Neuroscience Learning Goals and Outcomes

Vision Statement

The neuroscience program provides seeks to provide students with broad and meaningful training in the neurosciences. This includes foundational knowledge about nervous system operation, skills for conducting and understanding neuroscience research, critical thinking about the interrelationships between brain and behavior, and application of neuroscience to critical moral and civic issues in today’s society.

Student Learning Goals

• Neuroscience Literacy: Neuroscience majors will become familiar with the questions, language, principles, techniques, and history of neuroscience, with a special emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience and its connections across discipline.

• Thoughtful Engagement in Neuroscience: Neuroscience students should have a broad view of the moral and philosophical issues raised by the neurosciences and should become thoughtfully engaged in the civic and political policies that regulate basic and applied neuroscience research (e.g. stem-cell research, criteria for brain death, criteria for application of neurosurgery, etc).

Student Learning Outcomes

• Through a common assessment, students will demonstrate familiarity with key concepts and studies across several disciplines representative of the neurosciences.

• Students will indicate how often they encountered curricular activities that fostered neuroscience literacy.

• Through a term project, students will articulate their view of the moral and/or philosophical issues raised by neurosciences.

• Through a term project, students will reflect on the civic and/or political policies that regulate basic and applied neuroscience research.

• Student majors will indicate how often they encountered curricular activities that fostered neuroscience engagement.