Learning Outcomes

Courses and programs at Lourdes College are designed to promote the following Learning Outcomes:

1. Communication Competence - Graduates can read, write, speak, and listen for a variety of purposes and audiences. They can use these skills to acquire, synthesize, summarize, develop, and convey ideas and information.

  • They can write personal response/reflection papers, analytical essays, and persuasive essays.
  • They can write a scholarly documented research paper that synthesizes their own ideas with ideas and information from sources.
  • They can speak effectively in front of a group or as a part of a group.
  • They can demonstrate effective listening skills through their ability to analyze and interpret verbal messages for content, context, and affect, as well as retain messages acquired from the listening process.

2. Critical Thinking Ability - Graduates can analyze issues and theories rationally, logically, and coherently using both qualitative and quantitative information.

  • They can demonstrate an explicit understanding of principles of critical thought.
  • They can demonstrate the ability to reflect on issues and/or theories systematically.

3. Aesthetic Awareness - Graduates can articulate the role of the arts in culture.

  • They can explain the importance of a certain period or development in art, music, or literature.
  • They can respond to one or more works of art, music, or literature with awareness of the elements of the medium or have demonstrated their awareness in the creation of an original work or a public performance.

4. Ethical Foundations - Graduates can examine life experiences and identify values which enhance life, leading to the development of well-founded moral principles, the ability to make ethical decisions, and a commitment to community service.

  • They can examine their own experiences and those of the larger community to discover values and formulate moral principles consonant with the Gospel.
  • They can evaluate an ethical problem and present a solution in a systematic way.
  • They recognize the significance and importance of community service.
  • They recognize their responsibility toward the environment.

5. Historical Consciousness - Graduates can discuss ideas and events of the past with clarity, insight, and awareness of historical context.

  • They can demonstrate awareness and understanding of the human past.
  • They can examine and interpret primary materials of a civilization, geographic region, or specific period in history.
  • They can think and write analytically and critically using historical data.

6. Cultural Awareness - Graduates exhibit an integrated knowledge of human culture and its diversity.

  • They have systematically investigated a culture or cultures other than their own.
  • They are aware of cultural diversity and its implications.

7. Scientific Literacy - Graduates can demonstrate an understanding of natural and behavioral scientific principles, technology, and methods.

  • They can distinguish between the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of natural or behavioral phenomena.
  • They can apply scientific principles and methods to prove or disprove hypotheses.
  • They can use theories to explain past observations and to predict answers to new questions.
  • They can understand the uses of scientific technology and their implications.

8. Religious Perspective - Graduates exhibit an empathetic recognition of the religious dimension of human existence and can demonstrate an understanding of various historic expressions of religious belief.

  • They have a personal understanding of the meaning of religious belief in daily life and as a part of culture.
  • They can demonstrate both sensitivity to various expressions of religious belief in diverse cultures, and a critical understanding of their meaning.

9. Quantitative Competence - Graduates can solve quantitative problems by utilizing mathematical skills and current technology.

  • They can formulate specific questions from vague problems, select effective problem-solving strategies, and know which mathematical operations are appropriate in particular contexts.
  • They can perform mental calculations and estimates with proficiency, and decide when an exact answer is needed and when an estimate is more appropriate.
  • They can use a calculator correctly, confidently, and appropriately and/or use computer software for mathematical tasks.
  • They can use tables, graphs, spreadsheets and statistical techniques to organize, interpret and present numerical information.
  • They can judge the validity of quantitative results presented by others.

10. Personal Wellness Responsibility - Graduates can recognize the value of personal wellness and have acquired principles and skills appropriate for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

  • They can describe the importance of health and wellness in their lives.
  • They can examine their own lives and experiences to see the value(s) they place on health and wellness.
  • They are aware of the importance of those behaviors (e.g., physical activity, nutrition, emotional and social outlets, environmental and spiritual foundations, etc.) that encourage well-being.
  • They can formulate specific objectives for themselves to maintain a life of activity and healthy living.