DQP Outcome Descriptions

 

Two types of knowledge: Specialized and Broad/Integrative

The effective application of learning must reflect the acquisition of knowledge that is both specialized and broad — deep enough to assure mastery of strategically chosen subject areas, broad enough to support inquiry into the relationships among subject areas and the integration of related realms of knowledge. This Degree Profile significantly modifies the traditional distinction between Specialized Knowledge and Broad, Integrative Knowledge. It does so by emphasizing the importance of both and the particular importance of the relationship between them through the integration of ideas, theories, methods, practices and applications.

Outcomes proposed for the associate, bachelor's and master's levels thus begin with the major field (at the associate level, this is most applicable in applied degree programs) and define levels of mastery meant to apply to all disciplines. Such outcomes point to the kinds of knowledge expected at each level, suggest ways in which students might demonstrate that knowledge, and offer grounds for developing effective means of assessment. They also reflect the reality that students gain knowledge throughout their college careers (indeed, throughout their lives) both in and beyond the classroom.

Outcomes proposed with respect to Broad, Integrative Knowledge at the associate, bachelor's and master's levels are not seen as mere additions to foundations laid in pre-collegiate schooling in such areas as English, mathematics, science, history, social sciences, languages and the arts. Rather, the transformational vision expressed through this Degree Profile stresses not only the acquisition of more complex and advanced knowledge in these key knowledge areas, but also the creative integration of such knowledge about science, culture and society with the students' specialized interests.

 

Intellectual Skills

Intellectual Skills are manifestations of well-defined cognitive capacities and operations, each of which includes applications, and all of which are directly developed through higher education. They therefore span both knowledge and Applied Learning while providing a vital foundation for further learning.

These Intellectual Skills include two critical fluencies: in communications, both oral and written, and in quantitative applications. Analytic inquiry lies at the core of intellectual skills, encompassing what we do when we think — for example, scrutinizing, managing and configuring knowledge prior to communicating findings, perspectives and interpretations. In turn, both expressive activities and the cognitive functions of analysis require students to use information resources effectively. Students need all of these Intellectual Skills to acquire and apply both general and specialized knowledge.

Yet these traditional Intellectual Skills are not sufficient qualifications for a degree. Regardless of their degree level, students certified to go forward as adaptive, creative and entrepreneurial persons must demonstrate competence in understanding and applying differing cultural, political and technological perspectives. The Degree Profile treats these competencies under the heading, "Engaging Diverse Perspectives."

 

Applied Learning

The Degree Profile includes a set of competencies that typically has not been stressed in discussions of higher education outcomes: Applied Learning. Such competencies provide a connecting theme both for all degrees and for the other three areas of learning listed here. The Applied Learning outcomes make it clear that, beyond what graduates know, what they can do with what they know is the ultimate benchmark of learning. They emphasize a commitment to analytic inquiry, active learning, real-world problem solving, and innovation — all of which are vital in today's evolving workplace and in society. Applied Learning should be viewed as a core element of the student experience.

Students demonstrate Applied Learning competencies not only through traditional assignments, but also by actively presenting evidence of mastery. They do this through performances in work settings, interpersonal communication and everyday encounters with economic, social and cultural affairs. In all of these cases, students call on their prior learning while embracing an opportunity for additional learning.

Constantly evolving social, economic and technical environments challenge individuals to continue learning and acquire new skills. By emphasizing the application of learning, higher education helps students anticipate the challenges they will encounter as their jobs and lives become more complex. Therefore, as the Degree Profile indicates, Applied Learning marks the development of student competence in addressing unscripted problems, in weighing competing perspectives and in making decisions in ambiguous contexts.

 

Civic Learning

Preparing students for responsible citizenship is a widely acknowledged purpose of higher education. Like other forms of application, civic inquiry requires the integration of knowledge and skills acquired in both the broad curriculum and in the student's specialized field. But because civic preparation also requires engagement — that is, practice in applying those skills to representative questions and problems in the wider society — it should be considered a discrete category of learning.

Higher education is experimenting with new ways to prepare students for effective democratic and global citizenship. Virtually all of these efforts use experiential or field-based learning as a means to develop civic insight, competence in public affairs and the ability to contribute to the common good. By definition, field-based learning about civic issues is likely to immerse students in public debate about contested positions.

In developing civic competence, students engage a wide variety of perspectives and evidence and form their own reasoned views on public issues. Civic Learning — which is related to but goes beyond the Intellectual Skill we have labeled "Engaging Diverse Perspectives" — also involves active engagement with others. Exposure to these different perspectives helps students develop their own responses to social, environmental and economic challenges at the local, national and global levels.

 

The Degree Qualifications Profile (beta version)

This report has so far attempted to describe the Degree Profile by explaining its goals, its structure and the factors that have prompted its development. We turn now to the proposed Degree Profile itself, directly addressing the competencies that the Profile seeks to define.

