The American University of Paris | General Education

To succeed in transforming ideas into knowledge, students will need to develop intellectual skills, apply them in progressively more sophisticated ways, and transfer them from one situation to another. The first occurs through example and practice; the second through a coordinated curriculum designed to foster cumulative learning; and the third through application in many disciplines and contexts.

Some intellectual skills come into play between individuals and their surroundings. They involve input or reception, output or production, and transformation of ideas in many forms.

The individual skills can be summarized as involving decoding, encoding, and translation of:

	ideas, so that problems can be identified, analyzed and framed;

	words, which must be read and written, spoken and listened to, communicated fluently in English and at least one other language;

	images, both to interpret the meanings of works of art, artifacts, and media, and to communicate through visual means;

	information, in order to access, interpret, evaluate, synthesize, and organize and analyze data meaningfully;

	mathematical principles and models, so that the numerical information of everyday life, including statistics and probability, can be accurately interpreted.

Other skills, considered interactive, function between and among individuals. They involve collaborating and cooperating in a variety of contexts and include:

	speaking and debating effectively in public;

	assuming and delegating responsibility;

	working efficiently in teams;

	writing collaboratively; and

	persuading and being receptive to others.

Some skills or qualities are directly related to practical success. The practical skills necessary for students to function well in today’s rapidly changing world include, first and foremost, flexibility; followed by confidence in taking calculated risks; the ability to organize thought, work, and time; and, finally, stress management.

Knowledge & Perspectives | Intellectual Skills | Contexts | Creativity & Production