Interdisciplinary Studies

Click on the subdomain titles to examine the range of skills and concepts a student can expect to demonstrate for assessment of this Domain:

The graduate selects information from oral, written, or electronic sources to inform an audience about complex subjects.
The graduate accurately evaluates the validity, reliability, and significance of information in a given context.
The graduate documents sources consistently and accurately.

The graduate identifies relationships among ideas, point of view, and language choices by reading critically.
The graduate constructs meaning by using multiple strategies to comprehend a variety of texts.

The graduate examines the development, characteristics, functions, and interdependence of modern economic, social, and political institutions.
The graduate recognizes and analyzes connections between human cultures and the physical environment, and applies knowledge of these connections to explain social and political change.

The graduate recognizes and analyzes relationships within the disciplines of the humanities; and how themes and concepts connect across individual disciplines of the humanities.
The graduate recognizes and analyzes the interaction and integration of the humanities with cultures, and how specified cultural attitudes change over time.

The graduate analyzes economic concepts in the contexts of the free enterprise system and international trade.
The graduate examines the nature and historical development of major institutions in American government and explains how American citizens participate in a representative democracy.

The graduate examines the characteristics, historical origins, and roles of ethics and belief systems in human cultures, and applies this knowledge to explain human behavior.
The graduate recognizes and defines concepts from the visual and performing arts, identifies and defines media and processes, and applies these concepts and knowledge in evaluating works of art.

The graduate recognizes various creative, philosophical, and linguistic artifacts and events in the humanities and applies approaches and methods of the humanities to address them.
The graduate examines concepts and modes of expression in human imagination, values, and emotions.

The graduate describes the importance and foundations of good health and physical fitness, particularly for children and adolescents.

The graduate recognizes and examines the classical, medieval, Renaissance, Restoration literary periods, their characteristics, and works.
The graduate recognizes and examines the colonial, revolutionary, romantic, realist, modern, postmodern literary periods, their characteristics, and works.
The graduate critically reads, analyzes, and interprets specified works of literature.
The graduate evaluates how identity is established and represented in literary works.

The graduate recognizes basic literary terms, concepts, elements, and conventions, and examines how they are used across the genres.
The graduate identifies the elements of fiction and examines those elements as they relate to the genre.
The graduate identifies and examines the unique issues associated with non-fiction, including issues related to the creation of the work and attempts to depict reality or truth through the work, and explores those issues through the genre.
The graduate identifies and examines the elements of poetry and explores those elements through the genre.
The graduate identifies and examines the elements of drama and explores those elements through the genre.

The graduate applies basic numeracy and calculation skills and algorithms in arithmetic and in basic algebra.
The graduate solves algebraic equations and constructs equations to solve real-world problems.
The graduate understands and applies the basic properties of functions to solve problems.
The graduate applies basic geometric, trigonometric, and measurement skills and processes to problems in mathematics as well as in a variety of disciplines.

The graduate analyzes open-ended problems by learning about the problem and evaluating the accuracy and relevance of different perspectives on the problem.
The graduate evaluates different sources representing a range of perspectives on a problem in order to weigh the implications and consequences of different solutions to the problem.
The graduate identifies internal and external biases and assumptions related to a problem, and evaluates the influence and validity of these biases and assumptions.
The graduate synthesizes information to understand a problem’s complexities and potential solutions, and then evaluates the reasoning and evidence in support of these different solutions.
The graduate logically brings together information to arrive at a viable solution to a problem, and then clearly and accurately communicates the results.
The graduate recognizes the value of critical thinking in identifying and understanding the underlying structures of the disciplines and professions.

The graduate recognizes and analyzes various natural phenomena; applies natural science methods, and approaches to these natural phenomena.
The graduate examines fundamental concepts and theories in the natural sciences.

The graduate observes and critiques a small group interaction, identifying positive aspects and areas for improvement.
The graduate prepares an oral presentation with a visual aid.
The graduate presents information to an audience using effective communication strategies.

The graduate analyzes the organization, interactions, and predictable processes of the universe.
The graduate identifies and analyzes the organization, interactions, and processes of the Earth.
The graduate analyzes the components, organization, interactions, and processes of ecosystems.
The graduate recognizes and applies underlying principles of matter and chemical reactions to analyze the structure, organization, interactions, and processes of organisms.

The graduate examines the distinctive characteristics and forms of social scientific inquiry; recognizes various behavioral, cognitive, and social phenomena; and applies social science theories and methods to evaluate and explain phenomena.
The graduate examines fundamental social science concepts and theories that relate to the development of human thought, behavior, and social relationships.

The graduate examines the major themes, events, developments, cultures, and individuals involved in shaping the history of the United States before 1900.
The graduate examines the major themes, events, developments, and individuals involved in shaping the history of the United States after 1900.

The graduate examines major events, cultures, and civilizations that shaped world history from prehistoric times to the early modern period.
The graduate examines major events and civilizations that shaped the history of the modern world.

The graduate adapts a particular writing to meet the needs of a specific audience, purpose, and situation.
The graduate applies a process approach to creating effective writings for different audiences and purposes.
The graduate correctly applies rules of grammar, syntax, and punctuation.