If you read the article on backward design, you might already have a list of inspiration to develop your learning outcomes for your course. To help you draft refined outcomes for your learners, let’s dive into student learning outcomes!
Learning outcomes help students (and us!) to know what students will be able to demonstrate in knowledge, skills, and values upon completing a module or course. Clear outcomes provide the foundation for evaluating the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
There are three essential components of a measurable learning outcome:
Focus on student behavior by using specific action verbs that are observable. This should focus on what the student will be able to demonstrate. This is the student-facing side of the objectives so that students know what their goals are for the module or course to self-reflect and track their own progress towards goals. Examples include:
To help you identify measurable verbs, you can reference this Bloom’s Taxonomy Action Verbs resource.
Select appropriate assessment methods. You will likely consider multiple assessment methods. You should select the method that allows you to best determine the extent to which the stated learning outcome is achieved. We recommend employing a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods.
Example assessment methods:
You will learn more about assessment opportunities and practices on Day 3. For now, you might consider browsing this list from Iowa State University.
Select and clearly communicate the criteria that students will be evaluated with. Performance criteria express specific and measurable terms that are acceptable in your course. Here are a few examples of criteria for success based on a few standard assessment methods:
Once we’ve identified the three essential components for the learning outcome, we can piece it together for our records and to guide our assessment of teaching and learning taking place in our course. Here is one example of how this might look:
If you’re writing measurable learning outcomes for the first time, it can be tricky to get into the swing of things. Arizona State University has developed an Objectives Builder Tool that can assist you in developing your skills.