what makes a good course outcome

by Aurelie Rath 8 min read

At both the course and program level, student learning outcomes should be clear, observable and measurable, and reflect what will be included in the course or program requirements (assignments, exams, projects, etc.). Typically there are 3-7 course learning outcomes and 3-7 program learning outcomes.

What makes a good course learning outcome?

Good learning outcomes focus on the application and integration of the knowledge and skills acquired in a particular unit of instruction (e.g. activity, course program, etc.), and emerge from a process of reflection on the essential contents of a course. More specifically, good learning …

What makes a good course?

Good Course Learning Outcomes are measurable. (They identify learning that can be assessed, preferably with more than one kind of assignment or test.) Good Course Learning Outcomes …

What are the characteristics of outcomes?

What makes for good course-level student learning outcomes? In order to have any of the benefits described above, student learning outcomes must: 1) Describe what students should know …

How do instructors develop Course-Level Outcomes?

Aug 10, 2020 · The time it takes to write outcome statements varies depending on the course and the desired outcomes. Participants. 1 Human. Core Competency Connection. MATERIALS. …

What makes for a good learning outcome?

Well-written learning outcomes are concise and clearly stated, specific enough to be observable and measurable and thus capable of being assessed. They are broad enough so as not to limit flexibility in achieving them and they are realistic given available time and resources.

What are the outcomes of a course?

Course Outcomes are the statements that help the learners to understand the reason for pursuing the course and helps him to identify what he will be able to do at the end of the course.Oct 21, 2019

What are 4 objectives of learning outcomes for the course?

Elements of Effective Learning Outcomes

Effective learning outcomes are student-centered, measurable, concise, meaningful, achievable and outcome-based (rather than task-based).

What are the five learning outcomes?

5 types of learning outcomes
  • Intellectual skills. With this type of learning outcome, the learner will understand concepts, rules or procedures. ...
  • Cognitive strategy. In this type of learning outcome, the learner uses personal strategies to think, organize, learn and behave.
  • Verbal information. ...
  • Motor skills. ...
  • Attitude.
Dec 7, 2021

How do you make a course outcome?

Steps for Writing Outcomes
  1. Remembering and understanding: recall, identify, label, illustrate, summarize.
  2. Applying and analyzing: use, differentiate, organize, integrate, apply, solve, analyze.
  3. Evaluating and creating: Monitor, test, judge, produce, revise, compose.

How many outcomes should a course have?

Rather than listing all of the detailed categories of learning that is expected, learning outcomes focus on the overarching takeaways from the course (5-10 learning outcomes are generally recommended for a course; McCourt, 2007).

What are the 7 learning outcomes?

7 Learning Outcomes
7 Learning Outcomes
1Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
2Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
3Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
4Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
3 more rows

What is a course goal?

Course goals are broad, general statements of what you want your students to learn. These are larger, overarching descriptions of outcomes for which verbs like “appreciate” and “understand” are appropriate. A sample course goal might be “Students will understand the effect of global warming”.

What is course objectives and outcomes?

Writing Course Goals/Learning Outcomes and Learning Objectives
Description
Course Goal / Learning Outcomedescribes broad aspects of behavior which incorporate a wide range of knowledge and skill
Learning Objectivestend to describe specific, discrete units of knowledge and skill can be accomplished within a short timeframe

What is example of outcomes?

Outcome definition

The outcome is the final result of something, or the way things end up. When a team wins a game 2-1, this is an example of a winning outcome for the team. The way something turns out; result; consequence.

What are the 3 learning outcomes?

Technically, there are the following two major levels of learning outcomes that a learner needs to outgrow for attaining the highest level.
  • Level 1: Course Outcomes (COs) ...
  • Level 2: Program Outcomes (POs) and Program Specific Outcomes (PSOs) ...
  • Level 3: Life-Long Learning. ...
  • #1. ...
  • #2: Cognitive Skills Development.

How do you write a good student learning outcome?

As a reminder, make the outcome specific, with action verbs and observable end products. We recommend avoiding the word, “demonstrate” and selecting an action verb that illustrates how students may demonstrate (e.g., define, predict, explain, compute, critique). Some learning outcomes may utilize multiple actions.

How to write learning outcomes?

Why Write Learning Outcomes? 1 describe to students what is expected of them 2 plan appropriate teaching strategies, materials and assessments 3 learn from and make changes to curriculum to improve student learning 4 assess how the outcomes of a single course align with larger outcomes for an entire program

Where are learning outcomes used?

Outcomes are used on many scales, from developing curriculum for a program of study to creating lessons for a single class activity. At the highest level, learning outcomes can be established at the university level. You can review the learning outcomes for DePaul graduates at the institutional level or program level.

How to measure outcomes?

