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ULOs and Student Benefits

Engage in lifelong learning. "I plan to go to graduate school - that's more learning...I want to learn why more research is relevant to what I'm doing."

How do YOU benefit by learning the ULOs at Cal Poly?

  • Achievement of personal, academic, and professional growth
  • Superior abilities and transferable skills that satisfy employers' needs
  • Capabilities and critical skills to address challenging issues and decisions throughout your lives
  • Ability to understand the differences and similarities among people
  • Developed capacity to bring people together to solve problems in the workplace or in the community
  • Understanding of effective communication skills needed in a technological society

  • Empowerment for leadership in the 21st century

How does YOUR student work relate to the ULOs?

In several focus groups held during 2008-09, Cal Poly students were asked how their work related to the University Learning Objectives.
Below are quotes from students who demonstrated their knowledge of the ULOs:

THINK CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY

  • "I created a contemporary advertising book for one of my advertising classes.
    I chose this piece because it showed my creativity and how to critically think in terms of future career aspirations."
  • "I was working on a portfolio, which is a year long process, and this consisted of the application of this University Learning Objective. It's all about being creative and making the portfolio."
  • "I was doing the Fran Kirk experiment in one my classes and I created a program that I interpreted and smoothed out the data. I chose this piece of work because I was so proud of it . I showed it off to all my physics friends."


COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY .....WORK PRODUCTIVELY AS INDIVIDUALS AND IN GROUPS

  • "I take four studio classes, and I work with groups in three classes."

  • "I have labs in chemistry in groups, but I do the written work myself."

  • "One of my teachers told me something I really believe in when it comes to working in groups and communicating effectively. She said if you get in a group where one person doesn't really know what he/she is doing, the best thing is to make them do the typing because that way they process the information being spoken to them and they will learn it."

USE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO MAKE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY

  • "As a physicist (my future aspiration) we need to share our information about what is happening and what to be careful of. That is how I will use the knowledge and skills that I've learned to contribute positively."
  • "I want to be part of a non-profit organization when I graduate from Cal Poly. It would be really cool to live in and help Shanty Towns. I want to use my knowledge and skills to help out in third world countries."
  • "I want to be a Public Relations person. Right now, I am doing PR for my sorority and I got them in the Tribune. Our sorority raised $6,000.00 for The Make A Wish Foundation. My sorority used knowledge and skills with fund-raising strategies to raise money through a casino night."
  • "In one of my computer science classes, we created online games that got published on a web site. Being able to use my knowledge and skills in order to create a game and then get it published was huge."

MAKE REASONED DECISIONS BASED ON AN UNDERSTANDING OF ETHICS, A RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY, AND AN AWARENESS OF ISSUES RELATED TO SUSTAINABILITY

  • "Cal Poly's motto is sustainability and we have to include everybody. That's what Cal Poly is; that's what I learn in my City and Regional planning classes...more of an understanding and respect for diversity and being aware of sustainability issues."
  • "I have already taken two ethics classes at Cal Poly. They offer a lot of them there, but it's how you personally apply them that counts. They teach you, but when you get to the real work you will apply it."
  • "My classes teach me to make better decisions in regard to ethics and sustainability, especially in labs. We work on processes that are less wasteful and less polluting to the environment."

ENGAGE IN LIFELONG LEARNING

  • "I engage in lifelong learning by using new and improved programs like Java. Different layers get added to the industry so often; just like a doctor has to learn new techniques in order to do his surgeries better, we have to learn new programs."
  • "We're all organic things and its rooted in us that we push to figure things out, even though the rules and regulations change."
  • "I plan to go to graduate school - that's more learning...I want to learn why more research is relevant to what I'm doing."