Learning ModuleBy: Dr. Aida Florendo and Engr. Gilbert Hufana

DefinitionA module is a self-contained learning component (unit or item) that is used in

combination with other components used as one instructional material to improve teaching and learning.

Parts

Title Page Title of the Module Author

Table of Contents

Preface

Module Description

This describes what the subject/module introduces to the students. It provides the general understanding of the whole module. It also includes the following:

Description of what you are doing in the module. Write this description as if you are completely unfamiliar with the module, so that any teacher can understand it. (The notes from which you teach your lessons, including statement of the problems (which presents an industry scenario to be solved) and the procedures used to solve the problem).

Description of the lessons and assignments necessary to prepare the students to transition to the tasks at the end of the module.

Description of any group work or collaborative learning.

Description of the lessons and assignments necessary to teach the student the task.

Instruction on How to Use the Module

This part provides critical information for the teacher. Explains when and how to teach the module and when to administer the pre- and post-tests, assignments, surveys, etc.

Learning Outcomes/Objectives

A learning outcome is a written statement of what one expects the student to achieve by the end of the module/course. Using these explicit statements can help in ensuring consistency of delivery across modules, and in particular can provide a common format for different forms of delivery, e.g. distance learning, work-based learning and experiential learning, which can thus be more easily compared.

Learners also benefit from a clear and comprehensive statement of what they will achieve from taking the module, and this should explicitly include any skills the student will acquire; this will help them in their choice of modules. The learning outcomes can also help demonstrate any areas of overlap or complementarities between two different modules.

Learning outcomes may be used at various levels in course description, i.e. the course, the pathway, the module, but are probably most useful at the module level.

Learning outcomes may be used in conjunction with a description of the content of the module, but the content itself can be described in learning outcome terms.

State student outcomes in a measurable way (for instance “Upon completion of the module, students should be able to…”). These statements should be clear and detail exactly what skills students will possess upon module completion.

Presentation of Content

Module Assessment

You need to be able to get some measure(s) of the performance and attitudes of students on the topics you are teaching with your module both before the teaching of the module in a previous section of the class (the baseline data), and after the teaching of the module in a new section of the class.

An assessment criterion can be defined as what a student must do to demonstrate that the learning outcome has been achieved. It enables a judgment to be made.

Many academic staff have these assessment criteria in their heads, and mark on this basis intuitively. Writing them down can:

Focus the mind on appropriate assessment

Speed the marking process

Help the student if the assessment criteria are made explicit

Provide the basis for a pro forma for feedback to the student

Help ensure consistency when several members of staff are marking the same piece of work

Writing Learning Outcomes

A useful acronym in the writing of learning outcomes is SMART. A learning outcome should be:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time scaled

Specific The learning outcome should accurately state what the student is

expected to achieve in terms of knowledge and skills, which might be intellectual or practical skills (and personal attributes if these are relevant).

The learning outcome should be presented in terms of what the student will (not should) know or be able to do by the end of the course, not in terms of the aims of the course. If the student cannot demonstrate this ability they will have failed that element of the module.

A useful approach to defining what is expected of the student is to determine what the student should attain in the following areas:

Knowledge (complexity of knowledge)

Comprehension

Application

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

Measurable The learning outcome must be open to assessment, and the

assessment should accurately measure whether the learning outcome has been achieved or not.

In a taught course a range of assessment techniques can be employed. The more specific the learning outcomes, the more the assessment strategy can be targeted in the most appropriate way.

Achievable The learning outcomes should be within the range of abilities of

the student, and should represent a threshold of achievement for that course or module.

The terminology used for the learning outcome might differ at different levels of a student's course. As a student progresses through a course one might expect a greater level of independent planning in project work, a greater level of autonomy with less supervision, a greater ability to interpret data, etc.

Relevant The learning outcomes should relate to the key aims of the course.

They should include all elements of the course and be sufficient to define it. However, as stated above, a list of indicative content may be added to define the detail.

The learning outcomes will include relevant knowledge, but also skills. These may be precise subject based skills, but may also include elements of the learning that are "hidden" in the normal presentation of the syllabus, such as transferable skills.

Personal qualities may also be important outcomes of a course, e.g. the honesty of a student in the interpretation of scientific data, ethical considerations when working within the health service, etc.

Time scaled The learning outcomes must be achievable within the duration of

the module.

It may be useful to consider what learning outcomes can be attained, and assessed, in the early parts of the module, and what can only be achieved by the end-point of the module. This might help in the design of assessment strategies that spread the assessment through the module.

First Approaches If the presentation of the syllabus in learning outcome terms is

unfamiliar it is often helpful to initially determine the key purpose of the course. What is this course trying to achieve?

It is then often helpful to consider what activities the student normally undertakes in the course; lectures, tutorials, practicals, library work, research, group projects, presentations, writing essays etc.

It is then possible to define in broad terms the knowledge, skills and attributes you expect the student to acquire. These broad outcomes can then be refined into more detailed statements and the assessment criteria can be developed.

The assessment strategy and methodology would then be designed, ensuring that the learning outcomes are measurable and achievable.

Ideas For The Future (optional)

Suggestions you may have for other lessons that would challenge the students and reinforce their knowledge. Also include any other ideas for the future related to your module.

References/Reading List

List the resources used to create this module, such as links to web sites and citations