Bachelor of Science, Major in Consumer Affairs with Specialization in Consumer Services Management

at South Dakota State University USA

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics is a large, diverse, and active organization. The department’s mission is to provide excellent instruction, conduct high-quality research and scholarly activity, and prepare graduates and provide mathematical and statistical services that are both regionally relevant and internationally competitive. The department offer students the opportunity to pursue master’s and doctoral level graduate studies in a collegial environment with small class sizes and high faculty-student interaction and research activity.

The focus of the M.S. in Mathematics Program is the development of sophisticated mathematical models and their implementation on high performance computing platforms. The curriculum features a balance of application, computation, and theory with particular emphasis in the areas of operations research, computational science, and the development of probabilistic and deterministic models. Areas of faculty and graduate student research activity include computational biology, computational finance, molecular dynamics simulation, operations research, optimization, and Ramsey theory. The program is particularly effective at preparing graduates to work in business, industry, or government as well as preparing students to continue on to the CSS PhD or other PhD program.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will understand mathematical or statistical models.
• Students will be able to construct and apply standard mathematical and statistical models.
• Students will be able to solve problems using appropriate software to implement the appropriate models.
• Students will be able to disseminate the results of their work to others.
• Students will be able to apply Argument Deconstruction in mathematics and statistics

The program offers a variety of courses that encompass a broad range of Electrical Engineering areas including: alternative energy and power systems; computer engineering, communications; electronic materials, devices and sensors; nano technology, photovoltaic devices and systems; and signal and image processing. The department’s graduate faculty conduct active research in these areas using modern research facilities and equipment.

Program Educational Objectives

The EE graduate program objectives are to equip individuals to

• Discover and disseminate knowledge relevant to the discipline of electrical engineering.
• Provide leadership for increasingly complex roles in electrical engineering and industry.
• Contribute to the advancement of the science of electrical engineering serving regional and national needs.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Understand fundamental principles: Articulate a solid understanding of the fundamental principles in the area of specialization and supporting areas.
• Communication skills: Demonstrate an ability to communicate, both orally and in writing, technical information in an effective manner.
• Conduct research and/or design project: Conduct research and/or design projects that demonstrate ability to model, analyze and design electrical engineering processes and systems.

The Hospitality, Tourism, and Event Management program develops visionary leaders through excellence in student-centered education, skill development, research, service, and collaboration with global hospitality and tourism industries. The curriculum exposes students to many aspects of the hospitality industry and instills in them the critical skills required for the modern workplace. Students complete two professional practicum experiences while pursuing their degree, which provides introductory and supervisory level industry experience. Students are exposed to many aspects of the hospitality industry and to instill in them the critical skills required in today’s workplace.

The Electronics Engineering Technology Bachelor of Science degree program blends theory with an extensive hands-on, lab-based course sequence. The program has three key components: electronics foundations, advanced electronics applications, and applied management. The goal is to prepare graduates to use be proficient in using, developing, and troubleshooting electronic devices, networks, and controls. Electronics technology courses include circuits, analog and digital systems (intro and advanced), networking, programming, microcontrollers, industrial controls and PLCs, circuit board design, power systems, and communication systems. The program also includes courses in computer programming, project management, quality systems management, and statistics.

Program Educational Outcomes
SDSU Electronics Engineering Technology graduates will become professionals who:

• Achieve positions of increasing responsibility or leadership with employers, professional organizations, or civic organizations as an indicator of professional competence, demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively, and successfully function in team environments;
• Apply principles of mathematics, science and management and use appropriate technology to solve current and future problems in the field of electronics technology; and,
• Complete licensure, certification, short courses, workshops, and/or advanced degrees to be effective technical managers in the global business environment.

