Developing Course Outcomes
Definitions and Key Ideas
Prepared by Tim Placek
October 9, 2008
Basic Accreditation Definitions and Relationships
These definitions are adapted from Gloria M. Rogers & Jean K. Sando, Stepping Ahead: An
Assessment Plan Development Guide, Terre Haute, IN: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology,
1996, p. 14, and M. Dayne Aldridge & Larry D. Benefield, "A Model Assessment Plan," ASEE
Prism (May-June 1998) and “2008-2009 Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs,”
ABET.
Assessment – Assessment is one or more processes that identify, collect, and prepare data to
evaluate the achievement of program outcomes and program educational objectives.
Evaluation – Evaluation is one or more processes for interpreting the data and evidence
accumulated through assessment practices. Evaluation determines the extent to which program
outcomes or program educational objectives are being achieved, and results in decisions and
actions to improve the program.
Program Educational Objectives – Program educational objectives are broad statements that
describe the career and professional accomplishments that the program is preparing graduates to
achieve.
Program Outcomes – Program outcomes are narrower statements that describe what students are
expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation. These relate to the skills,
knowledge, and behaviors that students acquire in their matriculation through the program.
Course Objectives - Broad statements describing how a course will fulfill the program objectives
and thereby satisfy constituency needs. Course objectives are required by the university for
curriculum decisions and considerations. (See attachment CHEN 2100 Course Outline)
Course Outcomes - Statements describing the specific knowledge and skills students are
expected to acquire as a result of the course.
Constituency - A group of people the program intends to serve. The group may be considered to
have common expectations of the program. A degree program typically has multiple
constituencies. (These constituencies might include industry, the public, the state legislature,
etc.)
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Other Definitions of Course Outcomes (from various sources)
Statements of observable (measurable) student actions that serve as evidence of the knowledge,
skills and attitudes acquired in a course.
Course outcomes transform broad teaching objectives into specific student performance and
behaviors that demonstrate student learning and skill development.
Learning outcomes (course outcomes) are statements of what a student is expected to be able to
do as a result of successfully completing a course.
Characteristics of Course Outcomes
Program outcomes are not achieved “by chance or accident” but rather program outcomes are
achieved by carefully coordinating (designing) the curriculum’s content and delivery to develop
student knowledge, skills and abilities as described by course outcome statements. Therefore,
course outcomes provide the means by which program outcomes are achieved. This linking
needs to be specific and demonstrable (during the accreditation process).
Course outcomes are definite (specific) statements about the knowledge, skills and abilities
acquired by students taking the course.
Course outcomes establish the means by which the course objectives are achieved.
Course outcomes are intended to be measured (via assessment of written materials (exams,
homework, etc) or oral presentations. The actual measure of course outcomes is on a “need to
know basis.” One scenario might be a professor putting a particular problem on an exam
because he/she felt the students were not acquiring the knowledge, skill or ability under
consideration. Another scenario might be required “course embedded assessment”. Another
scenario might be the professor desiring to closely measure the learning occurring in the class.
The main point is that course outcomes must be written to strongly suggest a means of
measurement of knowledge, skill, or ability attainment.
Course outcomes are written using active verbs in association with subject matter covered
(topics). The verb(s) selected defines the degree of development of the skill or ability (from
simple knowledge to advanced analysis and evaluation). The verb also provides guidance in
defining the level at which the skill or ability will (could) be assessed.
Course outcomes address the issue of “Upon successful completion of this course, students
should be able to…” Course outcomes address major topics as opposed to very specific topics.
(A course outcome could address the student’s ability to “calculate the power requirements to
achieve a given flowrate in specified piping systems” but should not address an issue as narrow
as “define the friction factor”. Although having a student be able to define a term such as
friction factor could be a goal of a particular lecture, it is too narrow statement to be considered a
course outcome.
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Course outcomes SHOULD BE
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Student-focused (what a student learns to do) rather than professor focused (what a
professor teaches)
Focused on the learning resulting from an activity rather than on the activity itself
Focused on skills and abilities central to the discipline and based on professional
standards of excellence
General enough to capture important learning but clear and specific enough to be
measurable
Focused on aspects of learning that will develop and endure but that can be assessed in
some form now
Course outcomes SHOULD NOT:
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State outcomes in terms of instructional method
Example: “Teach students to write a persuasive essay.” The focus here is the
teacher and a particular instructional method rather than student behavior.
Be overly general
Example: “Student learn methods of research.” To assess this outcome, you
would need to specify methods of research and thus would write more specific
outcomes.
Describe course content
Example: “Students study the invention of the automobile.” How do we know the
students have studied? More importantly, what do we want them to know as a
result? This statement describes specific content rather than intended outcome.
Developing Course Outcomes
Consider the following questions when identifying (developing) course outcomes:
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What are the specific student behaviors, skills, and abilities that would tell you your
course goals are being achieved?
Ideally and briefly, what would a skeptic need (what evidence needs to be present) in
order to see that your students are achieving the major goals you have set out for them?
In your experience, what evidence tells you when students have met these outcomes?
To be useful, outcomes should contain these basic characteristics:
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Use verbs that describe an observable action
Use verbs that are not open to misinterpretation.
