Studies, and “Learning that Works” is intended to meet this institutional priority by teaching essential critical thinking, inquiry, analysis, teamwork, and communication skills that are seated in the Liberal Studies core curriculum. This QEP is intended to keep some of the same foundational goals that fulfill the University’s mission while also adding as goals the outcomes for the QEP, as detailed below. While teaching a new set of skills in Design Thinking, the course sequence in Humanics that is being added to the Liberal Studies Core (to replace classes in Integrative Studies that are currently core requirements) also reflects the and builds upon the broad Liberal Studies goals of the institution rather than seeking to supplant these mission-critical skills. For example, the QEP builds upon the following Liberal Studies outcomes, as found in the University Catalogue:

Through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts, the KSU student will engage with big questions, both contemporary and enduring, through study of core texts and primary source material.

The interdisciplinary nature of the QEP will build upon this goal, which will also be reflected in the outcomes of the rest of the general education courses as they are revised and refined. For the new course sequence that supports the QEP, in particular, the emphasis will be on “big questions” involving the development of the contemporary world and the future implications of the continuing development of the technologies that surround us. The QEP will also entail the acquisition of crucial “literacies and skills,” as described below, and the proposed capstone project will allow students to engage groups outside the University and to try to help solve pressing problems.

The KSU student will develop multiple literacies and skills, including reading comprehension, inquiry and analysis, critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, quantitative literacy, information literacy, technological literacy, and teamwork and problem solving. The KSU student will practice these skills extensively, across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance. The student will judge reasonably the validity of information gained through the research process, including use of digital resources.

Students will acquire the mentioned skills in the first two classes of the sequence, then take on a “more challenging problem” in the capstone and report their findings in a written report and in an oral presentation. They will also engage in research to try to solve their problem.

The KSU student will obtain civic knowledge and readiness for engagement—locally and globally—and become actively involved with diverse communities and real-world challenges.

By engaging communities outside the University in the culminating capstone project, students will be reminded of their place in the larger world and of their responsibility in trying to improve it.

These broad goals are supported by specific student learning objectives for the individual courses being designed to support the QEP, for the Humanics sequence, and for the QEP as a whole, detailed below.