2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog [Archived]

Political Science Learning Outcomes


Outcome 1: Oral Communication—Effective oral communication of ideas and views on political issues
1.1 Engage in civil discussions: Students will be able to effectively engage in disciplinarily informed civil discussions on complex, contentious topics.
 
Foundational Studies 10: Express themselves effective, professionally, and persuasively both orally and in writing.
1.2 Effective oral presentations: Students will be able to deliver effective oral presentations, either as part of a group or individually, and either using PowerPoint or similar visual aids or not using such aids.
 
Foundational Studies 10: Express themselves effective, professionally, and persuasively both orally and in writing.
Outcome 2: Effective Written Communication— Effective written communication of ideas and views on political issues, both in shorter essays and longer research or policy analysis papers.
2.1 Persuasive essay: Students will develop the skill of writing a persuasive argument supported by relevant evidence. Included here are the presentation of a clear argument, logical flow of the argument, good organizational structure to the whole essay, and comprehension of primary documents or data.
 
Foundational Studies 10: Express themselves effective, professionally, and persuasively both orally and in writing.
2.2 Papers: Students will develop the ability to write essays/papers with minimal grammatical and typographical errors. This may be done through revisions or through learning careful proofreading.
 
Foundational Studies 10: Express themselves effective, professionally, and persuasively both orally and in writing.
2.3 Appropriate citation methods for papers: Students will learn appropriate citation methods for papers in Political Science. Different faculty may prefer different citation methods; the important objective is that students learn how to properly cite in their written work.
 
Foundational Studies 10: Express themselves effective, professionally, and persuasively both orally and in writing.
2.4 Different styles of papers in Political Science: Students will develop a facility with different styles of papers in Political Science, including but not limited to analytical, persuasive, and research papers.
 
Foundational Studies 10: Express themselves effective, professionally, and persuasively both orally and in writing.
Outcome 3: Critical Thinking and Analysis—Students will demonstrate the ability to not only articulate political theories and concepts, but to apply these ideas to “real world” scenarios for evaluative purposes.
3.1 Comparing and contrasting different perspectives: Comparing and contrasting different perspectives on politics and policy issues.
3.2 Identifying the strengths/weaknesses of policies: Identifying the strengths/weaknesses of policies or political practices/behaviors.
3.3 Drawing connections between scholarly works: Drawing connections between scholarly works addressing different facets of political issues.
 
Foundational Studies 2: Critically evaluate the ideas of others.
3.4 Applying theory to current political events and situations: Applying theory from scholarly books/articles to current political events and situations.
3.5 Analyze specific political issues or events: Identifying appropriate social science methods to analyze specific political issues or events.
Outcome 4: Qualitative and Quantitative Research Skills
4.1 Understand the importance of theory in guiding research: Students will understand the importance of theory in guiding research by developing well-thought-out explanations of expected findings.
4.2 Students will be expected to apply an appropriate methodology to their research projects: Students will be introduced to a variety of ways of analyzing information, including case study, statistical analysis, and qualitative analysis. Students will also be expected to apply an appropriate methodology to their research projects.
4.3 Students will understand the basic terms associated with empirical research: Students will understand the basic terms associated with empirical research (e.g., independent and dependent variables, unit of analysis, hypothesis) and be able to use these terms appropriately.
4.4 Students will understand the importance of prior research: Students will understand the importance of prior research for informing their own project and will demonstrate an understanding of existing Political Science literature relevant to their research projects.
4.5 Students will understand the importance of organizing and presenting their research findings: Students will understand the importance of organizing and presenting their research findings in tables, text, or other appropriate formats. The presentation of the research should be understandable to non–specialists.
Outcome 5: Political Science Content Knowledge
5.1 American political system: Demonstrate an understanding of the institutions and processes of politics in the American political system.
5.2 Comparative politics: Demonstrate an understanding of the institutions and processes of politics in the political systems of other countries and be able to compare them.
5.3 International politics: Demonstrate an understanding of the institutions and processes of politics in the international political system.
5.4 Intellectual frameworks, concepts, and theories in political science: Demonstrate an understanding of classic and contemporary intellectual frameworks, concepts, and theories in political science.