Student learning outcomes
Content standards
Depending upon the field of study, there are some content standards that help guide faculty as they prepare courses. In some disciplines standards have been articulated, in others faculty members must rely on the big ideas articulated by the discipline when determining course content. New faculty should search to see if content standards exist in their discipline as they begin to plan a course, and if they do exist, utilize them to determine what students should know and be able to do at the end of the course. There are good places to start such as asking department and college colleagues, examining a course of study in a discipline, contacting professional societies and associations, attending major conferences in discipline areas, and joining organizations dedicated to particular fields of knowledge.
Backward design
Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe have described a process of lesson or course planning called “backwards design.” They suggest beginning with the essence of what you want students to know and be able to do, then mapping backward to create activities and lessons that will bring students to that knowledge and set of skills. This concept is comparable to having a specific destination before you set off on a trip. You are much more likely to arrive if you know in advance where you want to end up.
Determine the endpoint
Once the basic course timeline and topics have been drafted it is time to decide what key skills and knowledge you expect of students when they complete the course. This is the time to get very specific. What about the topic do you expect students to know? How do you want them to use that knowledge to solve problems, or perform experiments, or articulate stances? What sort of presentations or performances should they be able to do? The specific expectations for what students should know and be able to do forms the core of the student learning outcomes.
Student learning outcomes
Faculty members articulate student learning outcomes that become the framework for course development. The outcomes flow directly from the determination of the endpoint of instruction in a course. Once the student learning outcomes have been articulated, they can be distributed among the topics on the big picture course map outlined in long range planning. At this point, the course outline has been constructed from the ground up using the most appropriate materials to determine the general topics, to flesh out the specific learning outcomes, and to place them into the course timeframe.
Deciding What to Teach
What Should College Teach?
Open Source with Christopher Lydon, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University
Harvard University published a new plan (2006) to revamp its “core” general education requirements. It has long been looked to as a leader in defining what colleges should be teaching. Includes comments by professors of political science, law and ethics, English, learning science, a game scientist, and several bloggers. Listen to this show recorded October 11.
Higher Education Standards
Kennedy, T. (2005)
Senator Kennedy worked to improve American Education, and worked to develop standards.
Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
Association of College and Research Libraries
These standards have been developed to guide instructors of information literacy.
Three Kinds of Statistical Literacy: What Should We Teach?
Schield, M. (2002). Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Three perspectives are evaluated, the utility of each is determined, and recommendations are made.
What Mathematics do our Students Know? What Should We Teach Them?
Appleby, J.C. (2009). IEEEXplore, CSU-SEIR Office of the Chancellor
This paper examines assumptions about what basic math knowledge our students need.
Why we Can and Should Teach Leadership
Blanchard, K. (2007). Business Schools, Forbes.com
This article outlines an argument for teaching leadership skills explicitly.
Colleges Should Plan – and Teach – for an Oil-Scarce World
Carlson, S. (July, 2008). The Chronicle of Higher Education
This article calls for shifting our assumptions as we teach students about the world energy.
How to Reinvent Higher Education
Slate.com (November, 2005)
As part of a week-long series on colleges, Slate asked an array of prominent academics to tackle the question, What should undergraduates leave college knowing? Stanley Katz provides an overview, and there are links to the responses of the eleven academics asked to respond.
Backward Design
The “Backward Design” Process
Halverson, E. (2009). Teaching and Learning Excellence, University of Wisconsin
Submitted to the site from a presentation at the 2005 Teaching Academy Summer Institute by Mitchell Nathan and Erica Halverson. Adapted from Understanding by Design: Professional development workbook, Wiggins & McTighe, 1998 and 2004.
Backward Design Process
Adapted/formatted from Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
Download a printable version of the Backward Design Process.
Learning Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes
This CSU site addresses assessment, rubrics and has an archive of relevant links concerning student learning outcomes.
Student Learning Outcomes
Glendale Community College (2005) has collected samples from various other colleges, including a number of California State Universities.
Student Learning Outcomes
Curriculum Committee, Fresno City College
The curriculum committee has developed a handbook to assist faculty writing student learning outcomes.
Student Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Accreditation
University of Rhode Island
This site provides information on all phases of the assessment process at one institution.
Student Learning Outcomes in the CSU
California State University
This site provides links to examples of scoring rubrics at many CSU and non-CSU campuses.
Student Learning Outcomes
Columbia College
The idea behind this site is that there is no single correct way to develop and implement student learning outcomes, but there is also no need to reinvent the wheel.
Developing Effective Student Learning Outcomes
Student Affairs Professional Development (2012), University of California Irvine
This presentation explains the importance of developing specific and measurable student learning outcomes and how they can be measured using various tools.
Views: A Warning on Measuring Learning Outcomes
Banta, T.W. (January, 2007). Inside Higher Education
This is an argument against the use of standardized tests of general intellectual skills to compare the effectiveness of colleges and universities.
Student Learning Outcomes
University of Washington (2006)
This site examines purposes and benefits, how to design and assess what they call "student learning goals," and has a number of national links about the process of developing them.
Examples of Learning Outcomes and Assessment Instruments for GE Courses
North Carolina State University
This site offers numerous SLOs for general education courses in many discipline areas.
