The Queen’s Learning Outcomes Framework, approved by Senate at its April meeting, highlights the distinct skills gained from a Queen’s education. Though nearly all programs at Queen’s have identified their specific learning outcomes, the new Framework highlights the learning that extends across the full spectrum of the student learning experience at Queen's.

The Framework was created after consultations across the university with faculty boards, AMS Assembly, and through a series of focus groups and surveys. Its six learning outcomes are:

1. Knowledge and Intellectual Capacities
2. Research-Focus | Practice-Orientation
3. Leadership
4. Interpersonal Capacities
5. Personal Capacities
6. Community Engagement

Each of the outcomes is further comprised of a mix of skills and competencies. Community engagement includes global learning and intercultural competence, while knowledge and intellectual capacities is comprised of creative thinking, problem solving, critical thinking and more.

“The goal of this Framework is to articulate learning from a student’s perspective, reflecting the knowledge, skills and habits of mind that are gained from engaging in the myriad of opportunities for students to learn and grow,” says Associate Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) Peter Wolf. “Learning isn’t restricted to classrooms or libraries, and so the Framework accounts for the ways in which opportunities like volunteering, student government and international experiences all contribute to developing skills and knowledge.”

To help the university community better understand how the framework applies to different levels of the study, the plan includes illustrative examples. Each learning outcome has an example from the bachelor’s, professional master’s, research master’s and PhD level. With Research-Focus | Practice-Orientation, for example, the framework says that at the bachelor’s level it may mean engaging with scholarship and arriving at accurate conclusions, while at the PhD level it may mean actively contributing to a discipline’s knowledge while also critically evaluating sources and their research methods.

“We hope this framework is a blueprint for students and faculty to plan and document the student learning experience in all of its variety,” says Vice-Provost Scott. “This encompasses our values, presents ambitions and articulates what makes studying at Queen’s unique.”

With the framework’s approval, the Learning Outcomes Working Group is developing an action plan for its implementation. Learn more about the Queen’s Learning Outcomes Framework on its webpage.

Queen's also recently announced an investment of $3 million over three years to upgrade some of the 126 centrally-booked classrooms at Queen’s. The renovations will help ensure that physical learning spaces best support teaching and learning.