LEARNING OUTCOMES, SOAPS AND ASSESSMENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES, SOAPS AND

ASSESSMENT

Presented by Ida M. Jones

idaj@csufresno.edu

Session Learning Outcomes

• Identify your department SOAP and summarize the relationship of your course to your department and/or program

• Identify your course learning outcome(s) or goal(s)

• Create or revise one learning outcome and apply Bloom’s Taxonomy

• Begin assessment of learning activities

What are your course goals? (p. 1)

Ask yourself: What do I want students to achieve in this course?

Workplace/professional Educated, informed citizen

Personal

In other words, why do students need this course?

How does your course relate to the department and/or program? (p. 1)

Go to: http://www.fresnostate.edu/academics/oie/assessment/soap.html

What is a learning outcome? (p. 2)

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):• Describe what students should be able to do when

they complete the course.• They are competency-based and measurable, in that

they describe exactly what the student must do to demonstrate mastery of course material.

• Use specific language (Bloom’s)*• Outcomes may be separated by knowledge, skills and

values (attitudes)• Should be an appropriate number of outcomes (5-12)

and should be written at appropriate level

*http://eductechalogy.org/swfapp/blooms/wheel/engage.swf OR handout:http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/RevisedBlooms1.html

Bloom’s Taxonomy (p. 4)• Remembering: can the student recall or

remember the information? define, duplicate, list, memorize, recall, repeat, reproduce state

• Understanding: can the student explain ideas or concepts? classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize, report, select, translate, paraphrase

• Applying: can the student use the information in a new way? choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write

• Analyzing: can the student distinguish between the different parts? appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test

• Evaluating: can the student justify a stand or decision? appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate

• Creating: can the student create new product or point of view? assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write

Choose outcomes verbs that relate to the appropriate cognitive domain

Source: http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm

Alignment and Assessment

How do we know students are learning?

Grades as Effective Assessment Tools

“To accurately assess learning outcomes, each type of assessment (i.e., exam, project, programming

assignment, etc), would need to be analyzed in terms of the different skills it addresses and scores across the various types of assessment activity would have to be

compiled and assigned for each of the skills.”

Aligning Assessment with Objectives, http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/howto/basics/objectives.html

Aren’t grades enough?• Grades may be imprecise and idiosyncratic.• Class grades may be affected by additional

factors such as attendance, class participation, late assignments.

• Grades provide very minimal feedback about specific aspects of student performance.

• Grades do have a place in assessment when they are based on specific, direct evidence of student learning outcomes and linked to standards.–

Questions to ask about your assessment activities:

• Alignment of outcome verb with assessment instrument? (What kind of learning are you measuring?)

• How authentic is the task? (Where are students asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills?)

Final Step: Close the loop!

“Self-assessment is not the goal. Self-adjustment is the goal. That’s what makes Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan great… that’s what our best students and teachers do.”

Grant Wiggins