Middlebury College
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

1. Think critically, creatively, and independently.
2. Read, listen, and observe discerningly.
3. Demonstrate skill and sophistication in oral and written expression.
4. Demonstrate skill and sophistication in quantitative reasoning.
5. Collaborate effectively.
6. Understand and appreciate difference, commonality, and connectedness across and within cultures and societies around the world.
7. Explore a field of study in depth.
8. Explore a range of disciplines and make connections among them.
9. Apply acquired knowledge to solve new problems.
10. Engage in independent research, inquiry, and/or creative expression.
11. Cultivate intellectual integrity and the capacity for ethical citizenship.

Our institution's overarching initiative Energy2028 is also a chance for our community, especially our students, to engage in practical sustainability issues with tangible outcomes like carbon neutrality.

The above figure was determined by calculating the sum of students who graduated in FY19 with degrees in programs that address sustainability directly in their learning outcomes and/or core coursework. These programs are listed in the next category.

Learning Goals for the Environmental Studies Major include:

Our students graduate with knowledge of the diverse human relationships to the environment, achieved through: breadth, depth, integration, commonality, creativity. Our students share a common base of knowledge across the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.

Disciplinary depth of knowledge is balanced by breadth of knowledge across disciplines. Students integrate knowledge and methodologies across disciplines. Our students gain a broad and deep knowledge of the American story of human-environment interaction. They also have the opportunity to compare these social and ecological relationships cross-culturally and globally.
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Learning goals for Biology include:

Students will acquire knowledge of basic facts, concepts, and theories in biology to address the following questions:

How adaptation, natural selection, and evolution have lead to the diversity of life?
What structures and functions define the cell as the unit of life?
What are the mechanisms of inheritance responsible for perpetuation of life?
How does homeostasis regulate cell and tissue function?
How is life organized at the cell, organism and ecosystem levels?
How does energy flow within and between living and non-living systems?
How do form and function interact in cells, tissues and organisms?
How have we arrived at the current understanding of biology?
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Learning Goals for Architecture and the Environment include:

Architecture and Environmental Studies are natural companions. It is impossible to design good buildings without understanding their relationship to natural systems. It is also impossible to understand the natural environment without knowing how human intervention affects it – both positively and negatively. As man and nature begin to recognize their interdependence, the study of environment takes on a whole new meaning. Architecture and the Environment encourages students to explore these relationships from a variety of perspectives.

The United States lags behind most other developed countries in its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the effects of climate change. This is more than a problem for environmental scientists – everyone must participate in restoring harmony and balance to the fragile ecosystems that make our planet habitable. In order to affect change at home, it is important for students pursuing the Architecture and the Environment joint-major take the time to see how communities and cultures all over the world are employing strategies for sustainability.
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Learning goals for International and Global Studies Learning include:

The International and Global Studies program aims at educating majors about regional studies in a global perspective. Using different disciplinary perspectives, students majoring in International and Global Studies will be exposed to the historic, cultural, political and economic dimensions of a particular geographic region as well as its place in the world. The central components of this education are advanced competency in a foreign language; broad exposure to the chosen region from multiple perspectives and disciplines; understanding of the interconnected nature of the world; deep engagement in critical thinking about global questions; study abroad; and a capstone senior experience.
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Learning outcomes for Geography include:

Students must learn to understand, use, and articulate concepts that are fundamental to a geographical perspective, such as scale, region, location, place, distance, and connectivity. They must critically examine a range of thematic problems; pose and evaluate geographic questions within a range of epistemological frameworks. They must develop and use basic geographic skills such as map reading and analysis, landscape interpretation, and regional synthesis; interpret and evaluate different forms of geographic evidence such as maps, landscapes, images, and location/place based data. They must select and implement geographic methods that are appropriate to answer given questions; analyze quantitative and qualitative information to answer those questions; effectively tell the story visually, verbally, in writing and through maps. They must design and carry out independent geographic research that demonstrates an understanding of how geographers ask questions, collect evidence, use methods, and contextualize their investigation and findings in relation to philosophical and theoretical frameworks.
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Learning outcomes for Geology include:

Upon receiving their degree in Geology, students will possess an understanding of the Theory of Plate Tectonics and how it applies to understanding and interpreting the Earth. All geology majors will study, in the field and in the lab, elements of the igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary, structural and surficial geology of Vermont. All geology majors will study structural geology and mineralogy. All geology majors will gain understanding of surficial processes, including elements of Earth's climate system, by taking a course in geomorphology or hydrology. Geology majors will gain depth in certain areas by taking elective courses including (but not limited to) topics such as marine geology, global tectonics, sedimentary geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, geophysics, soils, geochemistry and glacial geology. All geology majors will explore a single topic in great depth as part of the required senior thesis. Through cognate courses, geology majors will obtain perspectives from allied fields in quantitative analysis and the sciences.