Through project and non-project work, Conway students…
- Demonstrate the application of theoretical and conceptual knowledge at the same time as they learn concrete applied knowledge.
- Demonstrate the application of a process for approaching a novel design/planning challenge. This process includes a certain sequence of investigations and habits of mind (for example, not attempting to solve a problem at first sight and on intuition alone). It applies broadly across scales (site to neighborhood to region) and across landscape types (urban, suburban, rural, wild). It requires the ability to apply analysis (inventory + assessment) across scales and to understand the relationship between patterns and processes across those multiple scales.
- Demonstrate the application of methods for defining goals and visions, helping individuals and communities articulate common goals, incorporating input from diverse stakeholders.
- Demonstrate the application of technical skills for mapping landscapes at multiple scales, from surveying with a transit to digital mapping with LIDAR and GIS data.
- Demonstrate the application of technical skills for altering landscapes at multiples scales, including grading and other site engineering techniques.
- Demonstrate the application of integrated graphical, written, and spoken communication skills, producing planning and design documents and presentations appropriate to a diversity of audiences and purposes.
- Demonstrate the application of industry-standard design and planning software.
- Demonstrate ecological whole-system thinking by asking questions about, drawing links between, and making recommendations about the relationships between cultural practices, the built environment, geology, soils, hydrology, topography, vegetation, wildlife, sun, and other environmental conditions and processes.
- Demonstrate intellectual flexibility, emotional resilience, the ability to collaborate, and perseverance in the face of uncertainty and incomplete knowledge.
- Demonstrate the application of ecological design and planning principles to critical social challenges, including climate change and social and environmental injustice.