Student Learning Outcomes
EET graduates have:

• An ability to apply knowledge, techniques, skills and modern tools of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology to solve broadly-defined engineering problems appropriate to the discipline; (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis)
• An ability to design systems, components, or processes meeting specified needs for broadly-defined engineering problems appropriate to the discipline; (Cross-curricular Skill: Problem Solving)
• An ability to apply written, oral, and graphical communication in broadly-defined technical and non-technical environments; and an ability to identify and use appropriate technical literature;
• An ability to conduct standard tests, measurements, and experiments and to analyze and interpret the results to improve processes; and
• An ability to function effectively as a member as well as a leader on technical teams. (Cross-curricular Skill: Teamwork)

The program provides coursework on campus, in classroom, laboratory, and in field-based settings.  The EET program has three dedicated electronics labs for bench work, circuit testing, and project fabrication.

A major in Interior Design prepares students for professional practice, through research informed, design thinking infused and practice-based projects and opportunities that will strengthen their rational and creative thinking. Very broadly, it seeks to teach students the importance and value of the design process and design thinking, promote the awareness and knowledge of the contributions of the profession to the health, safety and well being of people in the built environment, and to prepare graduates of the program to succeed as professional designers. Upon graduation from this CIDA (Council of Interior Design Accreditation) Accredited program, students are eligible to begin the NCIDQ (National Council of Interior Design Qualification) certificate examination process.

The curriculum is interactive, haptic and performance based, offering problem solving experiences in all major areas of design practice (i.e. healthcare, retail, corporate, residential, etc.), in addition to areas of focused instruction including human factors and behaviors, materials, history, building systems and construction, building codes and regulations, lighting, acoustics and professional practice. The overarching goal of the interior design program is to provide a transformative teaching and learning environment where passion and creativity are fostered, and careers are shaped. This is accomplished through four main goals woven into each project and opportunity delivered across the program: to be experiential, to be contextual, to be collaborative, to be empathetic.

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Interior Design major, students will be able to:

• Synthesize research findings to inform design solutions. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Create interior environments infused with design-thinking. (Cross-curricular Skill: Critical and Creative Thinking; Problem Solving)
• Apply practice-based knowledge and skill sets to interior spaces. (Cross-curricular Skill: Teamwork; Ethical Reasoning)

Dietetics prepares Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to practice dietetics at an advanced level and/or pursue doctoral study.  The program seeks to develop research skills, stimulate independent thought, and provide up-to-date knowledge in foods, nutrition, and food service/business management. This program prepares individuals to integrate and apply the principles ranging from the biomedical sciences, human behavior, and management to design, and to lead effective food, nutrition, health and wellness programs in a variety of settings. This online program will be a degree tailored for credentialed, practicing dietetics professionals who seek to enhance their knowledge in a specific area of dietetics practice or to retool for new career opportunities in dietetics practice. The student must already have the RDN credential or have a Verification Statement from an ACEND accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics. This degree does not prepare one to become a credentialed RDN.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Foundational knowledge: Apply foundational knowledge and skills in the theory and application of nutrition and dietetics sciences to professional practice, education, and research.
• Communication skills: Develop effective written and oral communication skills.
• Critical thinking: Critically analyze and synthesize scientific evidence to defend a position.
• Career preparedness: Demonstrate effective career preparedness.

The English Education Specialization requires 39 hours in English and linguistics courses and is designed to prepare the student for a career in high school or middle school teaching. Students preparing for careers in secondary education will also complete the required education courses for teacher certification.

Student Learning Outcomes
The English department’s B.A. program prepares students to become innovative professionals and global citizens by teaching them to read closely and critically, write creatively and persuasively, and explore the beauty and value of diverse literatures and cultures.

• Analyze texts closely and critically, using key literary terms and concepts to interpret how the specific elements of a text contribute to its larger meanings. (Cross-Curricular Skills: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Integrative Learning)
• Identify significant texts, authors, periods, movements, genres, theories, or modes from literary history, explaining how literary texts engage with their historical, cultural, aesthetic, or ideological contexts. (Cross-Curricular Skills: Inquiry and Analysis; Integrative Learning)
• Identify key theoretical ideas, concepts, or methodologies and apply them to the reading and writing of texts. (Cross-Curricular Skills: Critical and Creative Thinking; Integrative Learning)
• Write argumentative, creative, and reflective texts that demonstrate focus, content, structure, evidence, style, and grammar appropriate to their rhetorical contexts. (Cross-Curricular Skills: Critical and Creative Thinking; Integrative Learning)
• Conduct scholarly research that incorporates the use of library resources and discipline-specific databases; the evaluation and integration of secondary sources; and the documentation of primary and secondary sources using MLA style.  (Cross-Curricular Skills: Information Literacy; Inquiry and Analysis)
• Explain how literature both reflects and enriches the diversity of human experience through its exploration of the ways in which race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, ability, or class shape identity and influence perception. (Cross-Curricular Skills: Critical and Creative Thinking; Inquiry and Analysis; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity)

The French Studies program allows students to learn a language, gain intercultural competence, and communicate effectively and appropriately with all people.  Studying French provides models to deal with cultural differences that are applicable in any part of the world, including the U.S Students engage with the contemporary norms that structure societies’ politics, religions, identities, and workplaces, as well as with the heritage and diversity of cultures in the French-speaking world. Students also participate in internships, study abroad, and experiential learning opportunities both locally and internationally. Courses in the French Studies program provide students with the flexibility to pair with another major, and with the skills to function and communicate effectively in any environment, and ultimately, to work competitively in the global marketplace.

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon the completion of the French major, students should be able to:

• Speak, read and write French at the Intermediate-High or Advanced level, developing solid competence in the language needed for everyday life and advanced narrative skills in the past, present, and future. (Cross-curricular Skills: Intercultural Knowledge; Inquiry & Analysis; Information Literacy)
• Demonstrate understanding of and growth in the skills required for intercultural communication and competence and life-long learning. (Cross-curricular Skill: Intercultural Knowledge; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity; Critical & Creative Thinking)
• Identify the cultural perspectives of the French-speaking world’s civilizations and their cultural products, such as literatures, arts, institutions, pop cultures, etc. and compare the cultural frames that determine everyday life in French- speaking cultures and the U.S. (Cross-curricular Skills: Intercultural Knowledge; Critical & Creative Thinking; Inquiry & Analysis; Information Literacy)
• Adapt behavior to a variety of cultural contexts through critical analysis of cultural frames. (Cross-curricular Skills: Intercultural Knowledge; Creative & Critical Thinking; and Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Articulate the value of their language and cultural studies and apply this knowledge in future employment. (Cross-curricular Skill: Intercultural Knowledge; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)

Chemistry is often referred to as the central science because of its strong connections to the other natural sciences and mathematics. Chemistry is therefore an area of study that allows students vast opportunity to explore the unknown and to address some of human society’s most pressing scientific problems. The Chemistry Education program will prepare students for careers in high-quality teaching of chemistry at the secondary/high school level. The curriculum consists of a set of core requirements for students to acquire fundamental chemistry content knowledge and skills shared by all high-quality chemistry teachers, requirements for cognate knowledge development and skills acquisition (e.g., mathematics and other sciences), while meeting the state licensure requirements to teach high school. The core requirements provide foundational understanding in all five sub-disciplines of chemistry (analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic, and physical), representing breadth of content knowledge.  The curriculum also allows for exploration into the depth of chemistry content by including elective coursework in chemistry, environmental chemistry, and a capstone research course.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completing a major in Chemistry Education, graduates will:

