Developing Course-Level Learning
Outcomes: Enhancing Learning
Through Shared Expectations
A Workshop Hosted by:
The College of Arts and Science,
the Thompson Center for Learning and Teaching, and
the Assistant Provost for Assessment and Institutional
Accreditation
December 1, 2006
University of Michigan-Flint
Agenda:
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Introduction (Definitions and Objectives)
Working Lunch (Critique and Share)
Writing Well Stated Outcomes
One Framework: Bloom’s Taxonomy
Independent Work 1:
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Articulating your course objectives and outcomes
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Course Alignment
 Independent Work 2:
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Specifying Teaching & Learning Activities
Stating Assessments of Student Learning
Beyond Course Alignment
Why transform to a language of
assessment?
 Specific
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learning outcomes lead to:
More measurable outcomes
Better assessment
Higher quality feedback
Improved courses and programs
Improved student learning and
achievement
Alignment Within Courses
Design Backward
Intended
Learning
Outcomes of
the Lesson
Deliver Forward
Intended
Learning
Outcomes of
the Unit
Intended
Learning
Outcomes of
the Course
The Language of Assessment
Outcomes Based Assessment: A process
by which you
1. determine the indicators of an effective
program,
2. use those indicators as criteria for
assessing the program, and
3. apply the results of the assessment
toward the ongoing and continuous
improvement of the program.
Objectives vs. Outcomes1
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Program/course objectives are general goals that
define what it means to be an effective program/course.
They are general, indefinite, and not intended to be
measured. They set the overall agenda for the
program/course.
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Student learning outcomes are specific results the
program/course seeks to achieve in order to attain the
general goals defined in the objectives. Outcomes are
definite and intended to be measured. They establish
the particular means by which the agenda (as defined by
objectives) is achieved. The achievement of outcomes
is evidence that our students are learning.
Direct vs. Indirect Assessment1
 Direct
assessment of learning: gathers
evidence, based on student performance,
which demonstrates the learning itself.

Examples: most classroom testing for grades
or evaluation of a research paper on specific
criteria
 Indirect
assessment of learning: gathers
reflection about the learning or secondary
evidence of its existence.

Examples: student, alumni, employer surveys
Assessment is not always an “add-on”1
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Embedded assessment: a means of gathering
information about student learning that is built
into, and is a natural part of the teachinglearning process.
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Example: as part of a course, expecting each senior
to complete a research paper that is graded for
content and style, but is also assessed for advanced
ability to locate and evaluate Web-based information
(as part of a program level, or a college-wide outcome
to demonstrate information literacy).
Formative vs. Summative
Assessment 1
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Formative assessment: the gathering of
information about student learning - during the
progression of a course or program and usually
repeatedly - to improve the learning of current
students.
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Summative assessment: the gathering of
information at the conclusion of a course,
program, or undergraduate career to improve
learning of the next cohort of students or to meet
accountability demands.
Accountability and
Improvement1
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Assessment for accountability: assessment of
some unit (could be a department, program or
entire institution) to satisfy stakeholders external
to the unit itself. Results are often compared
across units, compared to state and national
norms, and always summative.
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Assessment for improvement: assessment
that feeds directly, and often immediately, back
into revising the course, program or institution to
improve student learning results. This can be
formative or summative.
Levels of Assessment
1
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Assessment of individuals: uses the individual student,
and his/her learning, as the level of analysis.
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Assessment of programs: uses the department or
program as the level of analysis. Ideally program goals
and objectives would serve as the basis for the
assessment.
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Assessment of institutions: uses the institution as the
level of analysis. Ideally, institution-wide goals and
objectives would serve as a basis for the assessment.
At this level it is essential to examine institutional
documents such as mission and vision statements, as
well as strategic plans.
Lunch Activity
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Share your experiences with writing learning
outcomes for courses or programs with those at
your table.
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Describe questions/challenges you face
Review the syllabi provided
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What do you like/not like with respect to the learning
outcomes in each syllabus?
Use Worksheet 1 (blue) to make individual
observations and the same worksheet (buff) for
collective observations
Characteristics of Well Stated
2
Learning Outcomes
student-focused
rather than professor focused
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
Common Problems with
Learning Outcomes
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Using vague terms, such as:
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Appreciate
Become aware of
Become familiar with
Develop
Know
Learn
Understand
Describing action taken by someone other than
the learner.
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“The program will...” or
“The course will…”
A Comparison of Poorly and Well
Stated Outcomes
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Students will understand
Erikson’s developmental
stages.
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Students will identify and
summarize each of Erikson’s
stages of development.
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Students will be familiar with
the major sociological
perspectives and how they
relate to their daily lives.
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Students will describe each of
the major sociological
perspectives and will illustrate
how each perspective relates
to events in their daily lives.
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Students will develop the skills
necessary for conducting
research in the natural
sciences.
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Students will design, conduct,
and analyze a research project
using appropriate scientific
theory and methodology
Why Classify Learning
Outcomes?
 All
learning outcomes are not developed,
delivered, or measured equally
Learning Domains
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Three primary domains for classifying
educational goals:

