Writing expected goals
workshop
Expected outcome of this workshop
The faculty and staff of Isothermal Community College will able to
identify and write expected goals for students in the areas of academic
programs, continuing education, and student services.
SACSCOC Section 8: Student Achievement
•
8.1 The institution identifies, evaluates, and publishes goals and
outcomes for student achievement appropriate to the institution’s
mission, the nature of the students it serves, and the kinds of programs
offered. The institution uses multiple measures to document student
success.
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SACSCOC Section 8: Student Achievement
8.2 The institution identifies expected outcomes, assess the extent to which
it achieves these outcomes, and provides evidence of seeking improvement
based on analysis of the results in the areas of:
a.
b.
c.
Student learning outcomes for each of its educational programs.
Student learning outcomes for collegiate-level general education
competencies of its undergraduate degree programs.
Academic and student services that support student success.
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What are Expected outcomes?
Expected outcomes are the information and knowledge that a students should obtain
or the skills the student should be able to demonstrate upon completion of a course.
A good learning outcome describes an observable behavior that can be measured
within a specific time frame (by the end of a course or by the time the student
graduates).
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Expected outcomes should…
•
Be clearly stated and relate specifically to the topics, assignments, exams, and
other assessments in the course.
•
Align with the mission and values of the program, department, division, and
institution.
•
Focus on learning resulting from the student doing/knowing/thinking rather than
learning from the activity itself.
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Expected outcomes should…
•
Seek to enhance skills and abilities central to professional standards of
excellence.
•
Are general enough to capture important learning, but clear and specific
enough to be measurable.
•
Be outlined in the course syllabus, reviewed with students at the
beginning of the course, and referenced throughout the course.
•
Be assessed and reviewed regularly.
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Outcome writing criteria
Meaningful: How does the outcome support ICC’s mission or goal?
Manageable: What is needed to foster the achievement of the outcome?
Measurable: How will you know if the outcome is achieved? What is the
assessment method?
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Expected outcomes should be S.M.A.R.T.
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Specific: Make learning objectives as specific, focused, and clear as possible –
general outcomes will be hard to measure! They should indicate a clear action.
•
Measurable or observable: Learning objectives should be written in terms of
observable, behavioral outcomes. Include features that will help you know whether
the objective has been achieved.
•
Achievable: Make sure they are achievable within the time of the eLearning course.
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Realistic: Should be supported by the appropriate tools and resources.
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Time-bound: They should specify a timeframe for action
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Common mistakes when writing outcomes
•
Describe program outcomes, rather than learning outcomes. DO NOT WRITE
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES THAT DO NOT ALIGN WITH PROGRAM
OUTCOMES!
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People don't use Bloom's taxonomy verbs and instead use vague terms like appreciate,
become aware of/familiar with, know, learn, value, use, and understand
•
Too vast/complex, too wordy
•
Multiple outcomes in one learning outcome statement (the word “and” is usually a clue!)
•
Not specific enough (e.g., effective communication skills)
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Bloom’s taxonomy and writing outcomes
Bloom's taxonomy is a powerful tool to help develop learning objectives
because it explains the process of learning. Before you can understand a
concept, you must remember it. To apply a concept you must first
understand it. In order to evaluate a process, you must have analyzed it
Remember
Understand
Apply
Bloom’s taxonomy and writing outcomes
There are 6 hierarchical levels that help instructors to develop tasks and
questions and provide feedback on student work. The six levels are:
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
For each level the following information is provided:
• Description of the level.
• Keywords that exemplify the level and questions that focus on that same critical
thinking level. Use the keywords as guides to structuring questions and tasks.
• Questions that provide prompts for critical thinking within the cognitive
domain. The results will be improved attention to detail, increased
comprehension and expanded problem solving skills.
• Assessment to help guide culminating projects.
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Pedagogy Wheel
Pedagogy wheel- Remember/understand
Outcomes written in the section
involve the student’s ability to:
• Define terms
• Identify facts
• Recall information
Example: Upon completing this
workshop, instructors will be able to
explain what a learning outcome is.
