Download Paper Learning Outcome Checklist

Paper Learning Outcome Checklist
A. Every Learning Outcome (LO) for a paper:
•
describes something that a student is expected to be able to do after they have passed the
paper.
In this context, every LO should make sense if preceded by the words “When a student1 has
successfully completed this paper, they should be able to:”. Put that phrase at the head of your list
of learning outcomes and then check that each outcome makes good sense when preceded by the
phrase.
•
begins with an active verb and expresses an action, activity, or behaviour that is able to be
directly observed or that produces a product that is able to be directly observed.
Begin a LO with a verb like “Design...”, “Propose..”, “Analyse…”, “Classify..”, “Transform..”,
“Appraise..”, “Evaluate..”, “Critique..”, or “Assess…” or “Estimate…”. (Verbs like
“Understand...”, “Appreciate...”, “Gain...”, “Apply…”, or “Exhibit...” are unlikely to be
accepted).
•
is assessed in an appropriate way (but is NOT, in itself, an assessment).
•
that relates to a student’s cognitive ability describes a higher-order cognitive ability (such as
analysis, synthesis, evaluation, or judgement appropriate to the level of paper)2.
The NZ Qualifications Framework clearly indicates that university degrees should develop these
higher-order abilities. Verbs like “List…”, “Recall…”, “Recognise…”, or “Identify…” are
unlikely to be accepted.
B. Every LO that is associated with a Learning Goal for a degree is assessed independently of
other LO’s in the paper.
It will be difficult for the College to meet AACSB standards if this is not done.
C. The set of LOs:
•
consists of between three and six items.
This seems to be best practice.
•
is consistent with the prescription of the paper.
•
covers 90% of the paper by major topics, by teaching activity, and by expected learner
activity.
Where possible, have one learning outcome for each major section or module of the course.
D. At least some of the LO’s clearly involve complex abstract ideas (e.g. theories).
The NZ Qualifications Framework clearly indicates that university degrees should develop the
ability to work with complex abstract ideas and to solve both complex and abstract problems.
1
When you are inserting your list of learning outcomes into a paper outline, administration guide, or study
guide substitute “you” for the words “a student” and “they” in this phrase.
2
Normally, the ability to “Apply…” abstract ideas (such as theories) will be acceptable whereas the ability to
“Apply…” straightforward procedures or techniques would not be acceptable.
Some background notes:
1. Massey University defines a Learning Outcome as “[A statement] of the knowledge, skills and
attitudes that students are expected to demonstrate as a result of successfully completing a course of
learning. Learning Outcomes are usually stated in terms of observable and/or measurable behaviour.”3
The College interprets “expected” in this context as “should be able” – thus an “expected learning
outcome” is a statement about what a successful student should be able to do at the end of a learning
activity. The operational definition that the College employs for paper learning outcomes is therefore:
“A learning outcome for a paper is a statement of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that a
student should be able to demonstrate after they have passed the paper. A learning outcome
for a paper is usually stated in terms of observable and/or measurable behaviour.”
2. Learning outcomes emerged into mainstream educational practice some 20 years ago, as a part of a
movement to “learner-centred” course design from the then typically “teacher-centred” approach.
Much of the literature on learning outcomes clearly presumes that they will be used with small units
of learning (e.g. a module or topic) rather than a unit the size and complexity of a paper. It seems that
the larger the unit of learning the more difficult it is to write a satisfactory set of learning outcomes
for the unit.
3. The use of learning outcomes is thought to have two main benefits:
a) Pedagogy will improve because the lecturer is obliged to consider the effect that they want to
achieve in the learner;
b) Learning will be more efficient because the learner will have a clearer idea of what they are
expected to achieve.
4. Some disadvantages of employing learning outcomes are believed to be:
a)
Curricula become excessively assessment-driven;
b)
Innovation in curriculum and pedagogy is stifled:
c)
Learning will be assessment-focussed and the incentive to explore diminished.
5. Most university-level learning outcomes focus on the possession or application of information –
what Bloom called the Cognitive Domain. However learning outcomes might instead reasonably
focus on attitude or values (the Affective Domain) or psychomotor skills.
6. A good learning outcome normally has three parts:
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what the student should be able to do (to demonstrate what has been learned);
•
the conditions under which they should be able to perform the demonstration ( e.g. Given X and
Y, do Z);
•
how well they will do it.
Often the latter two parts need not be stated explicitly but will be implied. In this case, the writer of
the learning outcome needs to be confident that a reader will take the intended implication. Otherwise
the latter parts should be made explicit.
7. A useful source of more background:
The Robert Gordon University Specifying the Outcomes of Student Learning
http://apu.gcal.ac.uk/ciced/Ch03.html (accessed 16.10.2007)
CAF
16.10.2007
3
Calendar Glossary. See also the university’s Equivalence Policy