the college classroom (fa14) week 3: learning outcomes
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Peter Newbury Center for Teaching Development University of California, San Diego 30 October 2014 collegeclassroom.ucsd.eduTRANSCRIPT
Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 1 Flight Deck by Wayan Volta on flickr CC
Do you understand how to fly an airplane?
Yes
Prove it: let’s look at this checklist.
The College Classroom
Week 3: Learning Outcomes
October 28 – 30, 2014
Unless otherwise noted, content is
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Non Commercial 3.0 License.
What is the Value of Course-Specific
Learning Goals
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What was the most important thing you learned from
Simon & Taylor? [1]
More about perceptions of learning than performance
Students liked having learning outcomes so they knew
what to study
LO’s helped instructors
LO’s allow students to connect ideas to the big picture
Outcomes
What is the Value of Course-Specific
Learning Goals
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What was the most important thing you learned from
Simon & Taylor? [1]
Students found them valuable
Faculty found them valuable in structuring courses and
making them consistent across instructors
Helped improve student learning but not necessarily
exam performance
Outcomes
What is the Value of Course-Specific
Learning Outcomes
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How People Learn:
Key Finding 2 (Expertise)
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How People Learn:
Key Finding 3 (Metacognition)
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diversity.ucsd.edu/policies-and-initiatives/teachingdiversityconference.html
Abstract deadline: extended to November 21, 2014
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cirtl.net > E
vents > C
IRT
LC
asts
(Image: NASA) Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 11
Introductory “Astro 101”
Traditional Course Syllabus Course with Learning
Outcomes
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This course covers Chapters
1. Mercury
2. Venus
…
8. Neptune
9. other objects
10. Formation of the
Solar System
deduce from patterns in the
properties of the planets,
moons, asteroids and other
bodies that the Solar System
had single formation event.
provide notable examples of
how comets influenced
history, art and science
Learning outcomes
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completes the sentence, “By this end of this
lesson/unit/course, you will be able to…”
begins with an action verb (“deduce”) (more later)
tells the students what they must do to demonstrate
they “understand” the concept
Learning outcomes are valuable to…
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students
reveal what the instructor is looking for (no more guessing what “understand” means)
big picture of the next part of the course
allows student to check that s/he has mastered the concept (especially when studying later)
instructors
crystallizes what the instructor cares about
helps the instructor choose questions for peer instruction (“clickers”) in class, write the final exam, decide what instructional activities to include
choose questions for peer instruction
Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 15 ClassAction http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/
write the final exam
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(10 marks) List 3 patterns of the Solar System as a
whole. Then, outline in some detail the current model for
the formation of the Solar System. In particular, make sure
you explain how the observed patterns and regularities are
related to this theory of formation.
Teaching to
the test? Yes!
A course should have
Course-level LOs Topic-level LOs
Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
several LOs giving big
picture, attitudes,
behaviors
(likely) can’t be assessed
with a single exam
question
supported by many
topic-level LOs
many LOs defining what
it means to “understand”
at this level (freshman,…)
can be (should be)
repeatedly assessed on
homework, exams
support one or more
course-level LOs
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Topic-level
LO
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level LO
Course-level LO #4
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Course-level LO #2
Course-level LO #3 Course-level
learning outcome (LO) #1
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Course-level LO #2
Course-level LO #3 Course-level
learning outcome (LO) #1
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Course-level LO #2
Course-level LO #3 Course-level
learning outcome (LO) #1
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Course-level LO #2
Course-level LO #3 Course-level
learning outcome (LO) #1
Topic-level
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sync your LOs see ASTR 310 handout
Writing topic-level LOs
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Writing learning outcomes is hard because you have to
recognize
declare
(admit)
what you want your students to be capable of doing.
A good start is picking the verb describing the
action the students will perform to demonstrate their
mastery of the concept.
