Although our first-year writing courses are not part of an undergraduate major, the faculty hold them to clear, shared standards, just like any other program of study offered at UC Merced. Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) are the specific skills and abilities the faculty want every student to walk away with after completing WRI 010/H, no matter which section or instructor they had.
Why do PLOs matter for students?
1. With many sections taught by different instructors each semester, PLOs ensure each student receives a comparable, high-quality UC writing education while allowing instructors the flexibility to bring their pedagogical expertise and topics relevant to students into the classroom.
2. First-year writing classes are required for the UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement and the UC Merced Lower Division written communication requirement. Our PLOs make explicit for the system, campus, students, and faculty that real, transferable skills matter beyond WRI 010/H.
3. We regularly assess student work against the PLOs each academic year to keep improving our curriculum, our teaching, and the learning support offered for students.
The PLOs are a promise to each student who takes a WRI 001 or WRI 010/H course, showing that the faculty hold standards of accountability for students' educational well-being.
PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES
PLO 1 (Process): Demonstrate engagement with the multi-stage processes of critical reading, formal writing, and public speaking.
PLO 2 (Rhetoric): Select and apply the appropriate conventions of personal, academic, or professional forms of expression.
PLO 3 (Collaboration): Synthesize diverse perspectives through collaboration in academic discourse communities.
PLO 4 (Research Ethics): Apply professional ethical standards to the research process and its public representation.
PLO 5 (Craft): Craft language that reveals aesthetic awareness.