What about Hard-to-Measure Outcomes? 1 appreciate the intangible benefits of art in society. 2 question one's own beliefs and recognize personal bias. 3 understand the value of ethics in business leadership.

What is a learning goal?

Learning goals are broad statements written from an instructor's or institution's perspective that give the general content and direction of a learning experience. They generally describe what an instructor or program aims to do; i.e., “The curriculum will introduce students to the major research methods of the discipline.”

What is learning objective?

Learning Objectives. Learning objectives are statements of what you intend to teach or cover in a learning experience. They tend to be. More specific than learning goals. Not necessarily observable nor measurable. Instructor-centered rather than student-centered. Useful in helping you formulate more specific learning outcomes.

What is the Center for Teaching and Learning?

The Center for Teaching and Learning supports the Assessment Certificate Program —a unique collaboration between DePaul and Loyola universities that provides professional development opportunities for faculty and staff in the field of assessment.

What is a learning outcome?

A Learning Outcome (LO) is a measurable, observable, and specific statement that clearly indicates what a student should know and be able to do as a result of learning. Well-written learning outcomes involve the following parts: Action verb. Subject content. Level of achievement.

What is the level of achievement?

A level of achievement identifies how proficient students need to be in a task. For example, in a Composition course, you might say “Write a literature critique with no grammatical errors”. This tells students the level of achievement that’s expected of them.

What are student learning outcomes?

Student learning outcomes are goals that describe how a student will be different because of a learning experience. More specifically, learning outcomes are the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and habits of mind that students take with them from a learning experience (Suskie, 2009).

What makes for good course-level student learning outcomes?

In order to have any of the benefits described above, student learning outcomes must:

How do I write good course-level student learning outcomes?

Keep in mind the following: if your course is part of a degree program, make sure your outcomes align with appropriate program learning outcomes. The curriculum map will guide you on the role of your course in contributing to learning in the major.

writing outcome statements

This tool highlights the five essential characteristics of a good outcome statement.

The Process

A good outcome statement is written in an active voice, using carefully chosen words. We have a recommended formula for this.

Tips & Tricks

Visit the Lethbridge College Learning Connections website for more tips on writing outcome statements. http://lc2.ca/item/286-writing-outcomestatements

What is learning outcome?

Learning Outcomes for specific course lessons (or units or modules) are directly related to the course learning outcomes. They specifically address the content and activities that students will experience throughout the semester.

How to organize sticky notes?

Organize your sticky notes into related batches. You may identify areas of content knowledge that are closely related. You may realize that some sticky notes represent subsets of knowledge or skill represented on other sticky notes. Group those sticky notes together in a way that makes sense to you. As you do this, you may see some sticky notes that you want to discard. Set them aside, but don’t discard them just yet – they may give you other ideas.

What is Bloom's taxonomy?

Bloom's Taxonomy is a hierarchical system of ordering thinking skills from lower to higher, with the higher levels including all of the cognitive skills from the lower levels. This table contains samples of verbs associated with student response at the different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

What is learning objective?

Learning objectives provide a means for clearly describing these things to learners, thus creating an educational experience that will be meaningful. Following are strategies for creating learning objectives.

How to develop a learning plan?

Clearly defined objectives form the foundation for selecting appropriate content, learning activities and assessment plans. Learning objectives help you to: 1 plan the sequence for instruction, allocate time to topics, assemble materials and plan class outlines. 2 develop a guide to teaching allowing you to plan different instructional methods for presenting different parts of the content. (e.g. small group discussions of a common misconception). 3 facilitate various assessment activities including assessing students, your instruction, and the curriculum.

What are action verbs?

Start with action verbs that can be observed through a test, homework, or project (e.g., define, apply, propose). A ttainable – Students have the pre-requisite knowledge and skills and the course is long enough that students can achieve the objectives.

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Curriculum

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Learning outcomes describe the learning that will take place across the curriculum through concise statements, made in specific and measurable terms, of what students will know and/or be able to do as the result of having successfully completed a course. 
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Goals

  • These terms are often used interchangeably and they are all related to the teaching and learning that is expected to take place in the classroom. However, the difference between goals or objectives and outcomes lies in the emphasis on who will be performing the activities. Learning goals and objectives generally describe what an instructor or program aims to do; i.e., This cour…
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Introduction

  • Writing learning outcomes should be a reflective process. Many departments find the following steps to be helpful as they begin the process of creating learning outcomes for their courses.
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Characteristics

  • If your department already has learning goals that it would like to develop into outcomes or is examining its current learning outcomes there are several characteristics to look for:
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Availability

  • The Center for Teaching & Learning is available to consult with departments and individual faculty members on developing learning outcomes.
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Assessment

  • As mentioned, identifying the most important things students should learn within your course is the first step in deciding what should be assessed, but learning outcomes have other uses as well; they:
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