Student Learning Outcomes 101: Basics for Curriculum Chairs and SLO Beginners

1. Student Learning Outcomes 101: Basics for Curriculum Chairs and SLO Beginners Marcy Alancraig, Cabrillo College Janet Fulks, Bakersfield College Lynne Miller, MiraCosta College Janice Tomson, Long Beach City College Bob Turner, MiraCosta College

2. Today’s Questions What’s an SLO? How is it different from an objective? How do you evaluate how well one is written? How many should a course have? Do SLO’s belong in the COR? How do you get started assessing SLO’s? How do SLO’s relate to student services?

3. Today’s Goals • Demystify the process

4. Today’s Goals • Demystify the process • Develop a common vocabulary

5. Today’s Goals • Demystify the process • Develop a common vocabulary • Help you to assess the quality of SLO’s

6. Today’s Outcomes After completing this workshop, curriculum committee chairs and faculty will be able to recognize good SLO’s, and explain how dialogue about SLO’s and assessment can help to improve curriculum.

7. Things to Remember

8. Things to Remember • There is a lot of room for variation.

9. Things to Remember • There is a lot of room for variation. • It is an iterative process.

10. Things to Remember • There is a lot of room for variation. • It is an iterative process. • The process thrives on dialogue!

11. Things to Remember • There is a lot of room for variation. • It is an iterative process. • The process thrives on dialogue! • It is all about student learning.

12. ACCJC Expectations for Instructional Assessment in 2010

13. ACCJC Expectations for Instructional Assessment in 2010 SLO’s widely spread across courses, programs, and the institution.

14. ACCJC Expectations for Instructional Assessment in 2010 SLO’s widely spread across courses, programs, and the institution. Complete feedback loops (assessment used to inform curricular revision, as needed).

15. ACCJC Expectations for Instructional Assessment in 2010 SLO’s widely spread across courses, programs, and the institution. Complete feedback loops (assessment used to inform curricular revision, as needed). Faculty designed processes (with evidence of broad faculty input).

16. The Assessment Process  Plan-Do-Review 1. Establish goals and missions For courses and programs 6. Use results to refine instruction (close the feedback loop) 2. Write intended Student Learning Outcomes (SLO’s) Student Learning 5. Evaluate assessment results 3. Develop means of assessment and criteria for success for evaluating SLO’s 4. Incorporate SLO’s And assessment tasksinto instruction

17. “Refining Instruction” Refining instruction (i.e., closing the feedback loop) can be accomplished in a number of ways, including

18. “Refining Instruction” Refining instruction (i.e., closing the feedback loop) can be accomplished in a number of ways, including • revising SLO’s

19. “Refining Instruction” Refining instruction (i.e., closing the feedback loop) can be accomplished in a number of ways, including • revising SLO’s • revising assessment methods

20. “Refining Instruction” Refining instruction (i.e., closing the feedback loop) can be accomplished in a number of ways, including • revising SLO’s • revising assessment methods • revising instruction (e.g., more chances for students to practice the desired outcome)

21. Remember: The assessment process doesn’t require anything that good teachers don’t already do!

22. Good teachers . . . • develop expectations for what their students will learn, • design curriculum to meet those goals, • design assignments appropriate to the curriculum, • assess student success, • revise instruction as needed.

23. How is this process different?

24. How is this process different? This process . . . formalizes assessment (all instructors in a given course participate; students across sections are assessed on agreed upon learning and standards),

25. How is this process different? This process . . . makes assessment more transparent (all faculty and students know what students are expected to learn),

26. How is this process different? This process . . . makes collaborative decisions about the desired outcomes of learning (SLO’s and assessments are the product of discourse among discipline experts).

27. How is this process different? This process . . . facilitates alignment of instruction (SLO’s are aligned with prerequisites and program requirements).

28. Student Learning Outcomes (see workbook)

29. Questions that Drive Outcomes Assessmentand the Writing ofStudent Learning Outcomes

30. Questions that Drive Outcomes Assessment What must my students be able to do “outthere” with what they’ve learned “in here”? “in here” is the classroom. “out there” is wherever our students go after they take our classes – the next course in a sequence, a transfer institution, a career.

31. Questions that Drive Outcomes Assessment How do we know students can do what we expect them to with what they’ve learned?

32. Questions that Drive Outcomes Assessment How do we know students can do what we expect them to with what they’ve learned? How can we use that information to improve learning in future semesters?

33. Important to Remember

34. Important to Remember Different courses emphasize different learning domains (i.e., cognitive, affective, psychomotor).

35. Important to Remember Different courses emphasize different GE-level outcomes (e.g., critical thinking, aesthetic appreciation).

36. Important to Remember Outcomes should be consistent across sections of a given course (both on-ground and on-line).

37. But . . . • Individual faculty determine the scope of instruction (i.e., SLO’s do not limit what can be covered in a class).

38. But . . . • Individual faculty determine the scope of instruction (i.e., SLO’s do not limit what can be covered in a class). • Individual faculty determine how students are taught.

39. But . . . • Individual faculty determine the scope of instruction (i.e., SLO’s do not limit what can be covered in a class). • Individual faculty determine how students are taught. • Individual faculty determine how assessment scores will impact students’ grades for their classes.

40. SLO – a Working Definition A student learning outcome is what students can do at the end of instruction with the knowledge they have gained.

41. Strong SLO’s . . . (see workbook)

42. Strong SLO’s . . . • use language with active verbs (e.g., analyze, interpret, distinguish), with an emphasis on Bloom’s higher order thinking skills,

43. Strong SLO’s . . . • use language with active verbs (e.g., analyze, interpret, distinguish), with an emphasis on Bloom’s higher order thinking skills, • are measurable or observable,

44. Strong SLO’s . . . • use language with active verbs (e.g., analyze, interpret, distinguish), with an emphasis on Bloom’s higher order thinking skills, • are measurable or observable, • combine discrete skills into an overarching task,

45. The best SLO’s also . . . explicitly or implicitly address the conditions under which the performance will be assessed (e.g., simulation, case study),

46. The best SLO’s also . . . explicitly or implicitly address the criteria, or primary traits, to be used in assessing student performance (e.g., design a sales plan that includes . . .),

47. The best SLO’s also . . . are generally amenable to assessment using a scoringrubric. • Adapted from Kari Tucker & Jerry Rudmann

48. Objectives vs. Outcomes ObjectivesOutcomes Discrete, teachable Combine discrete skills, tools, or content objectives into (the nuts and bolts) overarching results Can be numerous Limited in number

49. Objectives vs. Outcomes • Some objectives may already use “outcomes language.”

50. Objectives vs. Outcomes • Some objectives may already use “outcomes language.” • Some objectives may feed multiple SLO’s.