Weber State University   

History Department

Student Learning Outcomes

1. History majors and minors should master the skill of chronological thinking. This includes the abilities to:
   1. Distinguish among past, present, and future time periods.
   2. Identify the chronological structure of a historical narrative story.
   3. Establish chronological order in the construction of historical narratives of their own.
   4. Measure, calculate, and compare calendar time and systems.
   5. Interpret data presented in time lines.
   6. Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration.
2. History majors and minors should master the skill of historical comprehension. This includes the abilities to:
   1. Reconstruct the literal and contextual meaning of a historical passage.
   2. Identify the central question(s) in historical narrative addresses.
   3. Read historical narratives imaginatively.
   4. Demonstrate historical perspectives.
   5. Draw upon data in historical maps.
   6. Utilize visual and mathematical data presented in charts, tables, graphs, flow charts, and other graphic organizers.
3. History majors and minors should master the skills of historical analysis and interpretation. This includes the abilities to:
   1. Identify the author and source of the historical document or narrative.
   2. Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas, values, personalities, behaviors, and institutions.
   3. Differentiate between historical facts and historical interpretations.
   4. Consider multiple perspectives.
   5. Analyze cause-and-effect relationships and multiple causation, including the importance of the individual, the influence of ideas, and the role of chance.
   6. Challenge arguments of historical inevitability.
   7. Compare competing historical narratives.
   8. Regard interpretations of history as tentative.
   9. Evaluate major debates among historians.
   10. Hypothesize the influence of the past.
4. History majors and minors should demonstrate historical research capabilities. This includes the abilities to:
   1. Formulate historical questions.
   2. Obtain historical data.
   3. Interrogate historical data.
   4. Identify the gaps in the available record, marshal contextual knowledge and perspectives of time and place, and construct a sound historical interpretation.
5. History majors and minors should demonstrate the skills of historical-analysis and decision-making. This includes the abilities to:
   1. Identify issues and problems in the past.
   2. Marshal evidence of antecedent circumstances and contemporary factors contributing the problems and alternative courses of action.
   3. Identify relevant historical antecedents.
   4. Evaluate alternative courses of action.
   5. Formulate a position or course of action on an issue.
   6. Evaluate the implementation of a decision.
6. As a consequence of these skills, History majors and minors should demonstrate the following values:
   1. An appreciation for the natural and cultural environment in which we have developed and live.
   2. A sense of the diversity of the human experience influenced by geography, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and class.
   3. A recognition of the nature of human interdependence necessary for survival and well-being.
   4. A personal moral sense developed vicariously against the complexities faced by individuals in difficult settings in the past.
   5. A sense of identity and good citizenship.
7. History majors and minors should be able to compete successfully in appropriate educational and professional markets.

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