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Teaching Commons BBL: STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESSeptember 17 2012

Celia Popovic, Director Teaching Commons

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Learning Outcomes for this BBL

By the end of this session participants will be able to:

• Describe the constituent parts of learning outcomes

• Explain why a course director might choose to use them

• Write effective learning outcomes designed to influence student learning

• Link outcomes at course, unit and program level

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Advantages• Makes learning explicit

• Helps students identify whether the course is right for them

• Helps employers or other education providers understand what a student should have learnt

• Keeps assessment on track

• Helps colleagues plan precursor or successor courses

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Potential disadvantages• Prescriptive – may narrow the experience

• Where is the love of learning?

• What if students learn other things not listed - is this wrong?

• Standardization takes away from the art of teaching

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Cognitive Domain• Recall data

• Understand

• Apply (use)

• Analyse (structure elements)

• Synthesize (create/build)

• Evaluate (assess, judge in relational terms)

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Example of Content LO• By the end of this course, students will be able to

categorize macroeconomic policies according to the economic theories from which they emerge.

• By the end of this unit, students will be able to describe the characteristics of the three main types of geologic faults (dip-slip, transform, and oblique) and explain the different types of motion associated with each.

(taken from University of Toronto website - http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/topics/coursedesign/learning-outcomes/examples.htm)

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Affective attitude• Receive (awareness)

• Respond (react)

• Value (understand and act)

• Organize personal value system

• Internalize value system (adopt behaviour)

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Example of Values LO • By the end of this course, students will be able to work

cooperatively in a small group environment.

• By the end of this course, students will be able to identify their own position on the political spectrum.

(taken from University of Toronto website - http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/topics/coursedesign/learning-outcomes/examples.htm)

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Psychomotor skills• Imitation (copy)

• Manipulation (follow instructions)

• Develop precision

• Articulation (combine, integrate related skills)

• Naturalization (automate, become expert)

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Example of Skills LO• By the end of this course, students will be able to ask

questions concerning language usage with confidence and seek effective help from reference sources.

• By the end of this course, students will be able to analyze qualitative and quantitative data, and explain how evidence gathered supports or refutes an initial hypothesis.

(taken from University of Toronto website - http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/topics/coursedesign/learning-outcomes/examples.htm)

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Vague LO

By the end of this course, students will have added to their understanding of the complete research process.

(taken from University of Toronto website - http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/topics/coursedesign/learning-outcomes/examples.htm)

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Better LOBy the end of this course, students will be able to:

•       describe the research process in social interventions

•       evaluate critically the quality of research by others

•       formulate research questions designed to test, refine, and build theories

•       identify and demonstrate facility in research designs and data collection strategies that are most appropriate to a particular research project

•       formulate a complete and logical plan for data analysis that will adequately answer the research questions and probe alternative explanations

•       interpret research findings and draw appropriate conclusions

(taken from University of Toronto website - http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/topics/coursedesign/learning-outcomes/examples.htm)

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Learning Outcomes Good SLOs are SMART (adapted from Institute for Evidence-Based Change, Presentation from the Ontario Tuning Process Workshop, November 17th, 2011):

• Student centred - focussed on the learner, not the instructor

• Measurable - should express the intended learning in a form that can be assessed (in the US over 200 institutions are voluntarily participating in the Collegiate Learning Assessment or CLA) – i.e., they need to be realistic

• Action oriented - use active language (see Hand-out on Bloom’s taxonomy) – verbs should also reflect level of understanding required

• Results driven - emphasize application and integration now and for the future

• Tailored to a specific degree level – should reflect what the program is about

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Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)Avoid pitfalls (revised from: Institute for Evidence-Based Change, Presentation at the Ontario Tuning Process Workshop, November 17th, 2011]:

• Wordy statements (be concise)

• Stacked outcomes (avoid too many outcomes in a single statement)

• Procedural statements (focus on outcomes, not processes)

• Outcomes that cannot be measured (this does not assume quantitative measures but it does assume specific observable outcomes)

• Vague language - verbs like “understand, demonstrate, or discuss” because they are open to multiple interpretations

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Plan a 3 hour course:• How to buy a house in Canada

• How to be an affective hotel receptionist

• Motor maintenance 101

• Shoe repair

• Planning a holiday of a lifetime or a wedding

• Getting the most from your digital video recorder

• How to select the best school for your child

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Degree Level Expectations - DLEs• Depth and breadth of knowledge

• Knowledge of methodologies

• Application of knowledge

• Communication skills

• Awareness of limits of knowledge

• Autonomy and professional capacity

See link http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/postsec/oqf.pdf for Ontario Qualifications Framework (based on degree level expectations)

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Defining CompetenciesCompetencies are:

• The broad statements about what students will know when they complete a program – you can think about competences about the knowledge, skills and/or values that are developed by and that belong to the student (Tuning Educational Structures in Europe. A Guide to Formulating Degree Programme Profiles, Jenneke Lokhoff et al., eds. 2010:21)

• Competences are not necessarily measurable and typically involve a definition

• Illustration: Start with the name of the competence and then add a short definitiono Communication or communication skills? Definition: the ability to

communicate effectively with a range of people from different backgrounds

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Why? Evidence-Based Support for the Value of Curriculum Mapping

• Enhances integrity of academic programs (coherence of program and constructive alignment between the program, the courses and assessment)

• Student-centred approach to learning• Enhances quality of student learning experience • Makes program goals and qualifications more

transparent • Facilitates recognition of credentials across

universities/countries and therefore enhances portability of credentials

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Why? Continued…

• Supports lifelong learning/seamless education including pathways between colleges and universities

• Supports internationalization, joint/dual degrees• Focus on SLOs enhances potential for recognizing

prior learning (i.e., PLAR)• Assessment based on SLOs has been found to

reduce failure rates • Helps students and employers understand

knowledge and skills that can be expected

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Curriculum Mapping – the Program

CompetenceCompetence 1 Competence 2 Competence 3

Courses/StudentLearningOutcomes

Program Student Learning Outcomes

A B C D E F G HCourse 1 X X X

Course 2 X X X X

Course 3 X X

Course 4 X X X

Course 5 X X

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ReferencesBloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill and Krathwhol (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1, The cognitive domain, Allan and Bacon, Boston, MA.

Bloom, Krathwhol and Masia (1964) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Volume 2, The affective domain, Allan and Bacon, Boston, MA.

Dave, R.H. (1970) in R.J. Armstrong (Ed)Developing and Writing Behavioural Objectives, Educational Innovators Press, Tucson, AZ.

Institute for Evidence-Based Change, Ontario Tuning Process Workshop, November 17th, 2011

Ontario Qualifications Framework http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/postsec/oqf.pdf

Tuning Educational Structures in Europe. A Guide to Formulating Degree Programme Profiles, Jenneke Lokhoff et al., eds. 2010:21

University of Toronto – http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/topics/coursedesign/learning-outcomes/examples.htm