Presented at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California on November 7, 2014. Peter Newbury Center for Teaching Development, UC San Diego ctd.ucsd.edu

1. Learning Outcomes1
Flight Deck byWayanVolta on flickr CC
Do you understand how
to fly an airplane?
Yes
Prove it: let’s go through
this checklist together
Center for Teaching Development
Course Design 1:
Learning Outcomes

2. Course Design 1:
Learning Outcomes
Unless otherwise noted, content is
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Non Commercial 3.0 License.
Peter Newbury, Ph.D.
Center forTeaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu
@polarisdotca #ctducsd
ctd.ucsd.edu
Scripps Institute of Oceanography November 7, 2014

3. Scholarly approach to teaching:
Learning Outcomes3
CarlWieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
What should
students
learn?
learning
outcomes assessment that
supports learning
(Nov 21)
alternatives
to lecture
(Nov 14)
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?

4. (Image: NASA)Learning Outcomes4

5. Introductory “Astro 101”
Traditional Course Syllabus
Course with Learning
Outcomes
Learning Outcomes5
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

6. Learning outcomes
Learning Outcomes6
 completes the sentence,“By this end of this
lesson/unit/course, you will be able to…”
 begins with an action verb (“deduce”) (more below)
 tells the students what they must do to demonstrate
they “understand” the concept

7. What is the Value of Course-Specific
Learning Outcomes?
Learning Outcomes7
Simon &Taylor [1] asked students to complete this
sentence:
For me,the use of learning goals in this course is…
They received 597 responses from students in computer
science and microbiology. Responses were put into
categories that emerged from the responses.

8. Learning Outcomes8
Simon &Taylor (2009)

9. Learning outcomes are valuable…
Learning Outcomes9
 to students
o reveal what the instructor is looking for (no guessing
what “understand” means, what the instructor is
“looking for”)
o give big picture of the next part of the course
o allows student to check that s/he has mastered the
concept (especially when studying later)
 to the instructor
o crystallizes what the instructor cares about
o helps the instructor choose questions for peer
instruction (“clickers”) in class, write the final exam

10. choose questions for peer instruction
Learning Outcomes10 ClassAction http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/

11. write the final exam
Learning Outcomes11
(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.
Yes!

12. A course should have
Course-level LOs Topic-level LOs
Learning Outcomes12
 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

13. Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-
level LO
Course-level LO #4
Learning Outcomes13
Course-level LO #2
Course-level LO #3Course-level
learning outcome (LO) #1
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LOTopic-level
LO
Topic-
level LO
Topic-
level LO
Topic-
level LO
Topic-
level LO
Topic-
level LO Topic-
level LO
Topic-
level LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
learning outcome

14. Writing topic-level LOs
Learning Outcomes14
Writing learning outcomes is hard because you have to
 recognize
 declare
 (admit)
what you want your students to be capable of doing.
A good place to start is picking the verb describing
the action the students will perform to demonstrate their
mastery of the concept.

15. Bloom’s Taxonomy [2,3]
Learning Outcomes15
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

16. Bloom’s Taxonomy [2,3]
Learning Outcomes16
higher order thinking
lower order thinking
6 Create
5 Evaluate
4 Analyze
3 Apply
2 Understand
1 Remember

17. Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs
Learning Outcomes17
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

18. Driver’s Ed 101: How to Drive in CA
Learning Outcomes18
Task:Write a learning outcome
that your group’s question assesses.
(refer to the Bloom’sTaxonomy handout
from the CarlWieman Science Education Initiative)

19. 1. Writing LOs – The Wrong Way
Learning Outcomes19
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?

20. 1b. Writing LOs – More Effective Way
Learning Outcomes20
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?

21. 2. “Back-engineer” LOs from exams
Learning Outcomes21
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?

22. 3. Draft LOs from course outline
Learning Outcomes22
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.

23. Share your LOs with your students
Learning Outcomes23
 (good) Publish your LOs as part of your syllabus.
 (better) Publish them in your syllabusAND 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” the students:
LO’s help your students do what you feel demonstrates
understanding

24. Scholarly approach to teaching:
Learning Outcomes24
CarlWieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
What should
students
learn?
learning
outcomes assessment that
supports learning
(Nov 21)
alternatives
to lecture
(Nov 14)
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?

25. References
Learning Outcomes25
1. Simon, B., &Taylor, J. (2009).What is theValue of Course-Specific Learning Goals? Journal of
College ScienceTeaching, 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. NewYork:
David McKay Co Inc.
Adapted from Anderson, L.W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001).ATaxonomy for Learning. Teaching,
and assessing:A revision of bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives.
Revised Bloom’sTaxonomy www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/RevisedBlooms1.html
3. Excerpt fromWieman, C. (2007). Slides from theWieman Learning GoalsWorkshop.
www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm
4. California DMV Sample Class CWrittenTest 5
www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/interactive/tdrive/clc6written.htm

26. 6 Create: transform and combine ideas to create something new
develop,create,propose,formulate,design,invent
5 Evaluate: think critically about and defend a position
judge,appraise,recommend,justify,defend,criticize,evaluate
4 Analyze:: break down concepts into parts
compare,contrast,categorize,distinguish,identify,infer
3 Apply: apply comprehension to unfamiliar situations
apply,demonstrate,use,compute,solve,predict,construct,modify
2 Understand: demonstrate understanding of ideas, concepts
describe,explain,summarize,interpret,illustrate
1 Remember: remember and recall factual knowledge
define,list,state,label,name,describe
Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain
(Levels of Learning)
Learning Outcomes
Center forTeaching Development
Adapted from CarlWieman (2007)
www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm