Principles of Undergraduate Learning
The Principles of Undergraduate Learning are the essential ingredients of the undergraduate educational experience at IUPUI. These principles form a conceptual framework for all students’ general education but necessarily permeate the curriculum in the major field of study as well. Other specific expectations for IUPUI’s graduates are determined by the faculty in a student’s major field of study. Together, these expectations speak to what graduates of IUPUI will know and what they will be able to do upon completion of their degree.
Core Communication and Quantitative Skills
Definition: 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 IUPUI students to succeed.
Outcomes: This set of skills is demonstrated, respectively, by the ability to: express ideas and facts to others effectively in a variety of written formats; comprehend, interpret, and analyze texts; communicate orally in one-on-one and group settings; solve problems that are quantitative in nature; and make efficient use of information resources and technology for personal and professional needs.
Critical Thinking
Definition: The ability of students to analyze carefully and logically information and ideas from multiple perspectives.
Outcomes: This skill is demonstrated by the ability of students to analyze complex issues and make informed decisions; synthesize information in order to arrive at reasoned conclusions; evaluate the logic, validity, and relevance of data; solve challenging problems; and use knowledge and understanding to generate and explore new questions.
Integration and Application of Knowledge
Definition: The ability of students to use information and concepts from studies in multiple disciplines in their intellectual, professional, and community lives.
Outcomes: This skill is demonstrated by the ability of students to apply knowledge to enhance their personal lives; meet professional standards and competencies; and further the goals of society.
Intellectual Depth, Breadth, and Adaptiveness
Definition: The ability of students to examine and organize disciplinary ways of knowing and to apply them to specific issues and problems.
Outcomes: Intellectual depth describes the demonstration of substantial knowledge and understanding of at least one field of study; intellectual breadth is demonstrated by the ability to compare and contrast approaches to knowledge in different disciplines; and adaptiveness is demonstrated by the ability to modify one’s approach to an issue or problem based on the contexts and requirements of particular situations.
Understanding Society and Culture
Definition: 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.
Outcomes: This skill is demonstrated by the ability to compare and contrast the range of diversity and universality in human history, societies, and ways of life; analyze and understand the interconnectedness of global and local concerns; and operate with civility in a complex social world.
Values and Ethics
Definition: The ability of students to make judgments with respect to individual conduct, citizenship, and aesthetics.
Outcomes: A sense of values and ethics is demonstrated by the ability of students to make informed and principled choices regarding conflicting situations in their personal and public lives and to foresee the consequences of these choices; and recognize the importance of aesthetics in their personal lives and in society.
