logical plan for data analysis that will adequately answer the research questions and probe alternative explanations
• Interpret research findings and draw appropriate conclusions