Psychology Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

The Psychology Department has previously developed a list of 15 student “competencies” that our psychology majors should display by the time they graduate. We define a competency as a skill or ability that is essential for professionals in our fields. Most of these competencies involve the student’s ability to think critically, reason logically, communicate effectively, or behave ethically. The Psychology Department’s Academic Program Assessment and Departmental Planning Report for the 2007-2008 academic year provides a complete description of the adoption processes and operational definitions for the 15 specific competencies (available upon request). These competencies are grouped into five categories as follows:
Area I: Critical Thinking
    1. Understanding theory
    2. Developing hypotheses based on a theory
    3. Designing research
    4. Evaluating empirical research articles
Area II: Acquiring and Analyzing Data and Other Information
    5. Basic computer literacy
    6. Using software to create and analyze data sets
Area III: Values and Ethics
    7. Understanding the foundations
    8. Using psychological tests
    9. Implementing psychological interventions
    10.  Conducting ethical research with human participants
Area IV: Communication Skills
    11. Writing clearly
    12. Adhering to APA publication guidelines
    13. Making oral presentations
Area V: Personal Development
    14. Summarizing growth related to education
    15. Summarizing career-related goals
In addition to the competencies, the SVSU psychology program also works to develop our majors’ general knowledge in a number of areas. We previously created 18 specific knowledge domains. In this context, a knowledge domain is an interrelated set of facts, definitions, and concepts that are fundamental to a specific sub-area of psychology. These are the knowledge domains identified by our department:
    1. Research Methods
    2. Biological Foundations of Behavior
    3. Sensation and Perception
    4. Learning
    5. Memory
    6. Language, Thought, and Cognition
    7. Intelligence and Assessment
    8. Motivation
    9. Stress, Coping, and Health
    10. Developmental Psychology
    11. Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
    12. Personality
    13. Psychological Disorders and Treatment
    14. Social Psychology
    15. Comparative Psychology
    16. Statistics
    17. Ethics
    18. Philosophy of Science and History of Psychology