Start at the End and Proceed to the Beginning

Good design always starts with a good understanding of the desired result. Whether you are designing a tool that makes a task easier, software that makes a process more efficient or a building that is more accessible, the creative endeavor begins with a purpose. As educators our goal is (to paraphrase Grant Wiggins, an early proponent of backward design in education) to develop and deepen student understanding. In order to design learning experiences and opportunities for our students, we need to articulate the specific learning goals--the knowledge, skills, understandings and traits--they will need to be successful professionals and citizens.

The language and operative verbs in learning outcome statements serve as a guide for students to understand departmental/program expectations, as well as understand how their educational experiences prepare them for their careers and lives after college (National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, 2016).
-Montenegro & Jankowski, 2017

As Mary Huba and Jann Freed (2000) point out, the optimal method in creating and teaching to learning outcomes is to design backward to deliver forward. Start with the Institution's mission and College-level learning outcomes (see Champlain's Mission and College Competencies) and work backward to design program and course outcomes. Program and course outcomes should drive the design of activities and assessments within the classroom.

Course and Program Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes (LOs) are specific statements that describe the required learning achievement that must be met on the way to attaining the degree and meeting the goals of the program. Course Learning Outcomes similarly describe the competencies the student will achieve upon successfully completing the course.

Learning outcomes are the most important component of a course description or curriculum proposal. They are the essence of the course or program. They are essential because they (British Columbia Institute of Technology Learning Commons, 1996):

define the type and depth of learning students are expected to achieve
provide an objective benchmark for formative, summative, and prior learning assessment
clearly communicate expectations to learners
clearly communicate graduates’ skills to prospective employers
define coherent units of learning that can be further subdivided or modularized for classroom or other delivery modes
guide and organize the instructor and the learner

Writing Learning Outcomes

When writing course or program outcomes, focus on the important aspects of the discipline or course subject, use action verbs and be realistic about what students achieve. Outcomes should describe what the student can do by the end of the course or program. Take advantage of your knowledge of the key abilities professionals in the field need to be successful. Collaborate with colleagues who are expert in the discipline and are also experienced teachers. Bounce your ideas off of the instructional designers and assessment professionals at Champlain. Consult with your program’s advisory board or with employers and practitioners in your field. Research standards developed for your industry.

The next step is to imagine how the student will acquire those skills and competencies sequentially and developmentally. Consult a Bloom's Taxonomy Learning Domains grid as an aid to coming up with developmentally appropriate action verbs. And connect back to the College's mission and institutional competencies.

This grid, created by the assessment professionals at University of Hawai'i at Manoa, provides a clear visualization of the building blocks for developing learning outcomes:

Paul D. Camp Community College's assessment planning guidebook recommends the "ABCD" approach to writing course-level student learning outcomes:

SLO ABCs.png

Helpful Hints

When writing course-level learning outcomes, remember to:

Focus on the student--what the student will be able to do by the end of the course or program.
Describe outcomes, not processes or activities.
Start each outcome with an action verb.
Use only one action verb per learning outcome.
Avoid vague verbs such as know and understand.
Check that the verbs used reflect the level of learning required. (See BloomsLearningDomains.docx.)
Ensure that outcomes are observable and measurable.
Write the outcomes in terms of what the learner does, not what the instructor does.
Check that the outcomes reflect knowledge, skills or attitudes required in the workplace or the wider community.
Check that there is an appropriate number of outcomes.
Check that course and program outcomes align with Division and College competencies.

The University of Hawai'i at Manoa has developed a most informative and practical short guide for writing learning outcomes.

Examples

Here are some examples of Course LOs (From British Columbia Institute of Technology, 1996):

At the end of this course you will be able to:

Use change theory to develop family-centered care within the context of nursing practice.
Design improved bias circuits using negative feedback.
Demonstrate the safe use of welding equipment.

Here are Program LO examples ranging from poor to acceptable (From A Program Guide for Outcomes Assessment, Geneva College, April 2000):

Poor: Students should know the historically important systems of psychology.

This is poor because it describes neither what systems nor what information about each system students should know. Are they supposed to know everything about them or just names? Should students be able recognize the names, recite the central ideas, or criticize the assumptions?

Better: Students should understand the psychoanalytic, Gestalt, behaviorist, humanistic, and cognitive approaches to psychology.

This is better because it says what theories students should know, but it still does not detail exactly what they should know about each theory, or how deeply they should understand whatever it is they should understand.

Best: Students should be able to recognize and articulate the foundational assumptions, central ideas, and dominant criticisms of the psychoanalytic, Gestalt, behaviorist, humanistic, and cognitive approaches to psychology.

This learning outcome describes which theories students should know, how deeply they should understand them and what they can do with that understanding.

These examples of Program LOs also are from Geneva College's Program Guide for Outcomes Assessment:

Poor: Students should be able to independently design and carry out research.

The problem with this is that the statement does not specify the type or quality of research to be done.

Better: Students should be able to independently design and carry out experimental and correlational research.

This specifies the type of research, but not the quality students must achieve. If a student independently does any research that is experimental or correlational, it would be viewed as acceptable.

Best: Students should be able to independently design and carry out experimental and correlational research that yields valid results.

Here, the standard for students to aim for is clear and specific enough to help faculty agree about what students are expected to do. Therefore, they should be able to agree reasonably well about whether students have or have not achieved the objective. Even introductory students can understand the outcome statement, even if they don’t know exactly what experimental and correlational research methods are.

Learning Outcomes Resources (How To)

Adelman, C. (2015). To imagine a verb: The language and syntax of learning outcomes statements. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

Developing and Writing Course-level Student Learning Outcomes from the University of Rhode Island

How to write measurable outcomes from Texas A&M

Los Angeles City College Course SLO Assessment Handbook: LosAngelesCityCollege Course LO Assessment Handbook-1.pdf

Principles of learning outcomes by Marilee J. Bresciani

Rosie Bingham, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria, Learning and Teaching Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, 2002

Royal Roads University Centre for Teaching and Educational Technologies: Guidelines for Writing Effective Assessment Criteria or here

University of Connecticut, How to Write Program Objectives/Outcomes

University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Develop Program Student Learning Outcomes

University of Tasmania Teaching & Learning website

The ABCD Method, University of California

See also the Assessment Resources page at the end of this course.

References

Adelman, C. (2015, February). To imagine a verb: The language and syntax of learning outcomes statements
(Occasional Paper No. 24). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

British Columbia Institute of Technology Learning Commons Learning Resources Unit (1996)

Ewell, P. (2013, January). The Lumina Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP): Implications for assessment. (Occasional
Paper No. 16). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

Huba, M.E. & Freed, J.E. (2000). Learner-centered assessment on college campuses: Shifting the focus from teaching to learning. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. (p. 108).

Hutchings, P. (2016, January). Aligning educational outcomes and practices. (Occasional Paper No. 26). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

Montenegro, E., & Jankowski, N. A. (2017, January). Equity and assessment: Moving towards culturally responsive assessment (Occasional Paper No. 29). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (2016, May). Higher education quality: Why documenting learning matters. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, Author.