Health Sciences Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes for the Health Sciences

The Health Science program focuses on students who wish to pursue a career in the healthcare field. It emphasizes science as a way of knowing and the importance of science in supporting clinical health outcomes. It also provides preparation for admittance to health professional programs. The Health Science Program Learning Outcomes are guided by the motto that the best way to “learn science is by doing science,” so we prioritize students conducting experiments in a wide array of teaching labs to apply the principles they learn in lecture, while providing opportunities for students to gain clinical experience outside the classroom. We also offer a wide array of on-campus research opportunities and local, off-campus clinical internships that can help prepare students for careers in healthcare while also making them more competitive for admission to health professional programs.

Students who successfully complete the Health Science program are assessed in three ways during the course of their program: 1) a 2.0 GPA or higher in their major required courses; 2) meeting expectations in their Capstone paper; and 3) successful performance on presentations in their Senior Capstone course.

Learning Outcomes

There are seven core learning outcomes broken into three themes. These learning outcomes are embedded in courses, research opportunities, internships, and assessments throughout each Health Science program.

Science as a Way of Knowing

Scientific investigations require methodical and careful planning. Students are regularly charged with obtaining expertise in a given field and designing tests of hypotheses to reinforce the theory they learn in the classroom. Our graduates

1. Frame testable hypotheses and predictions.
   With expertise based on lecture material and prior investigations, students are expected to hypothesize the answers to a testable question. Such hypotheses should provide the basis for detailed predictions of expected results.
2. Design and execute investigations and perform analyses that address biomedical and biopsychosocial questions or problems.

While predictions are an important first step, students should be able to correctly conduct their proposed experiments using available materials and methods in which they are trained. Once completed, they need to be able to analyze and interpret their results in a biomedical and biopsychosocial context.

Critical Analysis and Communication

Our graduates

1. Communicate results of scientific investigations effectively, both orally and in writing.
   No matter which careers our students pursue, they are able to communicate in a professional manner to diverse audiences. Thus, we require our student to present their scientific findings (e.g., from experimental or library research) in written and oral forms.
2. Locate and understand appropriate literature in the biomedical sciences.
   In this era of frequent misinformation, careful reading from a skeptical perspective is critical to becoming an informed citizen. To this end, we teach our students how to effectively search scientific databases for the literature appropriate to the question they are investigating. We require our students to become proficient with challenging literature in the biomedical sciences initially outside their expertise by thoroughly reading each section and applying knowledge from their courses.
3. Evaluate scientific arguments critically.
   As students build an understanding of the field, they are expected to compare and critique competing scientific ideas. Once completed, they must effectively argue for their own opinion based on the literature and/or their own data.

Working Knowledge

Our graduates

1. Demonstrate knowledge of major career paths in medicine.
   Students entering the Health Science major often have limited understanding of the clinical health career opportunities available to them. We require our students to explore all relevant options, determine their best path, and work with their advisors to move forward with their goals.
2. Understand impacts on health from various levels of biological organization, particularly cellular/molecular biology, organismal biology, and population biology.

Since Health Science involves the study of complex, adaptive systems that are subject to natural selective pressures, we require our students to understand these important themes. Further, we expect them to comprehend these tenets across all the levels of structure/function that are expressed in living organisms.