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Personal Development

Personal Development is the growth that students experience as they continue building their understanding of self and their relationships with others in new situations and environments.

Students will improve their ability to be autonomous.

Autonomy is the ability to carry out activities on one's own without needing the approval, reassurance, or affection of others.

Intended Outcomes
  • Students will increase their level of autonomy.
  • Students will increase their motivation and self-efficacy to live autonomously.

A habit of mind that exercises "logical interpretation, analysis, and evaluation" (Facione, 1990, p. 8) of evidence, situations, and theories to engage with individual and community problem solving and decision making.

Intended Outcomes
  • Students will identify the process and skills needed to successfully think critically.
  • Students will increase their self-efficacy to think critically.
  • Students will clearly explain the issue and relevant evidence, situations, and ideas.
  • Students will analyze the significance of relevant evidence, situations, and ideas.
  • Students will analyze the influence of their own and others' assumptions.
  • Students will express a logical conclusion.

A process of internally interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating a belief or assumption, prompted by an experience, which "creates and clarifies meaning in terms of self" (Boyd & Fales, 1983, p. 100).

Intended Outcomes
  • Students will identify the process and skills needed to successfully think reflectively.
  • Students will increase their self-efficacy to think reflectively.
  • Students will clearly explain the personal belief or assumption for which to reflect upon.
  • Students will analyze the alignment of personal beliefs and assumptions alongside relevant evidence, situations, and ideas.
  • Students will create and clarify meaning in terms of self.

A cognitive process of designing, evaluating, and implementing a strategy to navigate a challenge and achieve a goal through the application of skills, knowledge of a situation or environment, and critical and reflective thinking.

Intended Outcomes
  • Students will identify the process and skills needed to successfully solve problems.
  • Students will increase their self-efficacy to successfully solve problems.
  • Students will define the problem and set priorities to solve the problem.
  • Students will design and evaluate multiple strategies to solve the problem, while considering the situation and environment.
  • Students will implement the chosen strategy in a manner that addresses the multiple contextual factors of the problem.
  • Students will reflect upon the outcomes and identify areas of need for further work.

A cognitive process directed at reaching a conclusion that aligns with personal views, attitudes, values, and preferences by examining available information and leveraging critical and reflective thinking.

Intended Outcomes
  • Students will identify the process and skills needed to make decisions.
  • Students will increase their self-efficacy to make decisions.
  • Students will define the decision needed and identify alternative options.
  • Students will evaluate alternative options for their decision, while considering their personal views, attitudes, values and preferences alongside available information.
  • Students will make a decision considering their personal views, attitudes, values, and preferences and available information.
  • Students will reflect upon their decision making process to inform future decision making.

Students will more effectively engage in the process of leadership.

Continuously expanding an individual's capacity to engage in the process of leadership, which includes leadership capacity, leadership efficacy, leadership motivation, and leadership enactment.

Intended Outcomes
  • Students will improve their effective engagement in leadership.
  • Students will increase their persistence to engage in leadership.

This definition and intended outcomes are currently being developed by the Division's Personal Development Assessment Fellows.

If you are interested, you can read more about the scholarship that informed the Personal Development educational priority, learning goals, and intended learning and development outcomes.

View the Personal Development events and programs (opens in a new tab)on Engage that are provided by the division or student organizations that the division advises.

Thank you to educators across the division who serve as Personal Development Assessment Fellows.