Learning Outcomes

Institutional Learning Goals, Objectives, Outcomes and Measures

California State University, Los Angeles students expand and deepen their interdisciplinary and general understanding of the world, enhance their critical skills, and take responsibility for a lifetime of learning, and as graduates become individuals who engage, enhance, and contribute to democratic society.

1. Knowledge: Mastery of content and processes of inquiry

CSULA graduates have a strong knowledge base in their academic major and can use powerful processes of inquiry in a range of disciplines. They engage contemporary and enduring questions with an understanding of the complexities of human cultures and the physical and natural world and are ready to put their knowledge into action to address contemporary issues.

2. Proficiency: Intellectual skills

CSULA graduates are equipped to actively participate in democratic society. They are critical thinkers who make use of quantitative and qualitative reasoning. They have the ability to find, use, evaluate and process information in order to engage in complex decision-making. They read critically, speak and write clearly and thoughtfully and communicate effectively.

3. Place and Community: Urban and global mission

CSULA graduates are engaged individuals who have contributed to the multi-lingual and multiethnic communities that constitute Los Angeles and the world of the future. They are aware of how their actions impact society and the environment, and they strive to make socially responsible decisions. They are community builders sensitive to the needs of diverse individuals and groups and committed to renewing the communities in which they live.

4. Transformation: Integrative learning

CSULA graduates integrate academic learning with life. They engage in community, professional, creative, research and scholarly projects that lead to changes in their sense of self and understanding of their worlds. Graduates integrate their knowledge, skills and experience to address complex and contemporary issues and act ethically as leaders for the 21st century.

*PDF Version

Endorsed by Academic Senate 6/1/10 and approved by the President 6/8/10

*Alignment of Strategic Plan Priorities and Institutional Learning Outcomes

The General Education program at Cal State LA is defined by a set of learning outcomes that are aligned with the Cal State LA Institutional Learning outcomes and the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) outcomes promoted by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and adopted by the California State University System.

1. Knowledge: Mastery of Content and Processes of Inquiry

Students who successfully complete GE will be able to:

demonstrate understanding of the physical and natural world.
demonstrate understanding of contemporary events within political and historical contexts.
demonstrate understanding of the diversity of cultures and communities in the United States and abroad.
demonstrate understanding of constructions, institutions, and structures of power and privilege in societies as well as strategies used to challenge existing inequalities.
demonstrate understanding of a range of disciplinary ways of knowing.
demonstrate understanding of creative expression in the context of the relevant art form and intellectual history.
demonstrate understanding of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic class

2. Proficiency: Intellectual Skills

Students who successfully complete GE will be able to:

demonstrate civic literacy that would enable them to participate effectively in a democratic society
use inquiry processes, including quantitative and qualitative reasoning and critical and creative thinking, to engage with contemporary and enduring questions.
find, use, evaluate and process information in order to engage in complex decision-making and problem solving.
read, speak and write effectively.
demonstrate an ability to work collaboratively.

3. Engagement: Local and Global Communities

Students who successfully complete GE will be able to:

demonstrate the capacity to engage meaningfully with diverse communities.
demonstrate understanding of how individuals affect society and the environment.
demonstrate the capacity to make well informed, ethical, and socially responsible decisions.
demonstrate understanding of the interconnectedness of local and global communities.
demonstrate literacy in the perspectives and needs of individuals and groups.

4. Transformation: Integrative Learning

Students who successfully complete GE will be able to:

integrate academic learning with life through project-based experiences.
integrate their knowledge, skills and experience to address complex, enduring, and emerging issues.

Graduate Students at Cal State LA will be able to:

Demonstrate mastery of major theories, concepts, approaches to inquiry and/or practices relevant to the field of study.
Demonstrate information literacy appropriate to the field of study.
Identify and evaluate or apply diverse perspectives, assumptions, and conventions within the field of study.
Critically examine the power and limitations of quantitative and/or qualitative evidence in the evaluation, construction, and communication of arguments in the field of study.
Demonstrate communicative fluency appropriate to the field of study. Communicative fluency can include multiple expressive modes.
Articulate how advancing knowledge or practice in their field of study contributes to the public good.
Frame and examine a controversy or problem through research, projects, papers, exhibits, or performances in the field of study.
Situate the field of study and its relevance within a broader context, including – but not limited to – social, intellectual, and/or applied professional contexts.
Apply appropriate ethical standards or practices within the field of study.