CORE Goals and Outcomes

The foundational and formative aims of the Core are expressed in a set of goals and outcomes developed and assessed in courses throughout the Core curriculum: 

Goal 1: To help students develop the foundational skills and competencies of written and oral communication, quantitative reasoning, critical inquiry and analysis, and technological competency and information literacy. In pursuit of this goal, King’s has established the following outcomes for students: 

With respect to written communication: 

1. Support a significant central idea with thoughtfully chosen evidence and details appropriate to the purpose and genre;  

2. Demonstrate organization and cohesion in writing; 

3. Incorporate effectively and document properly sources that are reliable, accurate, and relevant; and 

4. Demonstrate facility with the English language, including conventions, sentence structure, and diction.  

With respect to oral communication: 

1. Engage in discussion to acquire, develop, and challenge ideas, even in the face of disagreement;  

2. Generate and develop clear main, subsidiary, and supporting ideas for presentations;  

3. Structure and phrase effective introductory, transitional, and concluding speech segments;  

4. Select and execute language that is correct, concise, concrete, colorful, and clear; and 

5. Effectively deliver messages from appropriate performance documents.  

With respect to quantitative reasoning: 

1. Convert information into various mathematical forms;  

2. Perform calculations successfully;  

3. Explain information presented in mathematical forms; and 

4. Analyze a problem’s framework, including generalizations of the problem and how modifying the problem’s assumptions will affect conclusions that can be drawn from the problem.  

With respect to critical inquiry and analysis: 

1. Identify the tone, purpose, audience, and main ideas of a text and interpret its meaning through close analysis;  

2. Critically evaluate arguments;  

3. Synthesize materials to construct and express ideas, formulate positions, and solve problems; and 

4. Formulate a research question or problem. 

With respect to technological competency and information literacy: 

1. Define and articulate the extent and type of information and sources needed;  

2. Use appropriate technologies to access the needed information effectively;  

3. Interpret and evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base; and 

4. Use information and information technologies ethically, legally, and effectively  

Goal 2: To lead students to become conversant with the Catholic intellectual tradition. In pursuit of this goal, King’s has established the following outcomes: 

1. Identify and explore ideas of faith, reason, and meaning;  

2. Critically analyze some of the Catholic intellectual tradition’s major texts, themes, concepts, figures, and histories;  

3. Engage in interfaith dialogue; and 

4. Construct and defend an argument on wisdom, faith, or the good life.  

Goal 3: To enable students to recognize, formulate, and address matters of moral significance and concern. In pursuit of this goal, King’s has established the following outcomes: 

1. Demonstrate a basic knowledge of philosophical and Christian ethics;  

2. Analyze moral arguments about matters of contemporary and perennial importance in view of differing moral perspectives locally and across cultures; 

3. Apply fundamental principles, such as those of the Catholic social justice tradition, to important economic, social, and political issues; 

4. Construct, evaluate, and defend moral arguments about matters of contemporary and perennial importance; and 

5. Develop self-awareness about core moral convictions and a capacity for self-criticism and scrutiny.  

Goal 4: To cultivate students’ capacity to appreciate, analyze, and engage the human experience in its many creative forms. In pursuit of this goal, King’s has established the following outcomes: 

1. Identify and analyze the formal and thematic features of a variety of artistic and literary works;  

2. Situate an artistic or literary work in a larger context; and  

3. Demonstrate creative capacities through inventing, designing, writing, or performing. 

Goal 5: To advance our students’ scientific reasoning and literacy. In pursuit of this goal, King’s has established the following outcomes: 

1. Demonstrate familiarity with theories and research methods in the natural and social sciences, including qualitative and quantitative interpretations and analyses;  

2. Critically assess sources and claims to test their validity from a scientific and quantitative perspective;  

3. Evaluate the strengths and limits of the scientific method and articulate the relationship between science and other ways of seeking knowledge;  

4. Design an experiment with a sound hypothesis or research question;  

5. Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of ethically responsible research; and  

6. Demonstrate knowledge of discoveries and trends in the natural and social sciences.  

Goal 6: To prepare and dispose our students to be responsible citizens in our increasingly interdependent world. In pursuit of this goal, King’s has established the following outcomes: 

1. Recognize the causes and consequences of historical events;  

2. Recognize the historical context for contemporary issues;  

3. Critically assess societal structures and institutions;  

4. Demonstrate knowledge of the interrelatedness of local and global issues;   

5. Engage critically with one’s own and other cultures; and