Intended Student Outcomes (ISOs)

ISOs, or Intended Student Outcomes, are our way of measuring how well we're providing what we promise to you! You'll hear about these four ISO's during your time here at Ozarks:

1. Students will communicate effectively
2. Students will think critically
3. Students will have knowledge of human culture
4. Students will be aware of their responsibilities to themselves, to humanity, to their planet, and to their creator

You'll develop the knowledge and skills set out in these ISO's through your general education curriculum, your major curriculum, and through co-curricular activities.

Each year, we'll evaluate student achievement of the ISOs by collecting and evaluating student portfolios of coursework, and by administering and evaluating the results of a national standardized objective test and essay, and a national survey. The results of individual assessments are kept confidential, but the overall results are presented to the university community (including the student body and the Board of Trustees) who may use the results to recommend and implement changes.

Attributes of the ISOs

When you've mastered a given ISO, it is expected that you'll exhibit the attributes for that ISO, as shown here:

1. Students will communicate effectively
1. consider the purpose and the audience for a message
2. use effective strategies to organize their thoughts, develop a message, and document their sources
3. present a message skillfully
4. clearly and effectively express ideas and actively listen to the ideas of others in discussions
   
   
2. Students will think critically
1. read with comprehension
2. transfer and apply knowledge and skills to new situations
3. solve multi-step and non-routine problems involving a range of reasoning skills
4. evaluate and analyze arguments from more than one perspective
5. recognize and form interpretations, generalizations, or causal explanations appropriate to academic disciplines
   
   
3. Students will have knowledge of human culture
1. identify, describe, and use the salient methods, skills, or ways of knowing in the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, and natural sciences
2. identify, describe, and compare the political, social, economic, and religious structures within a given culture
3. identify, describe, and compare the aesthetic values in the literature, art, and spirituality of a given culture
4. compare structures and values across cultures
5. use available technologies to gather and process information effectively
   
   
4. Students will be aware of their responsibilities to themselves, to humanity, to their planet and to their creator
1. examine personal lifestyles, ethics, integrity, values, and priorities
2. respect individuals with beliefs, backgrounds, or abilities different from their own
3. contribute to the welfare of their community and ecosystem
4. explore multiple perspectives on the spiritual significance of life, including perspectives found within the Judeo-Christian tradition