Architecture Student Learning Outcomes

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES

At Washington State University, student learning outcomes (SLOs) represent core skills and knowledge students should develop through a curriculum or program of study. SLOs provide students and faculty with a framework for understanding goals and expectations for a degree. WSU faculty provide students with SLOs at multiple levels, including university-wide, program-level, and course-level.

OBJECTIVES

  1. To educate students with the skills and theoretical foundations that will prepare students for leadership and other productive positions in the profession of architecture.
  2. To prepare students to challenge conventions through innovative thinking and technology.
  3. To build upon the western regional reputation of the program as a leader in architectural education.

OUTCOMES

  1. Students will have the professional skills and theoretical foundations to prepare them for leadership and other productive positions in the profession of architecture. The following educational experiences within the curriculum seek to achieve this goal.
    • Students will have multiple opportunities to interact with professionals as a required component of their educational experience.
    • Students will have a diversity of experiences in cultural and social conditions that inform the built environment.
    • Students will be engaged in critical discourses in divergent professions and disciplines that have direct influences on the built environment.
    • Students will have educational experiences that develop leadership skills on multiple scales.
    • Students will be encouraged to engage in national discourses through membership in professional student organizations.
    • Students will be imbued with a sense of responsibility for teaching and instilling in others the value of architecture on the lives of people.
    • The quality of student work will achieve nationally-recognized standards.
  2. Students will be prepared to challenge conventions through innovative thinking and technology based upon a curriculum requiring specific milestones.
    • A rigorous graduate admissions process will admit only those students who are likely to succeed academically and make other positive contributions to the program.
    • Students must meet a selective series of benchmarks to ensure graduation from the program.
    • Students will be required to develop materials that illustrate the fundamentals of professional publication, in both graphic and verbal forms.
    • Students will be required to demonstrate a clear and definitive methodology for presenting their research proposals and findings, specifically including the ability to develop a clear thesis statement for each project.
  3. Continued enhancement of the western regional reputation of the program as a leader in architectural education through outreach and assessment from the profession.
    • Students will have available to them communication forums with practicing architects that facilitate feedback regarding the capabilities of graduates.
    • Graduate students will participate in a comprehensive exit interview process at the successful completion of the program.
    • The Architecture program will maintain communication with other programs regarding policies and issues affecting architectural education.
    • The Architecture program will maintain an active forum where professionals and educators can discuss issues of shared concern.