Indicate an appropriate level of attainment
Are measurable through one or more indicators
Comprehensively and meaningfully define the course
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Are realistic and achievable
Use clear and concise words to describe student behavior (skills and abilities)
Questions to guide faculty developing outcome statements:
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What general outcome are you seeking?
How would you know it (the outcome) if you saw it? (What will the student know or be
able to do?)
How will you help the students learn it?
How could you measure each of the desired behaviors?
Employing Bloom’s Taxonomy
By their nature (developing knowledge, capabilities and skills) course outcomes naturally imply
a hierarchy of learning and are well suited to employ Bloom’s Taxonomy during their writing.
Make sure your outcomes reach the desired cognitive level.
The following table shows these levels and the verbs that can be used to indicate that level in an
outcome.
Outcome Verbs at Each Bloom Taxonomy Level
Cognitive level
Knowledge
Illustrative verbs
arrange, define, describe, duplicate,
identify, label, list, match, memorize,
name, order, outline, recognize, relate,
recall, repeat, reproduce, select, state
Comprehension
classify, convert, defend, describe,
discuss, distinguish, estimate, explain,
express, extend, generalized, give
example(s), identify , indicate, infer,
locate, paraphrase, predict, recognize,
rewrite, report, restate, review, select,
summarize, translate
Apply, change, choose, compute,
demonstrate, discover, dramatize,
employ, illustrate, interpret,
manipulate, modify, operate, practice,
predict, prepare, produce, relate
Application
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Definition
1. Remembering
previously learned
information
2. Recalling or
remembering something
without necessarily
understanding, using, or
changing it
1. Grasping the meaning of
information
2. Understanding
something that has been
communicated without
necessarily relating it to
anything else
1. Applying knowledge to
actual situations
2. Using a general concept
to solve problems in a
particular situation; using
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
schedule, show, sketch, solve, use,
write
analyze, appraise, breakdown,
calculate, categorize, compare,
contrast, criticize, diagram,
differentiate, discriminate, distinguish,
examine, experiment, identify ,
illustrate, infer, model, outline, point
Out, question, relate, select, separate,
subdivide, test
arrange, assemble, categorize, collect,
combine, comply, compose, construct,
create, design, develop, devise,
explain, formulate, generate, plan,
prepare, propose, rearrange,
reconstruct, relate, reorganize, revise,
rewrite, set up, summarize, synthesize,
tell, write
appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose,
compare, conclude, contrast, defend,
describe, discriminate, estimate,
evaluate, explain, judge, justify,
interpret, relate, predict, rate, select,
summarize, support, value
learned material in new
and concrete situations
1. Breaking down objects
or ideas into simpler parts
and seeing how the parts
relate and are organized.
2. Breaking something
down into its parts; may
focus on identification of
parts or analysis of
relationships between
parts, or recognition of
organizational principles
1. Rearranging component
ideas into a new whole
2. Creating something new
by putting parts of different
ideas together to make a
whole.
1. Making judgments based
on internal evidence or
external criteria
2. Judging the value of
material or methods as they
might be applied in a
particular situation;
judging with the use of
definite criteria
Ideally, as the student progresses in the curriculum, there will be evidence of that the student is
acquiring higher-level learning skills. A table could be prepared for each course indicating the
fraction of outcomes at each level to demonstrate this.
Other Ideas and Issues
Consider the relevance of each course outcome to the program outcomes. The following
guidelines may be helpful in assigning the rating:
H (highly relevant): The students may benefit significantly from this course toward the outcome
(formal instruction, practice, assessment).
M (Moderately relevant): The students may benefit moderately from this course toward the
outcome (informal instruction, practice, assessment).
L (Somewhat relevant): The students may benefit to some extent from this course toward the
outcome and there are opportunities to observe this outcome (practice and assessment).
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AUBURN UNIVERSITY
COURSE SYLLABUS
1.
Course Number:
Course Title:
Credit Hours:
Prerequisites:
Corequisites:
CHEN 2100
PRINCIPLES OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
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CHEM 1110 or CHEM 1030, MATH 1610 or MATH 1710.
CHEM 1120 or CHEM 1040, MATH 1620 or MATH 1720, PHYS 1600
2.
Date Prepared: January 27, 2006
3.
Course Coordinator(s):
Mark E. Byrne, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
Christopher B. Roberts, Professor and Chair of Chemical Engineering
Robert P. Chambers, Professor of Chemical Engineering
4.
Required Textbook:
Felder and Rousseau, Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, 3e, John Wiley and Sons, 1998.
5.
Recommended References: Basic Principles and Calculations in Chemical Engineering, 7th Edition, D.M. Himmelblau,
Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2004.
6.
Course Description: Application of multicomponent material and energy balances to chemical processes involving
phase changes and chemical reactions. This course also involves application of spreadsheet analysis and process
engineering principles to multicomponent material and energy balances of chemical processes.
7.
Course Objectives: This course is intended to comprehensively investigate the solution of problems based on the
principles of material and energy balances. Students are expected to achieve understanding of fundamental concepts
and generalized patterns of solutions of a wide variety of chemical engineering problems. The laboratory emphasizes
problem solving skills, teamwork, and computer methods in material and energy balance problems.
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