The Degree Profile is presented here in two ways: First, we describe it in narrative form; second, beginning on Page 18, we show how it might be arrayed on a grid or matrix. (Naturally, to present the Degree Profile accurately using both methods, some amount of repetition is unavoidable — even desirable.)

 

 

KNOWLEDGE

This Degree Profile offers a significant modification of the traditional distinction between the broad knowledge acquired through the entire course of one's education and that gleaned through pursuit of a specialized field of study. It emphasizes the integration of ideas, methods, practice and theory across broad and specialized knowledge realms.

 

Specialized Knowledge

Sooner or later, most of those who receive degrees pursue a specialized area of study. Each discipline defines specific requirements and may articulate field-dependent outcomes. The parameters for most professional and occupationally oriented fields may also be spelled out by specialized accrediting associations and licensure bodies. But across all fields that we call "majors" lie common learning outcomes involving terminology, theory, methods, tools, literature, complex problems or applications, and cognizance of the limits of the field. These are addressed in the ascending set of illustrative challenges presented below.

At the associate level (if and only if a degree award of A.A.S., A.F.A., etc.; see Broad Integrative Knowl- edge for A.A., A.S. and A.G.S. recipients), the student

• Describes the scope and principal features of his/her field of study, citing at least some of its core theories and practices, and offers a similar explication of at least one related field.
• Illustrates contemporary terminology used in the field.
• Generates substantially error-free products, reconstructions, data, etc. or juried exhibits or performances as appropriate to the field.

At the bachelor's level, the student

• Defines and explains the boundaries and major sub-fields, styles, and/or practices of the field.
• Defines and properly uses the principal specialized terms used in the field, both historical and contemporaneous.
• Demonstrates fluency in the use of tools, technologies and methods common to the field.
• Evaluates, clarifies and frames a complex question or challenge, using perspectives and scholarship drawn from the student's major field and at least one other field.
• Constructs a project related to a familiar but complex problem in his/her field of study by independently assembling, arranging and reformulating ideas, concepts, designs and/or techniques.
• Constructs a summative project, paper, performance or practice-based performance that draws on current research, scholarship and/or techniques in the field.

At the master's level, the student

• Elucidates the major theories, research methods and approaches to inquiry and/or schools of practice in his or her field; articulates their sources; and illustrates both their applications and their relationships to allied fields.
• Assesses the contributions of major figures (and/or organizations, if applicable) in his or her field, describes the major methodologies and/or practices in his or her field; and implements at least two of them through projects, papers, exhibits or performances.
• Articulates a full range of challenges involved in practicing the field; elucidates the leading edges of the field; and delineates the current limits of theory, knowledge and/or practice in the field by independently initiating, assembling, arranging and reformulating ideas, concepts, designs and/or techniques in carrying out a project directed at a challenge in his or her field that lies outside conventional boundaries.

 

Broad, Integrative Knowledge

The foundations for general knowledge are laid in pre-collegiate education and should be carried to a higher level in colleges so that graduates acquire the foundation for participation in work, life and citizenship both at home and in the world. Broad higher learning should involve students in the practices of core fields ranging from science and the social sciences through the humanities and arts, and in developing global, cultural and democratic perspectives. While many institutions of higher education relegate general knowledge to the first two years of undergraduate work, this Degree Profile takes the position that broad learning should be integrated and furthered at all degree levels, and should provide a cumulative context for students' specialized studies.

At the associate level, for each of the core areas studied, the student

• Describes how existing knowledge or practice is advanced, tested and revised.
• Describes and examines a range of perspectives on key debates and their significance both within the field and in society.
• Illustrates core concepts of the field while executing analytical, practical or creative tasks.
• Selects and applies recognized methods of the field in interpreting characteristic discipline-based problems.
• Assembles evidence relevant to characteristic problems in the field, describes the significance of the evidence, and uses the evidence in analysis of these problems.
• Describes the ways in which at least two disciplines define, address and interpret the importance of a contemporary challenge or problem in science, the arts, society, human services, economic life or technology.

At the bachelor's level, the student

• Frames a complex scientific, social, technological, economic or aesthetic challenge or problem from the perspectives and literature of at least two academic fields, and proposes a "best approach" to the question or challenge using evidence from those fields.
• Produces, independently or collaboratively, an investigative, creative or practical work that draws on specific theories, tools and methods from at least two academic fields.
• Explains a contemporary or recurring challenge or problem in science, the arts, society, human services, economic life or technology from the perspective of at least two academic fields, explains how the methods of inquiry and/or research in those disciplines can be brought to bear in addressing the challenge, judges the likelihood that the combination of disciplinary perspectives and methods would contribute to the resolution of the challenge, and justifies the importance of the challenge in a social or global context.

At the master's level, the student

• Articulates how his or her own field has developed in relation to other major domains of inquiry and/or practice.
• Designs and executes an applied, investigative or creative work that draws on the perspectives and/or methods of other fields, and assesses the resulting gains and/or difficulties of including fields other than his or her own.
• Articulates and defends the significance and implications of his or her own specialized work in terms of challenges, trends and/or developments in a social or global context.