Core Questions, Core Goals, Learning Outcomes

One purpose of the core questions is to provide a common thread for University of Portland students to use to link information from the various courses in their program of studies, regardless of the chosen major. The university core encourages students to examine and answer these questions through the lenses of the various core disciplines. The ultimate goal of using these different lenses is to help students understand and appreciate why the core questions are important, why they have been selected as our standard, and why we place so much emphasis on them.

Tying together the core questions, goals, and learning outcomes will also provide us an opportunity to assess the mastery of course content, and not just embedded elements. Each discipline teaching a core course created learning outcomes based upon the linkage of a core question and a core goal. These outcomes will be assessed in a three year cycle.

List of Learning Outcomes

3 Fine Arts — Fulfilled by FA 207, 307, or 310

FA 207—Introduction to the Fine Arts addresses Core Question 4 ("What is the role of beauty, imagination and feeling in Life?") and connects to Core Goal IV ("Critically examine the ideas and traditions of Western Civilization") through the course learning objective, "To be able to formulate and articulate personal responses (both written and verbal) to a variety of works of art."

3 History — Fulfilled by any history course up to and including 300 level

All 200- and 300-level history courses (with the exception of HST 300) address Core Question 3 ("How do relationships and communities function? What is the value of difference?") and are linked to Core Goal V ("Learn to live and contribute in a diverse society and interdependent world").

3 Literature — Fulfilled by ENG 112 only

ENG 112 is linked to Core Question 4 ("What is the role of beauty, imagination, and feeling in life?") and Core Goal I ("Develop the foundational knowledge and skills necessary for informed inquiry, decision making, and communication"). The learning outcome is "The student will be able to appreciate and analyze works of imaginative literature as an alternative way of understanding the universe and the human condition beyond what is available in the sciences and social sciences." As well, "students will progress towards producing clear argumentative writing."

3 Mathematics — Fulfilled by any mathematics course above MTH 120

Core mathematics courses are linked to Core Question 2 ("How does the world work? How could the world work better?") and Core Goal I ("Develop the foundational knowledge and skills necessary for informed inquiry, decision making, and communication"). The learning outcome is "Students will be able to interpret, evaluate, and draw inferences from data and other quantitative information."

6 Philosophy — Fulfilled only by PHL 150 and PHL 220

PHL 150 is linked to Core Question 1 ("Who am I? Who am I becoming? Why am I here?") and Core Goal IV ("Critically examine the ideas and traditions of Western Civilization"). The learning outcomes are "The student will be able to 1) Critically read and examine significant texts and art of western civilization 2) Write critically about significant texts and art of western civilization."

PHL 220 is linked to Core Question 6 ("What is a good life? What can we do about injustice and suffering?") and Core Goal II ("Develop the knowledge and stills for acting ethically in everyday life"). The learning outcomes are "The student will be able to 1) Recognize the limits of relativism and absolutism, 2) Recognize the ethical dimensions of novel problems and situations, 3) Frame an ethical problem, 4) Analyze a problem or situation using various ethical theories, 5) Come to a tentative judgment about an ethical problem s/he has framed and analyzed, 6) Distinguish ethics from law." 

6 Science — Fulfilled by any 100- or 200-level BIO, ENV, CHM, PHY, or SCI from two different clusters or courses in a science major (consult programs for options)

All core science courses are linked to Core Question 2 ("How does the world work? How could the world work better?") and Core Goal I ("Develop the foundational knowledge and skills necessary for informed inquiry, decision making, and communication"). The learning outcome is "The ability for students to interpret sources of information that report scientific findings for a general audience, and specifically to determine what is the source of this information, if it is a reliable source, and how they could follow up with additional research on a subject."

6 Social Sciences — 2 disciplines fulfilled from among SOC 101, PSY 101, ECN 120, ECN 121 (with written permission of instructor), POL 200, POL 203, POL 205, SW 205, CST 225

SOC 101 is linked to Core Question 3 ("How do relationships and communities function? What is the value of difference?") and Core Goal V ("Learn to live and contribute in a diverse society and interdependent world"). The learning outcome is "The student will be able to articulate how culture frames an individual’s worldview and describe various dimensions of social and cultural diversity in American society, including class, race, ethnicity, and gender.”

PSY 101 addresses Core Question 3 ("How do relationships and communities function? What is the value of difference?") and Core Goal V ("Learn to live and contribute in a diverse society and interdependent world") by attending to the embedded element Diversity and Difference. As general psychology course performance indicators related to this embedded element, students will be able to 1) Interpret ways that psychological and social factors vary or are similar across diverse groups of people; 2) Explain and analyze the ways that key concepts from psychology such as socialization, identity, and heritability contribute to differences among individuals and groups.

POL 200, POL 203, and POL 205 are linked to Core Question 3 ("How do relationships and communities function? What is the value of difference?") and Core Goal V ("Learn to live in a diverse society and interdependent world"). The learning outcome is "Students will be able to isolate and identify key variables that contribute to difference in political communities" and/or "Students will be able to explain and compare the impact of key variables contributing to diversity on political behavior, political institutions, and governmental policies."

ECN 120 helps students link core question 3 (How do relationships and communities function? What is the value of difference?) and core goal V (Learn to live and contribute in a diverse society and interdependent world). The learning outcomes are: the students will be able to 1) demonstrate an ability to explain and analyze the determinants of national output, the level of employment, and the rate of inflation and 2) demonstrate an ability to explain and analyze fiscal, monetary, and growth policies deployed to improve economic performance. 

SW 205 is linked to Core Question 3 ("How do relationships and communities function? What is the value of difference?") and Core Goal V ("Learn to live and contribute in a diverse society and interdependent world"). The learning outcome is "The student will be able to articulate how privilege and oppression operates in society and describe how social systems have shaped the experiences of diverse groups."

CST 225 is linked to Core Question 3 ("How do relationships and communities function? What is the value of difference?") and Core Goal V ("Learn to live and contribute in a diverse society and interdependent world"). As a social science course, CST 225 also is responsible for the Diversity and Difference core skill. In light of this, the learning outcome is "Students will be able to develop perspective-taking abilities as a means of building awareness of and appreciation for living within a diverse society."

9 Theology — Lower-division requirements fulfilled only by THE 105 and THE 205. Upper-division THE course may be a Theological Perspectives class that can be used to satisfy the distribution requirements of both theology and a companion subject

Theology core courses link Core Questions 1 and 5 ("Who am I? Who am I becoming? Why am I here?" and "Who or what is God? How can one relate to God?") to Core Goal III ("Examine faith, its place in one’s life, and in the lives of others"). The two learning outcomes are "The student will be able to 1) Demonstrate an ability to describe, explain, and analyze various aspects and issues associated with the Christian understanding of the human person; 2) Demonstrate an ability to describe, explain, and analyze various aspects and issues associated with the Christian understanding of God."