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Student Learning Outcomes. General Education Area Review Committees October 15, 2010. “ A University should be a place of light, of liberty, and of learning.” Benjamin Disraeli. Outline. Student Learning at Gustavus (What matters most?)
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Student Learning Outcomes General Education Area Review Committees October 15, 2010
“A University should be a place of light, of liberty, and of learning.” Benjamin Disraeli
Outline Student Learning at Gustavus (What matters most?) Student Learning Outcomes (What do we want our students to learn?) Evidence and Assessment of Student Learning (How do we know if our students have learned?) Accreditation and Student Learning Outcomes
“Among the public’s many expectations of higher education, the most basic is that students will learn,…” “Effective assessment is best understood as a strategy for understanding, confirming, and improving student learning.” From “Student Learning, Assessment, and Accreditation,”The Higher Learning Commission
“I approach teaching exactly the way I approach scientific research. I have clear goals. I have clear measurements. I figure out what the past research says and what the guiding principles are. I guide what I do by that, and I measure if it works. And if it doesn’t work, I try something different until it does.” Nobel laureate Carl Wieman, physicist and science educator
Student Learning Outcomes What matters MOST to you about student learning at Gustavus?
At the completion of this session, participants will: Define “student learning outcome”. Recognize student learning outcome statements. Translate knowledge, skills, abilities, and dispositions into student learning outcomes. Distinguish between student learning goal and student learning outcome. Formulate student learning outcomes for their general education area. Justify the role of student learning outcomes throughout the institution.
Student Learning Outcomes “Learning outcomes are statements describing our intentions about what students should know, understand, and be able to do with their knowledge when they have graduated.” Huba, M. E. & Freed, J. E. (2000). Learner-centered assessment on college campuses: Shifting the focus from teaching to learning. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Student Learning Outcomes Making connections throughout the institution
Of what value are clearly articulated Student Learning Outcomes? Provide direction for our instruction Inform students about our intentions and expectations Focus on lasting results Form a basis for our assessment
Student Learning Outcomes What is the difference between a learning goal and a learning outcome? Goal: “broad and long-term descriptions of learning expectations” Learning Outcome: “specific descriptions of expectations that…learners can demonstrate when they complete a course, program, or baccalaureate degree” Driscoll, A., & Wood, S. (2007) Developing Outcomes-Based Assessment for Learner-centered Education. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Student Learning Outcomes Goals and Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes Goals and Outcomes • GOALS • Broad • General • Abstract • Not easily validated • OUTCOMES • Narrow • Precise • Concrete • Can be validated
Student Learning Outcomes Example: Dental Health 101 • GOAL: • Understands proper dental hygiene • OUTCOMES • Outcome 1: Identify the active ingredient in toothpaste • Outcome 2: Explain why teeth should be cleaned twice a year • Outcome 3: Describe how poor dental hygiene can lead to poor overall health
Student Learning Outcomes Student Learning Outcomes Students will ( or will be able to): <<action verb>> <<learning object>> by <<criterion>>. Hatfield, S. “Going Rogue: What No One is Telling You About Assessment,” The Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. April 2010.
Student Learning Outcomes: Examples Journalism: Write a news story in the proper inverted pyramid format. Machine Technology: Demonstrate basic shop safety and safe attitudes in all class activities. Graphic Arts: Create visual sketches of a variety of fundamental graphic imaging techniques.
Student Learning Outcomes Student Learning Outcomes Learner-centered Specific Action oriented Cognitively appropriate for the program level Measurable Hatfield, S. “Going Rogue: What No One is Telling You About Assessment,” The Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. April 2010.
Levels of Cognitive Domain • Driscoll, A., & Wood, S. (2007) Developing Outcomes-Based • Assessment for Learner-centered Education. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Verbs associated with each level of the cognitive domain: • Driscoll, A., & Wood, S. (2007) Developing Outcomes-Based • Assessment for Learner-centered Education. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Student Learning Outcomes • Course Outcomes • Realistic, measurable • Relate to program outcomes • Connect courses to one another systematically • Build upon each other to create an integrated whole • Program Outcomes • Critical, broad • Knowledge and skills develop over time in increasing sophistication • Integrate skills and knowledge • Describe what all students will be able to do at completion Pagano, N. “Defining and Assessing Program Outcomes,” The Higher Learning Commission Assessment Workshop, Lisle, IL. 22 July, 2010.
Defining Student Learning Outcomes Initial question: What knowledge, skills, abilities, and dispositions should the ideal student (graduating from Gustavus) demonstrate (in this general education area)?
Defining Student Learning Outcomes Activity The College of Lake Wobegon “where all the students are above average”
Student Learning Outcomes Defining Student Learning Outcomes Activity Learner-centered Specific Action oriented Cognitively appropriate for the program level Measurable Hatfield, S. “Going Rogue: What No One is Telling You About Assessment,” The Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. April 2010.
Student Learning Outcomes Analyze the economic, environmental, and societal effects of farmers markets on the prairie culture. Evaluate the factors of production sustaining the prairie economy. Demonstrate organization of a potluck dinner. Develop skills in researching the historical context of prairie life. Demonstrate mastery of nonconfrontational rhetoric through conflict free debate.
At the completion of this session, participants will: Define “student learning outcome”. Recognize student learning outcome statements. Translate knowledge, skills, abilities, and dispositions into student learning outcomes. Distinguish between student learning goal and student learning outcome. Formulate student learning outcomes for their general education area. Justify the role of student learning outcomes throughout the institution.
Assessment Cycle (Spiral) adapted from Assessing for Learning (2004) by Peggy L. Maki
Examples of Evidence of Student Learning Direct Indirect Surveys National surveys Local surveys Program/dept surveys • Performance-Based • Assignments • Projects • Portfolios • Papers • Perceptions • Exams and Tests • Standardized exams • Local exams • Licensure exams
SLIDE CATEGORY TITLE The Higher Learning Commission Criteria for Accreditation Criterion One: Mission and Integrity Criterion Two: Preparing for the Future Criterion Three: Student Learning and Effective Teaching Criterion Four: Acquisition, Discovery, and Application of Knowledge Criterion Five: Engagement and Service
The Higher Learning Commission Criteria for AccreditationAddressing Student Learning Outcomes Criterion Three Statement: The organization provides evidence of student learning and teaching effectiveness that demonstrates it is fulfilling its institutional mission. Core Component 3a. The organization’s goals for student learning outcomes are clearly stated for each educational program and make effective assessment possible.
Student Learning Outcomes What do we want our students to learn? How do we know if our students are learning (what we want them to learn)? That’s what it’s all about!!
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES A little learning is a dangerous thing;Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,And drinking largely sobers us again. Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (1711)