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Pedagogy wheel- Apply
Outcomes written in this section
involve the student’s ability to:
• Demonstrate learned procedures
• Apply learned concepts
Example: Upon completing this
workshop, instructors will be able to
write a learning outcome.
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Pedagogy wheel- analyze
Outcomes written in this section involve
the student’s ability to:
• Differentiate between concepts
• Determine relationships between
concepts
• Recognize the organization of
content
Example: Upon completing this
workshop, instructors will be able to
differentiate between a learning
outcome and a learning goal.
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Pedagogy wheel- evaluate
Outcomes written in this section involve
the student’s ability to:
• Judge material based on criteria
• Judge content reliability, accuracy,
quality, effectiveness
• Reach informed decisions
Example: Upon completing this
workshop, instructors will be able to
select learning activities that will help
students reach the learning outcomes.
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Pedagogy wheel- create
Outcomes written in this section
involve the student’s ability to:
• Generate ideas based off of
learned material
• Design a product
Example: Upon completing this
workshop, instructors will be able to
create an assessment that will
evaluate whether students reached
the learning outcome.
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“red Flag” words
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There are some words that are
NOT measurable and should
never be used when writing
outcomes. There is no way to
know if a students “appreciates”
or “grasps” a learning concept.
Using these words will also make
the outcome too broad and
unattainable for some students.
Know
Think
Understand
Grasp th significance of
Be aware of
Appreciate
Remember
Learn
Comprehend
Perceive
ABCD STRUCTURE OF A LEARNING OUTCOME
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AUDIENCE- Who does the expected outcome pertain to?
•
BEHAVIOR- What do you expect the audience to know/be able to do? This
needs to include an action verb to describe the learning, chosen from Bloom’s
Taxonomy.
•
CONDITION- Under what conditions or circumstances will the learning occur?
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DEGREE- How much will be accomplished, how well will the behavior need to be
performed, and to what level?
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Academic program expected outcome example
CONDITION
AUDIENCE
BEHAVIOR
DEGREE
By the end of the semester, students will be able to demonstrate effective communication skills through interaction with patients.
Under what
conditions or
circumstances will
the learning occur?
Within what time
frame should the
students know
this?
Who does
the expected
outcome
pertain to?
What do you
expect the
audience to
know/be able to
do?
How much will be
accomplished, how
well will the
behavior need to
be performed, and
to what level?
CURRICULUM MAP
•
A curriculum map is a visual layout of a course’s education standards
and the resources that should be used to address those standards in
the classroom.
•
Curriculum maps should be used to outline a course's requirements and
expected outcomes and the steps that will be implemented to meet these
requirements and outcomes.
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Curriculum map
Curriculum Map
(Academic Programs)
Module
The
The module
module
name
name goes
goes in
in
this
this column.
column.
One
One module
module
per
per row.
row.
CSLO
List
List CSLO
CSLO that
that are
are
applicable
applicable
MSLO
List
List MSLO
MSLO
applicable
applicable to
to this
this
module.
module.
Resources
Learning Activities &
Assessments
Resources
Resources that
that will
will be
be used
used to
to
present
present the
the content
content for
for this
this
module.
module. Make
Make sure
sure to
to link
link to
to
the
the CSLO
CSLO and
and MSLO.
MSLO.
List
List the
the learning
learning activities
activities (graded
(graded and
and nonnongraded)
graded) for
for this
this module.
module. Make
Make sure
sure to
to link
link to
to the
the
CSLO
CSLO and
and MSLO.
MSLO. For
For graded
graded learning
learning
activities,
activities, describe
describe any
any type
type of
of assessment
assessment
used
used to
to measure
measure MSLO
MSLO and
and CSLO.
CSLO. Make
Make sure
sure
to
to identify
identify ifif the
the assessment
assessment is
is formative
formative or
or
summative.
summative.
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Curriculum map
Resources
Learning Activities
Assessments
Course-Level
Student Outcome
Module-Level Student
Learning
Outcome
The instructor will use the
resources, learning
activities, and
assessment, both
formative and summative,
to increase the chances
of the students reaching
the expected outcomes.