Writing Student Learning Outcomes
Writing Student Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes refer to the most important goals that the program or course has for its students. Programs and courses may have a large number of goals; learning outcomes reflect the most important of these goals.
A well-written learning outcome relates specifically to a program or course and to how the faculty envisions student learning. For example: "Students will write effectively" could apply to many courses or academic programs. In contrast, Kansas State University's English department states that students should be able to "research and write focused, convincing analytical essays in clear, grammatical prose" and "tailor writing for various audiences and purposes." This indicates what that department sees as essential writing skills. Other programs, even other English departments, may focus on different aspects of writing.
One advantage of well-written learning outcomes is that they help guide the choice of assessment methods. It is easy to imagine how the learning outcome stated above might be assessed: An English student could write a paper presenting original interpretations of literary works.
Guidelines for Developing Learning Outcomes
1. Frame learning goals around the desired outcome or end result of the learning, not around the process or means.
Remember that the ultimate goal of a program or course, and the one we’re focusing on, is to create students who are well-educated in their field, not just to offer classes and have people graduate (not that those things aren’t also important, of course!).
2. Be specific about what students who complete the program or course should be able to do.
Describe observable student behaviors, avoiding fuzzy terms when possible. This document, Choosing Verbs for Learning Outcomes,* may be useful for choosing language that accurately and concretely describes the learning outcome.
It is difficult to observe whether student "understand," "appreciate" or are "familiar with" a concept but easier to determine whether they can "articulate," "explain" or "apply" a concept. Concrete verbs such as "define," "argue," and "create" are more helpful than vague verbs such as "know" or "understand" or passive verb phrases such as "is exposed to."
3. Find a balance between narrow and broad outcomes.
Too broad: "Students will demonstrate information literacy skills."
Too narrow: "Students will be able to use the college's online services to retrieve information."
Better: "Students will be able to locate information and evaluate it critically for its validity and appropriateness.*
4. Create goals that are challenging, yet attainable.
Note that it is not necessary for every student to master every single outcome for a course or program to demonstrate success. In fact, such an outcome might indicate that the goals have been set too low.
Examples of Effectively Expressed Learning Outcomes
In these examples, the outcomes are broad enough to capture significant learning but are defined narrowly enough to be specific to the programs.
English
Present original interpretations of literary works in the context of existing research on these works
Environmental Science
Critically evaluate the effectiveness of agencies, organizations, and programs addressing environmental problems.
Theater
Use voice, movement, and understanding of dramatic character and situation to affect an audience.
Women's Studies
Use gender as an analytical category to critique cultural and social institutions.
More examples of liberal arts learning outcomes at the course level, please see the following resource:
Examples of Liberal Arts Learning Outcomes from Course Syllabi
*This document is based on Bloom's Taxonomy (Bloom 1956)