Competencies and General Education 

General Education Statement

The general education program at Palm Beach State College offers an interdisciplinary core curriculum that advances transformative thinking to prepare students for responsible participation in a global community. PBSC's Institutional Student Learning Outcomes (ISLOs) embed this philosophy into each of the outcomes.

General Education Courses

General education courses at Palm Beach State College must meet a variety of criteria to ensure appropriateness of curriculum. Courses must:

• support the PBSC general education philosophy and at least one applicable institutional learning outcome.
• fit within at least one pathway.
• support internal programs and transfer to in-state public universities.
• fit within one of the following areas: communication, humanities (literature and fine arts), mathematics, natural science or social science to align with state and accreditation requirements.
• include “high-level academic and critical thinking skills” to align with state requirements.
• contribute to general education as a whole, rounding out the “breadth of knowledge” to align with regional accreditation requirements.
• reinforce cognitive skills and not be focused on “skills, techniques and procedures specific to the student’s occupation or profession” to align with regional accreditation requirements.

 

Competencies

Communication

• Demonstrate understanding of context, organization and purpose.
• Use appropriate content and sources. 
• Use language and style to communicate meaning to the audience.
• Apply the standards, techniques and procedures required for each assignment. 
• Define the scope of a research question or thesis.
• Effectively locate information using scholarly search strategies and tools.
• Critically evaluate sources for relevancy, currency, authority, accuracy and purpose.
• Communicate, organize and synthesize information for a specific purpose.
• Document information using appropriate style and truthfully represent information while giving appropriate credit to sources.

 

Critical Thinking

• Evaluate and assess evidence.
• Develop insightful connections to solve problems.
• Demonstrate creativity.
• Synthesize patterns and perspectives and/or explore complex issues.
• Present accurate and relevant conclusions.
• Evaluate and acknowledge diverse perspectives.
• Extend knowledge to civic life, politics and government.
• Articulate insights regarding cultural bias.
• Explain complex elements of cultural frameworks.
• Evaluate and acknowledge diverse perspectives and/or theories.
• Evaluate actions which address ethical, social and/or environmental challenges and/or assess local and broader consequences of actions.
• Explain complex elements of cultural frameworks.
• Define the scope of a research question or thesis.
• Effectively locate information using scholarly search strategies and tools.

 

Information Literacy

• Accurately interpret problems.
• Analyze relevant factors of real-world problems. 
• Perform required computations.
• Solve real-world problems.
• Interpret and analyze problems based on relevant factors.
• Evaluate assumptions.
• Propose hypotheses and/or solutions and apply the scientific method.
• Discuss limitations and implication of conclusions, solutions and outcomes.
• Evaluate and assess evidence.
• Develop insightful connections to solve problems.
• Synthesize patterns and perspectives and/or explore complex issues.
• Present accurate and relevant conclusions.