Common Course of Study Learning Outcomes for all Lafayette Students

Revised March 2019

FIRST YEAR SEMINAR

  • FYS 1: Demonstrate critical thinking strategies related to  interpretation and evaluation of texts (verbal, visual, or performative) in the context of course materials.
  • FYS 2: Identify and consider one’s assumptions, thereby building informed perspectives.
  • FYS 3: Information Literacy
  • FYS 3a: Identify and use information relevant to a specific purpose or goal.
  • FYS 3b: Employ effective search strategies to locate useful information.
  • FYS 3c: Access and use information ethically and legally.

ELEMENTARY PROFICIENCY IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

  • EPSL : Have elementary proficiency in a second language.

GLOBAL AND MULTICULTURAL

  • GM 1: Understand the social significance of at least two dimensions of identity and/or difference (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion, etc.) that exist (or have historically existed) in hierarchical relation to each other.
  • GM 2: Understand the social significance of dimensions of identity and/or difference in a global context or through a process that brings people outside of their domestic context (e.g., regional/social movement, immigration, colonialism, forced migration, linguistic diversity, etc.).

HUMANITIES

  • H 1: Analyze the works and issues created and studied in the Humanities and Arts (language, literature, visual medial, philosophy, religion, rhetoric and composition, creative and performing arts).
  • H 2: Demonstrate an ability to express and to evaluate one’s responses to the works and issues created and studied in the Humanities and Arts.
  • H 3: Demonstrate a critical understanding of the virtues and values of Humanistic inquiry in today’s world (ethical reasoning, visual acuity, verbal analysis, aesthetic representation and engagement, and so on) and an appreciation of cultural difference over time and place.

NATURAL SCIENCES with Lab

  • NS 1: Employ the fundamental elements of the scientific method in the physical and natural world by identifying and evaluating a testable scientific hypothesis.
  • NS 2: Create and evaluate descriptions and representations of scientific data via equations, graphs, tables, and/or models.

QUANTITATIVE REASONING

  • Q 1: Translate information between narrative and graphical forms (e.g. equations, graphs, diagrams, and/or tables).
  • Q 2: Solve problems using arithmetic, algebraic, geometric, or statistical methods.
  • Q 3: Evaluate mathematical results for reasonableness and validity.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN A SOCIAL CONTEXT (STSC)

An STSC course is a science or engineering course without a lab that addresses a scientific or technologic issue of timely importance and addresses the following objectives:

  • STSC 1: Identify the fundamental elements of the scientific process as employed in research related to physical and natural phenomena. 
  • STSC 2: Understand the importance, relevance and application of the scientific method and scientific processes to global, national, or local decisions. 
  • STSC 3: Demonstrate the ability to create, interpret, and critically evaluate descriptions and representations of scientific data including graphs, tables, and/or models.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

  • SS 1: Demonstrate an understanding of basic findings and theories in the social sciences.
  • SS 2: Demonstrate an ability to construct and evaluate arguments using ideas, explanations, and evidence within the social sciences.

VALUES

  • V: Construct and/or evaluate responses to questions of moral and political concern (e.g., questions of moral conduct, justice, and social policy) via careful analysis and based on sufficient evidence.

WRITING

  • W 1: Analyze a variety of rhetorical situations.
  • W 2: Identify and employ a range of strategies for discovering, developing, organizing, revising, and editing.
  • W 3: Identify and apply the discourse conventions of a chosen academic discipline(s) or fields(s) (including conventions of genre, format, citation, structure, and vocabulary).