Cognitive (knowledge)
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Affective (attitudes)
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Psychomotor (skills)
Bloom’s Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives3 (Cognitive domain)
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A now classic system that classifies educational
goals to facilitate the development and
evaluation of college and university curricula.
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A hierarchical taxonomy of student behaviors
that reflect the development of increasingly
complex cognitive abilities and skills as a result
of instructional experiences.
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive
Levels
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There are 6 categories, listed hierarchically from
simplest to most complex
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Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge4
 Definition:
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ability to remember information from
simple (facts, terminology) to more
complex/abstract (theories, principles)
 Student
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Learning Verbs:
List, name, identify, show, define,
recognize, recall, state, describe, label,
match, outline, reproduce, select
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge4
 Examples: Knowledge of dates,
events, places, major ideas, and
mastery of subject matter
 The

student will…
Define the 6 levels of Bloom’s
taxonomy of the cognitive domain
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension4
 Definition:
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ability to understand material at a level
sufficient for grasping its meaning and
inferring its implications
Translating, comprehending, or interpreting
information based on prior learning
 Student
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Learning Verbs:
Summarize, explain, interpret, describe,
compare, paraphrase, differentiate,
demonstrate, restate, illustrate
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Comprehension4
 Examples: Translates knowledge into
next context, interprets facts, compare and
contrast, order, group, infer, predict
 The

student will…
Explain the purpose of Bloom’s
taxonomy of the cognitive domain
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application4
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Definition:
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ability to correctly and independently bring to bear
abstractions (e.g., theories, principles, methods) in
solving concrete problems
The selection, transfer, and use of data and principles
to complete a task with a minimum of direction
Student Learning Verbs:
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Solve, illustrate, calculate, compute, use, interpret,
relate, manipulate, apply, classify, modify,
demonstrate, construct, discover, predict
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application4
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Examples: Use information, methods, concepts or
theories in new situations, solve problems using required
skills or knowledge
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The student will…
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Write an instructional objective for each level of
Bloom’s taxonomy of the cognitive domain
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Analysis4
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Definition:
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ability to parse information into is constituent
elements and to identify the relationships between
those elements
Student distinguishes, classifies, and relates the
assumptions hypotheses, evidence, or structure of a
statement or question
Student Learning Verbs:
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Analyze, organize, categorize, deduce, choose,
contrast, compare, distinguish, separate, differentiate,
discriminate
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Analysis4
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Examples: Seeing patterns, organization of parts,
recognition of hidden meanings, identification of
components
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The student will…
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Compare and contrast the cognitive and affective
domains as specified by Bloom
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Synthesis4
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Definition:
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ability to combine elements into new wholes (e.g.,
ideas, plans of action, abstract relations) that are
more than the sums of their respective parts
Student originates, integrates, and combines ideas
into a product, plan, or proposal that is new to him or
her.
Student Learning Verbs:
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Design, create, hypothesize, invent, develop, support,
schematize, write, report, discuss, plan, devise,
compare, construct, compose, generate
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Synthesis4
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Examples: Use old ideas to create new ones,
generalize from given facts, relate knowledge from
several areas
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The student will…
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Design a classification scheme for writing educational
objectives that combines the cognitive, affective, and
psychomotor domains.
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Evaluation4
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Definition:
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Ability to offer quantitative and qualitative judgments
about the value of ideas and methods
Student appraises, assesses, or critiques on a basis
of specific standards and criteria
Student Learning Verbs:
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Evaluate, choose, estimate, judge, defend, criticize,
justify, recommend, critique, interpret, support
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Evaluation4
 Examples: Compare and discriminate
between ideas, assess value of theories or
presentations, make choices based on reasoned
argument, verify value of evidence, recognize
subjectivity
 The

