General Education

Learning Goals and Competencies

General Education Student Learning Goals

Goal 1: Aesthetic Sensibility

Know and understand the variety of aesthetic frameworks that have shaped, and continue to shape, human creative arts.
Analyze and evaluate the aesthetic principles at work in literary and artistic composition, intellectual systems, and disciplinary and professional practices.
Collaborate with others in projects involving aesthetic awareness, participation, and/or analysis.

Goal 2: Culturally Diverse Perspective

Know and understand the diversity of the local and global communities, including cultural, social, political, and economic differences.
Analyze, evaluate, and assess the impact of differences in ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, native language, sexual orientation, and intellectual/disciplinary approaches.
Participate in collaborative projects requiring productive interaction with culturally diverse people, ideas, and values.

Goal 3: Ecological Perspective

Know the issues related to economic, social, and ecological sustainability.
Analyze and evaluate ecological issues locally and globally.
Participate in collaborative projects requiring awareness and/or analysis of ecological and environmental issues.

Goal 4: Effective Communication

Know the fundamental principles for effective and appropriate communication, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.
Organize thoughts and compose ideas for a variety of audiences, using a range of communication tools and techniques.
Participate in collaborative projects requiring effective communications among team members.

Goal 5: Ethical Responsibility

Know and understand the key ethical issues related to a variety of disciplines and professions.
Analyze and evaluate key ethical issues in a variety of disciplinary and professional contexts.
Participate in collaborative projects requiring ethical analysis and/or decision-making.

Goal 6: Information Literacy

Identify and locate multiple sources of information using a variety of methods.
Analyze and evaluate information within a variety of disciplinary and professional contexts.
Participate in collaborative analysis and/or application of information resources.

Goal 7: Problem-Solving Abilities

Understand the multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary nature of knowledge.
Apply critical, analytical, creative, and systems thinking in order to recognize and solve problems.
Work individually and collaboratively to recognize and solve problems.

Goal 8: Technology Literacy

Develop knowledge of modern technology.
Process information through the use of technology.
Collaborate with others using technology tools.

Goal 9: Community Awareness and Involvement

Know and understand the important and complex relationships between individuals and the communities in which they live and work.
Analyze, evaluate, and assess human needs and practices within the context of community structures and traditions.
Participate collaboratively in community service projects.

Goal 10: Personal Growth and Development

Identify personal values; acquire knowledge of ways to enhance mental and physical wellness; become knowledgeable about goal-setting strategies, including the goal of life-long learning.
Challenge and defend personal values; select wellness strategies; set personal goals and objectives, including the goal of life-long learning.
In putting values into practice, accept personal responsibility for consequences of actions; practice and refine wellness strategies; refine goals, including the goal of life-long learning, based on additional knowledge, experience, and interaction with others.

Approved by the General Education Task Force on March 31, 2004.

General Education Competencies

Working together with representatives of the Commision on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and with members of FGCU’s Office of Curriculum and Instruction and Office of Planning and Institutional Performance, the General Education Council determined that the identification of measurable general education competencies—skills sets fundamental to academic success—would help us to make the collection of robust and essential data efficient. In other words, it was an impossible task to measure all ten learning goals as part of an accreditation review. As a result, the Council examined national models and best practices for measuring General Education and concluded that four competencies—oral communication, written communication, critical thinking, and quantitative reasoning—formed the bedrock of the ten General Education Learning Goals noted above. The competencies are clear, nationally-recognized, and measurable skills that all university graduates should be able to demonstrate.

Competency 1: Quantitative Reasoning

Solve mathematical problems;
Analyze and interpret quantitative data;
Summarize data into graphic and tabular formats;
Make valid inferences from data;
Distinguish between valid and invalid quantitative analysis and reasoning.

Competency 2: Oral Communication

Select a topic, and develop it for a specific audience and purpose, with respect for diverse perspectives;
Organize and deliver a clear and effective presentation, with command of verbal and nonverbal communication;
Use active listening skills in interpersonal settings;
Participate in and lead group discussions effectively.

Competency 3: Written Communication

Employ the conventions of standard written English;
Select a topic, and develop it for a specific audience and purpose, with respect for diverse perspectives;
Select, organize, and relate ideas and information with coherence, clarity, and unity;
Develop research skills including the ability to collect, analyze, synthesize, and accurately present and document information;
Apply critical reading skills.

Competency 4: Critical Thinking

Define a problem using appropriate terminology;
Select and organize information; Identify assumptions and underlying relationships;
Synthesize information, and draw reasoned inferences;
Formulate an appropriate problem solving strategy;
Evaluate the feasibility of the strategy.

Approved by the General Education Council on November 2, 2005.