COURSE (RE)DESIGN WORKSHOP

AUGUST 22, 2013

Course Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Section Outcomes

Reflect upon your own conception(s) of learning and its impact on your teaching

Create two or more learning outcome statements for your course using the SMART principle

Conceptions of Learning

What is Learning?

Learning is a process, not a product. Learning involves change in knowledge,

beliefs, behaviours, or attitudes. Learning is not something done to students,

but rather something that students do themselves.

Since learning is internal, it can only be assessed by what a student produces.

Source: Ambrose et al. (2010)

Types of Learning

Declarative (what)

Procedural (how)

Conditional (application of procedural/declarative)

Reflective (why)

Source: Ambrose et al. (2010)

Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes

‘Cheshire Puss,’ she began, rather timidly, ... ’Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.‘I don’t much care where …’ said Alice.‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.‘…so long as I get somewhere,’ Alice added as an explanation.‘Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, ‘if you only walk long enough.’

Alice in Wonderland

Food for thought….

Provincial Degree Level Expectations (UDLEs and GDLEs)

Institutional Objectives

Program Goals / Objectives / Outcomes

Course Goals / Objectives

Student Learning Outcomes

Benefits of Stating Objectives/Outcomes

Communicates your intentions clearly to students and to colleagues

Provides a framework for selecting course content, appropriate teaching and learning activities, and assessments

Guides you in decisions about assessment and evaluation methods

Gives students information for directing their learning efforts and monitoring their own progress

Clarifying the Terms

•Something sought or aimed at•Course or instructor focusedGoal / Objectiv

e•A visible result•Student focusedOutcom

e

•A knowledge / skill building activity•Learning or practice focused Task

Goals

General statements about broader intended aims of the course

Not held up to same evaluative standards as outcomes

Example: “The goal of this course is to introduce students to the foundational theories of literary criticism.”

Objectives

Written from the point of view of what the course or instructor seeks to accomplish

May be more specific than a goal, but not necessarily directly aligned with an assessment

Example: “We will survey a range of literary theories from the 19th century to present day”

Learning Outcomes

Articulate what students should be able to know or do upon completion of a sequence of learning

Use active verbs to make clear the intended level of learning (analysis, synthesis, evaluation)

Aligned with course assessments Example: “Students will be able to apply two

or more literary theories to a new text”

Tasks

Activities or exercises designed to:

develop knowledge and skills

build student confidence and capacity to achieve learning outcomes/perform on assessments

provide formative feedback

SP101

NO101 : Introduction to North American Studies Course Objective Student Learning Outcome(s)

Survey key events, topics, and issues in both historical and contemporary North American relations.

Identify and explain key events in historical and contemporary North American events. Be able to articulate how foundational themes in North American studies are related to, and can be used to explain, contemporary issues in North American relations.

Provide opportunities for students to develop confidence and skill in university level academic reading and writing.

Use critical reading strategies to read and analyze academic materials appropriate to a first year undergraduate level. Articulate an author’s main argument and assess the validity of the evidence used to support it.

The SMART Principle

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time-Appropriate

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Source: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom's+Digital+Taxonomy

Using Taxonomies for Scaffolding

Before we can understand a concept we have to remember it

Before we can apply the concept we must understand it

Before we analyse it we must be able to apply it

Before we can evaluate its impact we must have analysed it

Before we can create we must have remembered, understood, applied, analysed, and evaluated

Source: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom's+Digital+Taxonomy

An Outcomes Checklist

Start with an action verbWritten in language a student could

understandDoes not dictate curriculum contentTarget different types of learning or levels of

cognitionDescribe a performance that is:

Realistic? Observable? Measureable?

Learning Outcome

s

Course Content

Teaching and

Learning Activities

Formative and

Summative Assessmen

ts

Learning Outcome Alignment

Course Objective

Student Learning Outcome

Teaching and Learning Activities

Formative and Summative

Assessments

Provide opportunities for students to develop confidence and skill in university level academic reading and writing.

Use critical reading strategies to read and analyze academic materials appropriate to a first year undergraduate level.

• Mini-lecture: what is critical reading?• Individual and group practice in tutorials • Detailed assignment information

• Group presentations in tutorial

• Critical Analysis assignment focused on ability to read a new article and answer a series of questions about it with marking rubric to help guide students

Application

Draft two (or more) learning outcomes for your course utilizing the SMART principle

Share your outcomes with a colleague for feedback

Consider how you will teach, practice and assess your outcomes

References Ambrose, S.A. et al. (2010). How learning works. San

Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Carroll, L. (1971). Alice in wonderland. (1st edition). New

York: W. W. Norton. Churches, A. (2010). Bloom’s digital taxonomy. Retrieved

from http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy

Teaching and Learning Services. (2003). Concept map of course design and teaching process [Animated PPT slide]. Montreal, Quebec: Teaching and Learning Services, McGill University.

Waller, K.V. (2008). Writing instructional objectives. Retrieved from http://www.naacls.org/docs/announcement/writing-objectives.pdf