student will…
Judge the effectiveness of writing objectives
using Bloom’s taxonomy
Learning Outcomes by Bloom’s
Taxonomy
Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive
Categories
Course
Goals/Objectives
1. Introduce
students to
inferential
statistics
Unit/Lesson
Learning
Outcomes
1.a learn the
conceptual
foundations of
inference
Student Learning
Outcomes
1.a.1. Define the three
tenets of the Central
Limit Theorem
1.a.2. Describe three
key distributions
1.a.2. Combine to explain
the relationship between
the three distributions
ComKnow- prehen- Appliledge
sion cation
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
X
X
X
1.b Apply to confidence 1.b.1. Outcome
intervals
2. Introduce
students to
descriptive
statistics
1.c Test for difference
between means
1.c.1. Outcome
2.a Outcome
2.a.1. Outcome
2.b Outcome
2.b.1. Outcome
Note: While this worksheet accommodates 7 learning outcomes, your specific course will most likely have more than this single worksheet can
accommodate. The purpose of the worksheet is to provide a framework and not set parameters.
Alignment within a Given Course
Course-Level
Learning
Outcomes
Teaching and
Learning Activities
Assessments
of Student
Learning
The Next Step:
 Given
your student learning outcomes,
what specific tasks or activities will you
have students complete to promote
learning?
 Given these student learning outcomes,
how will you know when your students
have achieved the outcomes for that
lesson or course (what assessments will
you use)?
Teaching & Learning Activities by
Outcomes and Bloom’s Taxonomy
Student
Learning
Outcomes
Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Categories
Knowledge
Comprehension
1.a.1 Define the
three tenets of the
Central Limit
Theorem
Class lecture and
students will read
assigned chapter.
1.a.2. Describe three
key distributions
Class lecture and
students will read
assigned chapter.
1.a.3 Combine to
explain the
relationship between
the three
distributions
1.b.1 Outcome
1.c.1 Outcome
2.a.1 Outcome
2.b.1 Outcome
Application Analysis
Synthesis
In class, students will
calculate sample means
and construct a
sampling distribution.
Homework will reinforce
lesson.
Evaluation
Assessments by Outcomes and
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Student
Learning
Outcomes
Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Categories
Knowledge
Comprehension
1.a.1 Define the
three tenets of the
Central Limit
Theorem
Homework and
examination.
1.a.2. Describe three
key distributions
Homework and
examination.
1.a.3 Combine to
explain the
relationship between
the three
distributions
1.b.1 Outcome
1.c.1 Outcome
2.a.1 Outcome
2.b.1 Outcome
Application Analysis
Synthesis
Homework and
examination.
Evaluation
Beyond Course Alignment
Thinking “Globally”: Alignment of course level
learning outcomes:
 Sequentially
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How do my outcomes fit with those of more advanced
courses?
What do I expect students to have learned by the time
they when they enter this class?
Programmatically:
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How do all of the courses within a program’s
curriculum fit together?
How do the program curricula contribute to the
institutional outcomes?
Alignment Between Course Outcomes
and Institutional Outcomes
Design Backward
Intended
Learning
Outcomes of
the Lesson
Deliver Forward
Intended
Learning
Outcomes of
the Unit
Intended
Learning
Outcomes of
the Course
Intended
Learning
Outcomes of
the Academic
Program
Intended
Learning
Outcomes of
the Institution
Want to learn more?
Plan to participate in the
Assessment Summit,
January 12, 2007
References
Leskes (2002) “Beyond Confusion: An Assessment
Glossary,” Peer Review.
2 Huba and Freed. 2000. Learner-Centered
Assessment on College Campuses.
3 Bloom.1956. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives,
Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain
4 From Don Clark,
http://www.nwlink.com/~dpmc;arl/hrd/bloom.html, the
Learning Skills Program at the University of Victoria
(htttp://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/bloom.h
tml) , the Faculty Roles and Rewards Program at
Portland State University
(http://edtech.clas.pdx.edu/presentations/frr99/blooms.ht
m), and W. Huitt,
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/bloom.html.
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