Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) are the knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes that students are expected to develop as a result of their curricular and co-curricular experiences within the college, e.g., courses, activities, student services, etc.

Students are expected to achieve the skills and knowledge necessitated by the outcomes prior to graduation, regardless of major or degree level. They build on the collection of program learning outcomes, which are in turn built upon the collection of course learning outcomes. The development of these institutional learning outcomes ensures that MCAD students graduate as creative, cultural leaders regardless of their chosen discipline.

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Outcomes and Capacities

There are seven outcomes below that are shared across all or most degree programs. Each outcome is associated with a set of skills. Some skills are listed under multiple outcomes, e.g., critique, reflection, etc.. While taxonomies help us talk about the learning on campus, the reality is much more complex. The discrete skills that comprise each of the learning outcomes are the threads that connect institutional outcomes through program learning outcomes to course learning outcomes.

Creative and Critical Thinking
Making
Context
Communication
Community Engagement
Information Literacy

Creative and Critical Thinking

Students are able to…
Synthesize research and theory towards the application of inventive and generative thinking and making, while exploring the intersection of concept and technique as discerning practitioners in their disciplines.

Demonstrated by:

  • Risk taking
  • Understanding the intersection of concept and technique
  • Exploration and discovery
  • Convergent and divergent thinking
  • Application of skill and knowledge across fields
  • Inquiry and analysis
  • Evaluation and assessment
  • Extrapolation
  • Critique

Making

Students are able to...
Thoughtfully apply research, craft, and disciplinary techniques across media.

Demonstrated by:

  • Process
  • Concept
  • Research within and through various media
  • Performative and non-material practices
  • Contemporary and/or historical technique(s)
  • Purposeful application(s)
  • Ideation and iteration
  • Develop and express individual voice
  • Promoting and selling through various venues

Context

Students are able to…
Reflect upon and discuss the position of their work and themselves in the world, informed by historic, social, cultural, economic, and ecological perspectives.

Demonstrated by:

  • Developing and expressing individual voice
  • Discussing histories, their narratives, and related artistic practices
  • Deriving socio-cultural and political-economic frameworks
  • Sustainability practices and impacts
  • Creation and curation of work
  • Professional best practices, including awareness of audience(s)
  • Understanding how their work will exist in the world

Communication

Students are able to…
Engage in effective communication, expressing and presenting ideas verbally and visually.

Demonstrated by:

  • Writing
  • Speaking
  • Visualizing
  • Presenting
  • Expression to create meaning
  • Critique
  • Listening

Community Engagement

Students are able to…
Effectively engage with people and persons in meaningful and respectful ways through research, fieldwork, and scholarship which is grounded in ethics, self-reflection, and empathy with people’s differing views and experiences.

Demonstrated by:

  • Reflection
  • Empathy and justice
  • Collaborating across groups
  • Equity building
  • Understanding the relationship between culture, art, and art education
  • Working through ethical challenges

Information Literacy

Students are able to…
Identify a question or problem to be explored, develop and execute a strategic research plan, and evaluate and use information in effective and responsible ways.

Demonstrated by:

  • Assessing the reliability, accuracy, and bias of information and sources.
  • Identifying, locating, evaluating, and using information in effective and responsible ways by navigating library and web resources.
  • Researching and analyzing research across various fields
  • Information and research as inspiration
  • Information consumption and production
  • Discovery and curiosity
  • Copyright and Fair Use regulations
  • Numeracy