Bloom’s Taxonomy [2,3]
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transform or combine ideas to create something new think critically about and defend a position
break down concepts into parts
apply comprehension to unfamiliar situations demonstrate understanding of ideas and concepts
remember and recall factual information
6 Create
5 Evaluate
4 Analyze
3 Apply
2 Understand
1 Remember
Bloom’s Taxonomy [2,3]
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higher order thinking
lower order thinking
6 Create
5 Evaluate
4 Analyze
3 Apply
2 Understand
1 Remember
Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs
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develop, create, propose, formulate, design, invent
judge, appraise, recommend, justify, defend, criticize, evaluate
compare, contrast, categorize, distinguish, identify, infer
apply, demonstrate, use, compute, solve, predict, construct, modify
describe, explain, summarize, interpret, illustrate
define, list, state, label, name, describe
6 Create
5 Evaluate
4 Analyze
3 Apply
2 Understand
1 Remember
Please get out your multiplication quizzes.
Let’s try it…
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Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy [5]
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Multiplication quiz, Question 1
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Each table, reach
consensus and then
use the laser pointer
Multiplication quiz, Question 2
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Multiplication quiz, Question 3
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Multiplication quiz, Question 4
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Multiplication quiz, Question 4
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Driver’s Ed 101: How to Drive in CA
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Task: Write a learning outcome
that your group’s question assesses.
(refer to Wieman handout
for Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs)
1. Writing LOs – The Wrong Way
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Astro 101 Learning Outcomes
1. understand how Saturn’s rings formed
Assess your LOs:
“Understand”? That could be a sentence…or a thesis
how does a student demonstrate to you s/he
“understands” at this level?
how does a student check that s/he has mastered the
Saturn part of the course?
1b. Writing LOs – More Effective Way
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Astro 101 Learning Outcomes
1. give a detailed description of the size and structure of
Saturn’s rings
2. trace the gravitational feedback cycle that keeps
Saturn’s rings so thin
Assess your LOs:
Is this really what I want them to know?
Are they capable of that?
Do I have a question I can use to assess this LO?
2. “Back-engineer” LOs from exams
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Use last year’s (or several years’) final exam. For each good
question, ask yourself
What is this question assessing? What is the learning
outcome I want students to demonstrate to properly
answer this question?
Is that the outcome I want, or is it too low (or high)?
When you have a list of LOs,
Does it cover everything I want for this course?
Have I over- or under-represented any concepts?
3. Draft LOs from course outline
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Work your way through the list of topics. For each topic,
decide
What do I want students to be able to do, to
demonstrate they “get” this topic?
Don’t worry about drafting too many low-level LOs.
When you revise, you’ll start grouping them into
higher-level LOs.
Share your LOs with your students
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(good) Publish your LOs as part of your syllabus.
(better) Publish them in your syllabus AND include relevant learning goals in your lecture slides at the beginning of each topic, even each class.
Be wary of reading them aloud: your students may not yet have the knowledge (or jargon) to appreciate the LOs. The LOs will be there when they study.
Don’t worry about “spoon-feeding” them – help the students do exactly what you feel demonstrates understanding
Watch the blog for next week’s
readings and assignments
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Next time: Week 4
Fixed and Growth Mindsets and
Assessment that Supports Learning
References
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1. Simon, B., & Taylor, J. (2009). What is the Value of Course-Specific Learning Goals? Journal of College Science Teaching, 39, 2, 52-57. PDF available at www.cwsei.ubc.ca/SEI_research/files/LifeSci/Simon_Taylor_ValueOfCourseSpecificLG.pdf
2. Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.
3. Adapted from edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy
4. Adapted from Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning. Teaching, and assessing: A revision of bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives.
5. Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/RevisedBlooms1.html
6. California DMV Sample Class C Written Test 5 www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/interactive/tdrive/clc6written.htm
7. Excerpt from Wieman, C. (2007). Slides from the Wieman Learning Goals Workshop. www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm
8. Clark, D. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains. www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html
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