Writing Good Learning Outcomes

1. Writing Good Learning Outcomes Catherine Wehlburg, Ph.D. Office for Assessment & Quality Enhancement

2. What are Student Learning Outcomes? • Student learning outcomes (SLOs) are statements that specify • what students will know, • be able to do or • be able to demonstrate when they have completed or participated in a program/activity/course/project. • Outcomes are usually expressed as knowledge, skills, attitudes or values.

3. SLOs Should Focus on: • What you want your students to know at the end of a course, program, or major • What you want your students to understand at the end of a course, program, or major • What you want your students to have the ability to do at the end of a course, program, or major

4. Why are Student Learning Outcomes Important? • Communicate expectations to learners • Act as a template for course design • Guide selection/design of appropriate assessments

5. Why are Student Learning Outcomes Important? • Allow educators to match teaching strategies to stated outcomes • Allow faculty, staff, and Institutional researchers to assess the impact of instruction • Clearly communicate graduates’ skills to prospective employers • Provide benchmarks for formative, summative and prior learning assessment

6. How Many Student Learning Outcomes Should There Be? • A course, program, or major should have as many outcomes as necessary to clearly reflect what students will learn. • Ideally, each course, program, or major should have 1-5 learning outcomes.

7. Components of a Student Learning Outcome • Student Learning Behavior-Knowledge, skill, or attitude to be gained • The Method of Assessment- conditions of performance • Criteria for achievement- the levels of acceptable performance

8. Are Your SLOs S.M.A.R.T.? • Specific -Clear and definite terms describing the abilities, knowledge, values, attitudes, and performance • Measurable -It is feasible to get data: data are accurate and reliable; it can be assessed in more than one way • Aggressiveand Attainable -The outcome has the potential to move the program or unit forward • Results – oriented -Describe what standards are expected from students or the functional area being assessed • Time-bound -Describe a specified time period for accomplishing the outcome From Peter Drucker, 1954

9. 7 Steps for Creating Student Learning Outcomes Step 1 Faculty/Staff Meeting or form a committee and begin brainstorming about what an ideal student/graduate should know, understand, or have the ability to do. Step 2 Draft a list of outcomes based on the discussion from the “ideal student/graduate” discussion Step 3 List appropriate student learning outcomes on every course syllabus

10. 7 Steps for Creating Student Learning Outcomes (cont’d) Step 4 Gather and report feedback from faculty, staff, and students on how well the outcomes have been addressed. Step 5 Assess student learning (assignments, projects, quizzes, etc.)

11. 7 Steps for Creating Student Learning Outcomes (cont’d) Step 6 Meet with faculty and staff at the end of the semester of academic year to discuss data and revise the list of outcomes, teaching strategies, and curriculum. Step 7 Repeat steps as often as needed.

12. Formulate statements of intended learning outcomes Discuss and use assessment results to improve learning Develop or select assessment measures Create experiences leading to outcomes The Assessment Process (Huba & Freed, 2000)

13. Bloom’s Taxonomy • Benjamin Bloom - formulated a classification of "the goals of the educational process". • Three "domains" of educational activities were identified. • Cognitive Domain, involves knowledge and the development of intellectual attitudes and skills. • The other domains are the Affective Domain and the Psychomotor Domain

14. Bloom’s Taxonomy Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives Developed by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950’s Means of expressing qualitatively different kinds of thinking Adapted for classroom use as a planning tool Continues to be one of the most universally applied models

15. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy • Provides a way to organize thinking skills into six levels, from the most basic to the higher order levels of thinking • 1990s- Lorin Anderson (former student of Bloom) revisited the taxonomy • As a result, a number of changes were made (Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, pp. 7-8)

16. Original Terms New Terms • Creating • Evaluating • Analyzing • Applying • Understanding • Remembering Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge (Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 8)

17. BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMYCreating -Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing thingsEvaluating -Justifying a decision or course of actionAnalysing -Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationshipsApplying -Using information in another familiar situationUnderstanding -Explaining ideas or conceptsRemembering -Recalling information

18. Template for Writing SLOs The student will be able to (specific student behavior) ______________________________________________________ as measured by (conditions of performance – could include time frame) ______________________________________________________ at the ______________________________________ level (performance criteria).

19. Questions?