Nov 11, 2024  
2024-25 NSU Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2024-25 NSU Undergraduate Catalog

The Undergraduate Degrees of Excellence (ILOs)


The Degrees of Excellence institutional learning outcomes articulate high expectations for students’ success and provide an inclusive framework for a distinctive educational experience emphasizing lifelong learning, intellectual growth, citizenship, and social responsibility.  They reflect NSU’s heritage, mission, vision, and values. Institutional learning outcomes are designed by NSU as a whole, taking into account the role that both instruction and student services play in contributing to a student’s success. Institutional learning outcomes assume achievement of general education learning outcomes and the stated program learning outcomes of the student’s discipline.

Outcome 1: Intellectual Skills

Analytic Inquiry

A. Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;

B. Evaluate approaches to address complex problems;

C. Test proposed solutions to complex problems.

Information Literacy

A. Determine the extent of information needed;

B. Leverage technologies ethically to identify and access needed information;

C. Evaluate the reliability and comparative worth of various information sources;

D. Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose;

E. Use information ethically and legally.

Engaging diverse perspectives

A. Explain alternative systems of thought, including their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences.

Quantitative fluency

A. Write an equation using mathematical symbols that expresses a relationship;

B. Perform arithmetic operations on algebraic expressions and solve linear equations;

C. Evaluate the validity of procedures in solving a mathematical problem;  

D. Interpret mathematical models such as formulas, graphs, tables, and schematics, and draw inferences from them.

Communication fluency

A. Construct coherent written and oral arguments for general and specific audiences;

B. Construct coherent written and oral narratives for general and specific audiences;

C. Collaborate with others to advance an argument or design an approach to resolving a social, personal or ethical dilemma;

D. Use technology to enhance or integrate information in support of a communication goal.

Outcome 2:  Integrative knowledge

A. Produce, independently or collaboratively, an investigative, creative or practical work that draws on specific theories, evidence, tools and methods from diverse perspectives.

Outcome 3: Specialized knowledge in the major

A. Explain the boundaries and major areas of specialization within the major;

B. Properly utilize discipline-specific vocabulary;

C. Demonstrate the ability to effectively use the tools, technologies, and methods common to the major;

D. Evaluate a complex question using appropriate perspectives and evidence drawn from the student’s major;

E. Construct a summative project that draws on current research, scholarship, and/or techniques in the major.

Outcome 4: Capstone Experience in the Baccalaureate Degree

The integration of the major with baccalaureate degree expectations reflects the intersection of academic and post-baccalaureate settings. Demonstrate competency at the baccalaureate level in analytic inquiry, information literacy, engaging diverse perspectives, quantitative fluency, and communication fluency. Demonstration can be achieved through one or more of the following as appropriate:

4.1 Formulate a question on a topic that addresses more than one academic discipline, a public issue, or a practical setting where the student:

A. Locate appropriate evidence that addresses the question;

B. Evaluate the evidence in relation to the problem’s contexts;

C. Effectively use the tools, technologies, and methods expected within the field;

D. Articulate conclusions that follow logically from such analysis.

4.2 Complete an immersive performance, field-based project, exhibit, or internship related to the discipline and course of study where the student:

A. Implement insights from others into the project;

B. Evaluate a significant challenge or question faced in the project in relation to core concepts, methods, or assumptions in their major field; 

C. Describe the effects of learning outside the classroom on his or her research or practical skills;

D. Explain in writing or another medium how those elements were combined in the product to shape its intended meaning or findings;

E. Employ appropriate citations to demonstrate the relationship of the product to literature in its field.

Outcome 5: Citizenship and Global Awareness

Cultural Foundations

A. Analyze the advantages and challenges of a culturally diverse society;

B. Identify the connectedness of culture and society to support global awareness;

C. Discuss how culture influences one’s perspective;

D. Define one’s identity in relation to cultural differences;

E. Work across cultural differences.

Leadership & Engagement

A. Distinguish between leadership as a process and leadership as a position;

B. Demonstrate commitment to positive change;

C. Demonstrate respect for the rights of others;

D. Employ ethical considerations when making leadership decisions;

E. Practice engaged citizenship by contributing to the positive welfare of the community.

Professional & Self-Development

A. Develop professional or personal goals;

B. Identify strengths and challenges to achieve a desired professional or personal goal;

C. Establish an action plan to achieve a professional or personal goal;

D. Translate acquired knowledge into professional skills.