Designing modules for student learning
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The document discusses setting aims and learning outcomes for educational modules. It defines learning outcomes as statements that predict what learners will gain from learning. The document provides guidance on writing learning outcomes at both the program and module level, and emphasizes the importance of constructive alignment between learning outcomes, teaching activities, and assessment.
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Designing modules for student learning
- 1. Module design Setting aims and learning outcomes Dr. John Milliken School of Education Queens University Belfast
- 3. Learning outcomes If you don’t know where you’re going, You’ll probably end up somewhere else. (Campbell 1984)
- 4. Context of the Workshop • Framework for HE Qualifications • Subject benchmark statements • Professional Body Requirements • Programme specification • Level of module • Pre- and co-requisites • Barred combinations
- 5. What are learning outcomes? • An outcome is simply a result or consequence of an action or process • A learning outcome is what results from a learning process • Intended learning outcomes are statements that predict what learners will have gained as a result of learning (Higher Education Academy)
- 6. Outcomes Model Explicit statement of learning intent Enabling processes and resources Assessment criteria for achievement Feedback loop
- 7. So for today… Aims This session aims to: – Help you to reconsider your course design, and whether you have ‘got the basics right’ in terms of assessment Intended learning outcomes (ILO) By the end of this course you should be able to: – Write explicit learning outcomes – Design a course that is ‘constructively aligned’
- 8. Aims and learning outcomes • Aims are written in terms of lecturer intention • Learning outcomes are written in terms of student capability
- 9. What to consider in designing a module: constructive alignment 1. Who are my students? 2. What are my aims/learning outcomes? 3. What outcomes do I hope students will achieve? 4. What do I want to assess? 5. How do I want to assess my students? 6. What segments of content do I think are essential building blocks for students 7. What teaching and learning strategies do I want to use? 8. In what mode(s) will I deliver the course?
- 10. Alignment model Figure 1. Aligning learning outcomes, learning and teaching activities and the assessment. Adapted from Biggs(1999) p 27
- 12. Learning outcomes • Programme learning outcomes • Module learning outcomes • Session learning outcomes
- 13. Programme Learning Outcomes •Knowledge and understanding •Intellectual skills •Practical skills •Key/transferable skills
- 14. Distillation matrix COMPULSORY MODULES Title Code Year/Se m K1 K2 K3 I1 I2 I3 P1 P2 P3 T1 T2 T3 T4 Economics ECO127 1/1 Y Y Y Organisational Studies BMG106 1/1 Introduction to Marketing MKT108 1/1 Introduction to Accounting ACF110 1/2 Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis for Managers BMG171 1/2 Introduction to Human Resource Management BMG170 1/2 Management of Organisations (Lloyd H) BMGXXX 2/1 Marketing Management (John Milliken) MKTXXX 2/1 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Managerial Accounting (Michael Thompson ACF321 2/2 Contemporary Issues in HRM (AMD) BMGXXX 2/2 Strategic Management (Lloyd Hunter) BMGXXX 3/1 Financial Management (Ken Dyson) ACFXXX 3/2
- 15. Constructive alignment Figure 1. Aligning learning outcomes, learning and teaching activities and the assessment. Adapted from Biggs(1999) p 27
- 16. Module Level
- 17. SOLO taxonomy • Pre structural • Unistructural • Multi structural • Relational • Extended abstract
- 18. Writing learning outcomes • Aims – Know – Understand – Determine – Appreciate – Grasp – Become familiar • Outcomes – Outline – Distinguish between – Choose – Assemble – Identify – Solve – Apply – Describe – Analyse – Synthesise
- 19. SOLO verbs • Minimal understanding – sufficient to deal with basic terminology – memorise, identify, recognise. • Descriptive understanding – knowing about several topics – classify, describe, list • Integrative understanding – relating facts together and understanding basis theory – apply to known contexts – integrate,
- 20. ‘If students are to learn desired outcomes in a reasonably effective manner, then the teacher’s fundamental task is to get students to engage in learning activities that are likely to result in their achieving those outcomes’ (Schuell, 1986)
- 21. Some examples By the end of the module colleagues should be able to: 1. Plan and structure teaching sessions for effective student learning 2. Apply appropriate teaching strategies and technologies as appropriate 3. Present content in clear language and stimulating ways
- 22. Writing learning outcomes We recommend that you aim for between four and eight learning outcomes for each of your single modules, and up to twenty-five outcomes for an entire programme. Start programme outcomes with the phrase: ‘A successful learner from this programme will be able to …’ Start module outcomes with the phrase: ‘On successful completion of the module, you will be able to …’
- 25. Examples • Knowledge & understanding skills (Blooms) • Intellectual skills (Blooms) • Practical skills (subject specific) • Key/transferable (generic)
- 26. Linking outcomes to assessment • Assessment tasks should fulfil module outcomes • One-to-one criterion for each outcome • Multi criterion for each outcome • Regular reference to module outcomes
- 28. Constructive planning Learning outcomes Learning activities Assessed coursework assignment Final module assessment task
- 29. WORKSHOP Using the handout please complete a learning outcome from each category for one of your lectures/modules/courses. Learning outcomes •Knowledge & understanding skills •Intellectual skills •Practical skills •Key/transferable
Editor's Notes
