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Learning outcomes (or objectives) are crucial for planning learning and teaching - for both tutors to help with planning, and students so they are clear what they are going to achieve on the course. We need them for writing course outlines, and course and session plans. We also share them with learners at the start of courses and sessions .
What are learning outcomes?
What are learning outcomes?
Learning outcomes are statements about what students will learn - not what tutors will teach.
For a whole course, they answer the question: ‘What will my students be able to understand/do by the end of the course?’ (not: ‘What will I have taught them?')
For one session/class, they answer the question: 'What will my students learn today?' (rather than: 'What will I teach them?')
Once you have arrived at the learning outcomes, planning a course and each individual session becomes much more straightforward. You can see what to include and what to leave out. They focus you on what students will learn, not what you will tell them!
Learning outcomes for one session/class
Learning outcomes for one session/class
On the City Lit website, an (imaginary) Stand up Comedy course gives one course learning outcome as 'to be able to write and tell a joke'.
The tutor starts to cover this outcome on session 3 of the 10 week course.
What does she want students to achieve by the end of the session? She writes the following mini learning outcomes:
By the end of the session today you will be able to:
analyse a joke and explain how it works
write your own joke using the pattern you have discovered
evaluate your joke by telling it to your peers
Now the content of the session falls into place. The teacher knows she needs to
explain how jokes work,
ask students to analyse some jokes to see the pattern
invite students to try writing a joke themselves
ask students to try out their jokes on each other and get feedback
Students will go on practising writing jokes throughout the course.
How tutors use learning outcomes at City Lit
How tutors use learning outcomes at City Lit
In the videos on this link tutors at City Lit explain why learning outcomes are important and how they use them:
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