General Education Learning Goals and Outcomes, Southern New Hampshire University

This resource was developed as part of the AHA’s Tuning project.

Institution: Southern New Hampshire University
Location: Hooksett, NH
Year: 2014

 

The General Education program at Southern New Hampshire University provides our students with the knowledge, skills, and cultural awareness necessary to succeed in their major field of study and become leaders in their chosen professions and communities. Students who complete the General Education program will also acquire the tools to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners who are able to make informed moral and ethical decisions.

 

Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World

A graduate of SNHU is expected to gain awareness and understanding of human cultures and the physical and natural world through study in Fine Arts and Humanities; Social and Behavioral Sciences; and Science, Technology, and Mathematics.

 

Fine Arts and Humanities

 Students will be able to:

• Analyze texts as well as visual and performing arts in the context of cultural and social
• Understand and navigate various local, national, and global
• Appreciate the aesthetic value and meaning of the

Social and Behavioral Sciences

 Students will be able to:

• Understand the systematic study of social relations, human experiences, and patterns of
• Use concepts and methods used by social or behavioral scientists to investigate, analyze, or predict behavior.
• Analyze the influences of social, cultural, or political institutions on individuals and
• Recognize the role of social and behavioral sciences in personal and societal decision-­‐making.

Science, Technology, and Mathematics

 Students will be able to:

• Perform scientific inquiry for personal and societal
• Reason and solve quantitative and qualitative
• Create and support arguments with quantitative
• Demonstrate information

Communication

A graduate of SNHU is expected to use effective written, verbal, and non-­‐verbal communication for a variety of situations, genres, purposes, and audiences.

Students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an awareness of audience, purpose and genre for oral and written
• Demonstrate oral presentation skills, including the use of appropriate verbal and nonverbal
• Convey information—text, data, and images—purposefully and
• Follow the conventions of Standard English including grammar, spelling, punctuation and mechanics.
• Reference information ethically and

Critical and Creative Thinking

A graduate of SNHU is expected to think critically and creatively by locating, assessing, and analyzing relevant information using quantitative and qualitative reasoning.

Students will be able to:

• Locate relevant information using multiple modes of
• Interpret the motivations, observations, experiences, and arguments of
• Analyze evidence using deductive and inductive
• Explore alternate, divergent, or contradictory solutions in addressing problems and
• Synthesize ideas or solutions into a coherent

Collaboration

A graduate of SNHU is expected to demonstrate the ability to learn and work collaboratively with individuals of diverse cultures and perspectives in order to reach common goals.

Students will be able to:

• Recognize the value of multiple perspectives in order to work in complex and diverse environments.
• Interact and contribute as a team member to meet stated
• Foster a constructive team climate and successfully resolve team

Personal and Social Responsibility

A graduate of SNHU is expected to assess and accept the consequences of one’s actions, be an informed and responsible citizen, and affect positive changed in the world.

Students will be able to:

• Articulate their personal values and core
• Identify and evaluate ethical issues and their
• Engage in meaningful civic
• Analyze the connection between academic study and civic
• Complete required work professionally and on

Integration, Application, and Reflection

A graduate of SNHU is expected to integrate general and discipline-based knowledge, apply this knowledge in and beyond the classroom, and reflect upon these experiences.

Students will be able to:

• Reference prior learning to develop multiple perspectives on educational or life
• Illustrate connections between knowledge and
• Identify and develop connections across disciplines and
• Adapt and apply knowledge, skills, or abilities to novel
• Demonstrate a developing sense of self as a learner.