• Understand the basic concepts fundamental to chemistry.
• Be properly prepared for laboratory investigations.
• Develop in-depth knowledge of at least four of the five subdisciplines of chemistry (analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic, and physical).
• Demonstrate knowledge of modern chemistry topics, which could include catalysis, environmental chemistry, green/sustainable chemistry, materials science, and toxicology.
• Be able to design and execute experiments, analyze data, and use the chemical literature. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis)
• Be able to synthesize the curricular knowledge and skills in a capstone (research) experience. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Information Literacy)
• Understand the scientific process and develop problem-solving skills. (Cross-curricular Skill: Problem Solving)
• Retrieve information effectively. (Cross-curricular Skill: Information Literacy)
• Develop chemical safety skills.
• Be able to rely on collaboration, effective teamwork, safety, and ethical practices. (Cross-curricular Skill: Teamwork; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Learn professional ethics. (Cross-curricular Skill: Ethical Reasoning)
• Have proficiency in essential green chemistry competencies.
• Be able to assess, comprehend, and communicate science. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis)
• Demonstrate teaching effectiveness. (Cross-curricular Skill: Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Illustrate learner development.
• Recognize learning differences and learning environments. (Cross-curricular Skill: Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Formulate content knowledge.
• Implement uses of multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.
• Create plans of instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.
• Use a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.
• Engage in ongoing professional learning and use evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community), and adapt practice to meet the needs of each learner.
• Seek appropriate leadership roles and opportunities to take responsibility for student learning, to collaborate with learners, families, colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to ensure learner growth, and to advance the profession.

As a family and consumer sciences educator, the FCSE graduate is qualified to teach content in a wide range of settings, including in middle and high schools, occupational training programs, adult programs, or to serve as an extension educator. The FCSE program prepares students with comprehensive subject matter background from all areas of family and consumer sciences, (human development, family studies, consumer affairs, apparel, housing, nutrition, hospitality, and personal finance) contributing to the versatility of the major. The program focuses on characteristics of various learners or clients, learning principles and different applications of the teaching-learning process.

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Family and Consumer Sciences major students will:

• Analyze family, community, and work interrelationships; investigate career paths; examine family and consumer sciences careers; and apply career decision making and transitioning processes. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Ethical Reasoning; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Use resources responsibly to address the diverse needs and goals of individuals, families, and communities in family and consumer sciences areas such as resource management, consumer economics, financial literacy, living environments, and textiles and apparel. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Ethical Reasoning; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Apply principles of human development, interpersonal relationships, and family to strengthen individuals and families across the lifespan in contexts such as parenting, care giving, and the workplace. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Civic Knowledge and Engagement; Ethical Reasoning; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Promote nutrition, food, and wellness practices that enhance individual and family well- being across the lifespan and address related concerns in a global society. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Problem Solving; Civic Knowledge and Engagement; Ethical Reasoning; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Develop, justify, and implement curricula that address perennial and evolving family, career, and community issues; reflect the integrative nature of family and consumer sciences; and integrate core academic areas. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Problem Solving; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Facilitate students’ critical thinking and problem solving in family and consumer sciences through varied instructional strategies and technologies and through responsible management of resources in schools, communities, and the workplace. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Problem Solving; Ethical Reasoning; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Create and implement a safe, supportive learning environment that shows sensitivity to diverse needs, values, and characteristics of students, families, and communities. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Ethical Reasoning; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Engage in ethical professional practice based on the history and philosophy of family and consumer sciences and career and technical education through civic engagement, advocacy, and ongoing professional development. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Ethical Reasoning; Foundational Lifelong Learning Skills; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Assess, evaluate, and improve student learning and programs in family and consumer sciences using appropriate criteria, standards, and processes. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Problem Solving; Ethical Reasoning; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• Integrate the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America student organization into the program to foster students’ academic growth, application of family and consumer sciences content, leadership, service learning, and career development. (Cross-curricular Skill: Inquiry and Analysis; Critical and Creative Thinking; Information Literacy; Problem Solving; Civic Knowledge and Engagement; Ethical Reasoning; Foundational Lifelong Learning Skills; Integrative Learning; Diversity, Inclusion and Equity)
• The teacher candidate will foster relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well being.