College of Human Sciences

UCDProfessor Bairbre Redmond

Learning Outcomes –

Moving from Teaching to Learning

Focus of Paper

1. Nature and Benefits of Learning Outcomes

2. Writing Learning Outcomes

3. Teaching for Learning

4. Assessing Learning Outcomes

5. Outcomes at Different Levels

What is a Learning Outcome?

Learning Outcomes

• Clearly identify skills and knowledge that a learner can demonstrate as a result of successfully completing a part of a learning programme

• They Include– Knowledge and Understanding– Problem Solving– Professional Skills – Interviewing etc.– Generic Skills – Teamwork etc

• They describe an action or outcome which is demonstrable and assessable.

Benefits of Learning Outcomes

• Guide students in their learning - what is expected of them, in turn helping them to succeed in their studies.

• Help staff to focus on exactly what they want students to achieve in terms of both knowledge and skills.

• Provide a useful guide to inform employers about the general knowledge and understanding that a graduate will possess.

How to write a Learning Outcome at Module Level

Bloom’s Taxonomy

• Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956), despite its age, is still one of the best aids to writing good learning  outcomes. 

• Bloom identified six categories of learning – knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation

• Each level has its own particular questions

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Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational ObjectivesBloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

Apply

Comprehend

Remember

list, recite

explain, paraphrase

calculate, solve,determine, apply

Analyzecompare, contrast, classify,

categorize, derive, model

Synthesizecreate, construct, design, improve, produce, propose

Evaluatejudge, critique, justify,

verify, assess, recommend

Writing Learning Outcomes – Problems Encountered

• Modules are built out of pieces of old courses with different expectations

• Academics focus on the teaching aspects of the module

“In this module students will be introduced to subject of the core ethical principles in social work”

Rather than

• By the end of this module student will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the core ethical principles in social work [knowledge, comprehension] and

• be able to apply them in different case settings [application]

Writing Learning Outcomes – Problems Encountered

Staff use vague terms in module descriptors that cannot be assessed

For Example –

“By the end of this module students will understand the importance of post-renaissance European art in the context of art history”

Writing Learning Outcomes – Problems Encountered

Would be far better expressed as:

By the end of this module students will be able to

• Evaluate and criticise post-renaissance European art within its historical context

• Date and identify key works of this specific period

• Demonstrate an understanding of the particular art-historical debates that have taken place about this period

• Show ability to argue why this particular place and time raise interesting issues about the discipline as a whole

University of Sussex

Teaching for Learning

Teaching for Learning

• Teaching approaches need to match the learning that you expect to generate

• Teaching strategies should be proven to generate the type of learning that you want your students to achieve

Knowledge Lecture, reading

Application Tutorial, laboratory,

Practice Skill Clinical placement/work experience

Synthesis/Evaluative case studies, research projects, group work etc.

Teaching for Learning – Problems Encountered

• Module descriptors introduced, but ‘old’ teaching patterns stay in place

“I’ve always taught this course this way”

• Module descriptors specify ‘higher’ levels of learning, but teaching approaches can’t deliver them

e.g. Large lectures are used to promote analytic thinking

• Poor use of learning activities like case studies, EPBL,

• Poor use of visuals and ‘Death by Powerpoint’.

Assessing Learning Outcomes

Assessing Learning Objectives

• Assessments measure how successfully students have attained learning outcomes. You must return to learning outcomes to design good assessment

• There should be a connection between the way students learn and the way they are assessed.

• There should be a connection between the levels of learning expected of students and their assessment

• Assessments should contain both formative and summative elements

Assessing Learning Outcomes – Problems Encountered

When courses are modularised, assessments increase

Most assessment is still confined to exams and essay writing –not the most effective way means by which to measure higher levels of learning

Fear of plagiarism keeps many from adopting alternative-to-exam assessment

Even when new teaching approaches are used, institutional structures may push staff towards using ‘old’ assessment approaches … “we’re geared towards a half-term”

Different Levels of Outcome

Hierarchy of Learning Outcomes

• Module Level: ‘On successful completion of the module, students will be able to …’

• Intermediate Level: ‘At the end of this year (stage) a student will be able to …”

• Top Level: ‘A successful graduate from this programme (degree) will be able to …”. These are Dublin Descriptor* statements.

*Dublin Descriptors: Generic statements of typical expectations of achievements and abilities associated with awards that represent the end of each Bologna cycle.

Level and Programme Outcomes

Should include clear articulation of:

• Knowledge and Understanding needed, & the

• Intellectual skills required to make use of this knowledge and understanding.

 

Also need to specify:

• Practical skills (i.e. competence in specific context, such as lab skills, performance skills)

• Key/transferable skills (communication, problem solving, self-evaluation). 

Challenges for Curriculum Design using Learning Outcomes

• Lack of Overall Design - Individual module outcomes are sound, but they don’t build well into a programme outcomes

• Focus on Programme Length - Level outcomes can offer greater clarity on student gains at key points.

• Conflict between Programme Stakeholders- Educators vs. Accrediting Bodies

Final Thoughts

• Within the last 10 years the profile and learning approaches of our students has changed dramatically.

• These transformations in student expectations, student mobility and massification of higher education by their nature demand educational changes.

• Learning Outcomes make sense to students and, in most cases, match the way they learn.

• The shift from teaching to learning is primarily a challenge for educators and accrediting bodies, rather than students.

Dewey on Change…

Familiarity breeds contempt, but it also breeds something like affection. We get used to the chains we wear and miss them when removed … unpleasant activities may become agreeable if long enough persisted in”.

John Dewey 1902