- Framework for HE Qualifications – handout u/g degree level = level 3, Masters = level 4 (check) – through to doctoral Benchmark statements – what the academic community for a subject area would expect a typical – modal, threshold, excellent graduate to know and be able to do PBRs have their additional specifications which identify the knowledge and skills of graduates aiming to enter that profession – eg Environmental Planning, Architecture, Medicine and Dentistry Programme specifications are how each University delivers the subject – overall educational aims of the programme – may cover a number of pathways which would have own knowledge and skills outputs for graduates. ALL modules must CONTRIBUTE towards the achievement of the programme learning outcomes Modules sit within the pathway/programme at particular levels. Level of the module decided by course team. Modules are the building blocks that when put together take the student through the pathway progressively developing knowledge and skills. Each module is written at ONE level Some modules may be required to be able to take a further module, or must be taken together – or indeed may not be taken together. This allows developing content and thematic strands, building knowledge and skills from entry to award
- The outcomes model is predicated on a teaching and learning system that is aligned. In its simplest form the system has three interconnecting elements. An explicit statement of learning intent (intended learning outcome) expressed in a form that permits their achievement to be demonstrated and measured. Process and resources to enable the outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated:- Curriculum Teaching Learning methods Materials Assessment methods Support Guidance methods Criteria for assessing whether the intended outcomes have been achieved and for differentiating the performance of students N.B. Different types of assignment/ bunching of assignment submission dates etc
- Where it fits in the pathway/programme What does it need to cover? What are you aiming to do in a module? What do you want the students to be able to do when they have finished the module? How will you determine that they have achieved this? – what will you ask them to do? You may well have inherited modules at this stage that were already part of the programme/pathway and some of these issues will already be decided for this year. Module specifications have learning outcomes - all these added together should = programme specifications
- Constructive Alignment, a term coined by John Biggs (Biggs, 1999) is one of the most influential ideas in higher education. It is the underpinning concept behind the current requirements for programme specification, declarations of Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) and assessment criteria, and the use of criterion based assessment. There are two parts to constructive alignment: Students construct meaning from what they do to learn. The teacher aligns the planned learning activities with the learning outcomes. The basic premise of the whole system is that the curriculum is designed so that the learning activities and assessment tasks are aligned with the learning outcomes that are intended in the course. This means that the system is consistent.
- Relationships Levels of detail
- A well-structured module should show clear alignment between the learning outcomes and the assessment criteria used on the module; in turn this requires you to design appropriate assessment tasks, and to deliver the module in a way which enables students to reach the required outcomes. This alignment between learning outcome, learning and teaching method, assessment tasks and assessment criteria makes the whole process transparent to the students and to other interested parties, and helps you to ensure that there is coherence in your modules..
- THE SOLO Taxonomy stands for Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes It was developed by Biggs and Collis (1982), and is well described in Biggs (1999) It describes level of increasing complexity in a student's understanding of a subject, through five stages, and it is claimed to be applicable to any subject area. Not all students get through all five stages, of course, and indeed not all teaching (and even less "training" is designed to take them all the way). There are fairly clear links not only with Säljö on conceptions of learning, but also, in the emphasis on making connections and contextualising, with Bateson's levels of learning, and even with Bloom's taxonomy in the cognitive domain. Like my pyramidal representation of Bloom, the assumption is that each level embraces previous levels, but adds something more: Pre-structural: here students are simply acquiring bits of unconnected information, which have no organisation and make no sense. Unistructural: simple and obvious connections are made, but their significance is not grasped. Multistructural: a number of connections may be made, but the meta-connections between them are missed, as is their significance for the whole. Relational level: the student is now able to appreciate the significance of the parts in relation to the whole. At the extended abstract level, the student is making connections not only within the given subject area, but also beyond it, able to generalise and transfer the principles and ideas underlying the specific instance. Minimal understanding – sufficient to deal with
- Different aims and objectives for different levels
- Unambiguous criteria Parse the learning outcomes VERB + OBJECT + CONTEXT Deconstruct the examples ACTIVITY Select an aspect of your module that is really important and write an ILO for it
- These phrases enable you to use action verbs so that students are able to demonstrate that they have learned or achieved the outcomes
- each outcome. This method makes the assessment process all the more transparent to students, and enables them to see the purpose of assessments more easily. Making regular reference to the module outcomes also helps reinforce this understanding. For a step-by-step guide to writing assessment criteria, see the Appendix, section 5. It is often helpful to combine intellectual outcomes and skills-based outcomes when devising assessments. For instance, if your outcomes state that students will be able to: analyse contrasting strategies for dealing with organizational change, demonstrate that they are effective team workers, and reflect on the role they play in group work, you can then conflate these through one assessment, such as a group presentation with supporting group documentation including individual statements about the role each individual played in the final piece of work. Three outcomes can therefore be attained through one assessment, and you will need distinct assessment criteria to account for each of the stated outcomes. For ideas on motivating students with these criteria, see the Appendix, section 6.