Developing Learning Outcomes
Course-Level Student Learning Outcomes
Course learning outcomes answer the question: What will students be able to do as a result of this course?
Learning outcomes communicate expectations, structure learning, and guide instruction and assessment. Students benefit from courses that include a range of cognitive processes, from relatively simple tasks like remembering or understanding information to more complex thinking, such as critically analyzing information, completing a project, or creating new knowledge. Consider how you might incorporate activities involving a variety of thinking skills. The Sheridan Center also provides a guide for establishing learning goals. Course outcome statements should:
be student-centered rather than instructor- or content-centered,
articulate what students should be able to do after completing the course,
focus on the learning that results from the course rather than describing activities or lessons,
be most critical to success in the course (more detailed objectives can be developed for individual modules),
focus on overarching or general knowledge and/or skills,
incorporate various ways for students to actively show success (outlining, describing, modeling, depicting, etc.) rather than using a single statement, such as “at the end of the course, students will understand _______ “.
Many faculty have found the following construct helpful: Students should be able to... (+ action) (+ resulting evidence).
Example
Students will be able to think critically and analytically by (1) evaluating observational and experimental data, (2) evaluating interpretation of data, and (3) empirically assessing hypotheses about animal behavior.
Module Learning Outcomes
Module learning outcomes are stated at the beginning of each module/section and prepare students for what they will do in the module/section by expressing the result that should be achieved at the end. They are more specific than course outcomes and should include criteria for acceptable performance. For example,
You will be able to conduct a study to show how zoo animals use their exhibit using time point sampling.
You will be able to design a marketing strategy using social media for a new prescription drug for a specific population.
Outcomes focus on what successful learning produces for the student. Traditionally, however, teachers have tended to state objectives that express the process, what students will do as a learning activity. For example,
Analyze the alternative pricing strategies and the reasons for their use in multinational healthcare organizations.
Research your organization's' culture and its approach to implementation and change management.
Both are acceptable but the outcome statements may have more relevance and meaning for students because they address the purpose of the learning.
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives provides examples of lower- and higher-order thinking involved in a variety of learning activities.
Essential Questions
In addition to stating what students should be able to do after the module or course, you could also stimulate their thinking at the outset by asking open-ended questions, whose answers flow, in effect, from realizing the stated outcomes.
Additional Reading
PROFESSOR PROFILE: How to Build Student Confidence and Grit Through Backward Design, Experiential Learning, Harvard Business Publishing, Education.
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