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SPDC Undergraduate Learning Outcomes

The Goals of Undergraduate Education

The School offers a university education through four accredited professional baccalaureate degree granting majors: Landscape Architecture (est. 1898), Interior Design (est. 1935), Urban and Regional Planning (est. 1946), and Construction Management (est. 1948). The educational program has several goals.
 
The educational component our SPDC vision will be realized through a teaching philosophy which embodies six fundamental themes which are expressed in the activities of faculty and students both in the classroom and in the community. Undergraduate education shall seek to:
  1. Exhibit the seamless integration of our majors through a blend of the planning, design and construction processes in our courses and provide for integrative learning experiences across our majors. 
  2. Commit our faculty and students to an in depth understanding of knowledge and skills within their chosen profession including cutting edge knowledge and its use in contemporary professional practice;
  3. Foster professional ethics and values for a global society and maintain the tenets of professional accreditation;
  4. Value direct engagement with our partners in practice, in local and national communities, and the world and engage students in applied real-world learning experiences;
  5. Promote environmental, social and economic sustainableprinciples of the built and natural environment; and
  6. Nurture a creative spirit of innovation regarding the planning, design and construction processes, communication, and teamwork. 
As part of the educational process, SPDC faculty value effective and scholarly teaching, innovative teaching and learning practices, and the blend of art and science. These elements are expressed in a breadth of pedagogical approaches from lectures and laboratory to studio and applied learning. In addition, the School emphasizes both self-directed and life-long learning in recognition of the ever expanding state of knowledge.
 
Finally, the School faculty aims to create an open learning environment which fosters the imaginative engagement of people and ideas within the educational context of academic tolerance, personal integrity, global diversity and the acceptance of environmental and social change.

Learning Outcomes

In realizing these goals, undergraduate education within SPDC intends to achieve the following learning outcomes.
 
1. Seamless Integration: The seamless integration of the learning experiences among School majors, including:
  1. Awareness of the planning, design and construction disciplines and how these disciplines interconnect. 
  2. Ability to locate, organize, analyze, apply and communicate information from multiple sources and perspectives.
  3. Appreciation of multiple ways of knowing and value their contribution.  
  4. Active participants in the creation, exchange and transformation of knowledge in an integrated manner for themselves and with others for more effective problem solving, with the recognition that the world is always changing. 
  5. Integration of learning across the professional and liberal education courses within their chosen major’s curriculum. 
2. Deeply Informed: The production of highly skilled and deeply informed entry level professionals who are able to:
  1. Demonstrate a depth of disciplinary knowledge and practices in their chosen profession, how knowledge is defined and generated, and an understanding of principles, generalizations and key concepts.
  2. Demonstrate a mastery of profession specific subject matter when addressing the underlying social, political, regulatory, legal, business, and economic factors pertinent to planning, design, and construction practice.
  3. Understanding of expected professional work capabilities including problem solving, reporting their work, and the process of assigning value to knowledge and skills.
  4. Ability to interpret qualitative and quantitative products to inform the evaluation of the physical and ethical impacts of decisions on both society and the natural environment.
  5. Approach problem solving with a combination of critical thinking and scientific reasoning which exhibits an awareness of 21st century professional practice.  
  6. Demonstrate proficiency in the use of computer and emerging technologies and the mindful selection of when and how to use technology.
3. Professional: The nurturing of a sense of professionalism which can be adopted in the academic, professional and personal lives of students through:
  1. Awareness of standards, values, and responsibilities of their professions in regard to social and business ethics and the importance of professional licensure/certification.
  2. Appreciation of diversity utilizing both global and historical perspectives and explore how this diversity influences the acquisition and application of knowledge.
  3. Demonstrate the application of ethical professional behavior in classroom projects and assignments.
  4. Ability to create strategies that can be used to fulfill personal, civic, and social responsibilities.
4. Directly Engaged: Fostering an attitude of direct engagement that engenders:
  1. Demonstrate intellectual development which integrates theory and practice and the ability to know when and how to apply knowledge in real world settings.
  2. Understanding of what experts in our fields do, how they approach problem solving, how they report their work and what they value as knowledge and skills. 
  3. Ability to work independently, with their peers, with other professions and clients or stakeholders. 
  4. Develop effective listening, speaking, reading, writing and graphic communication skills and employ these skills through contemporary and experiential communicative media.
5. Sustainable: Promote environmental, social and economic sustainableprinciples of the built and natural environment through:
  1. Awareness of the content, focus and diversity of sustainable principles across planning, design and construction, and the impacts of their professional work across local and global scales. 
  2. Awareness that 21st century practice will require thinking in new and multi-disciplinary ways.
  3. Demonstrate the application of sustainable principles in their chosen profession.
6. Creative: The development of creative thinking and problem solving capabilities which include:
  1. Appreciation for aesthetics and creative activities across disciplines.
  2. Ability to interpret innovative and multi-disciplinary modes of thought.
  3. Develop the capacity to think creatively, pose purposeful questions, respond flexibly to changing circumstances, and the ability to solve novel problems. 
  4. Apply creative thinking, teamwork and communication skills to address the problems of the 21st century.