Undergraduate Programs
Student Learning Outcomes
Psychology
Core Communication and Quantitative Skills
The ability of students to write, read, speak, and listen, perform quantitative analysis, and use information resources and technology - the foundation skills necessary for all IU Columbus students to succeed.
Language Skills
- Demonstrate effective, situation-appropriate writing and speaking skills.
- Comprehend, interpret, and analyze college-level sources of information and vocabulary.
- Understand and correctly use discipline-specific terminology in psychology.
Quantitative Skills
- Read, comprehend, and critique research methods in original research articles.
- Use scientific research methods including design, data analysis, and interpretation to solve problems related to issues in psychology.
- Identify and propose solutions for problems using quantitative tools and reasoning.
- Interpret and perform statistical analyses for basic research designs and understand distinctions between and appropriate use of correlational and experimental findings.
Information Resources Skills
- Perform literature searches effectively using a variety of sources and techniques.
- Utilize computers and other technologies for many purposes, including professional communication of information and data management.
Critical Thinking
The ability of students to analyze carefully and logically information and ideas from multiple perspectives.
- Understand, remember, apply, analyze, evaluate, create, and synthesize knowledge, procedures, processes, or products.
- Use these skills to solve problems, produce reasoned choices, make informed decisions, and generate new questions.
- Design, carry out, and defend research projects.
Integration and Application of Knowledge
The ability of students to use information and concepts from studies in multiple disciplines in their intellectual, professional, and community lives.
- Develop self-awareness by identifying personal strengths, weaknesses, values, and goals.
- Develop clear and realistic goals and expectations for a career in psychology or related field.
- Apply psychological knowledge to enhance their personal lives and the lives of others.
- Further the goals of society and pursue them at a local level.
- Understand and abide by the ethics of psychology.
Intellectual Depth, Breadth, and Adaptiveness
The ability of students to examine and organize disciplinary ways of knowing and to apply them to specific issues and problems.
- Remember and understand the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and empirical findings in psychology.
- Be able to distinguish between approaches to knowledge in psychology and other fields.
- Be able to modify approaches based on context or situational demands.
Understanding Society and Culture
The ability of students to recognize their own cultural traditions and to understand and appreciate the diversity of the human experience, both within the United States and internationally.
- Recognize, understand, and respect the similarities and differences that exist between individuals, societies, and cultures on values, behaviors, and thought processes.
- Understand the influence of culture and society on individuals’ cognition and behavior.
- Analyze and understand the interconnectedness of local and global communities.
- Operate with civility, especially toward those who differ from oneself.
- Work effectively, respectfully, and collaboratively with others with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
Values and Ethics
The ability of students to make judgments with respect to individual conduct, citizenship, and aesthetics.
- Make informed and principled choices in their personal and public lives and be aware of the consequences of these choices.
- Recognize the importance of aesthetics in their personal lives and to society.
- Understand ethical principles within diverse cultural, social, environmental, and personal settings.
- Understand and abide by ethical standards of the professional organization of the chosen profession (e.g., APA for clinicians and psychologists, Belmont Report for researchers).
