Spring 2013 Teaching and Learning Workshops: Learning Outcomes May 7, 2013 Peter Newbury ctd.ucsd.edu CC-BY-NC

1. CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd
resources: http://tinyurl.com/LOSp2013
Tuesday May 7, 2013 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Center Hall, Room 316

2. Scholarly approach to teaching:
Learning Outcomes2
Carl Wieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?
learning
outcomes
(goals, objectives)
assessment
(May 14)

3. (Image: NASA)

4. Introductory “Astro 101”
Learning Outcomes4
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.
 reconstruct the formation and
evolution of various bodies in the
Solar System by interpreting the
presence (and their appearance)
or absence of craters
 provide notable examples of how
comets influenced history, art and
science
Course with Learning OutcomesTraditional Course Syllabus

5. Learning outcomes
Learning Outcomes5
 completes the sentence, “By this end of this
lesson/unit/course, you will be able to…”
 begins with an action verb (more below…)
 tells the students what they must do to demonstrate
they “understand” the concept
 deduce from patterns in the
properties of the planets, moons,
asteroids and other bodies that the
Solar System had single formation
event.

6. Learning outcomes are valuable to…
Learning Outcomes6
 the students
 big picture of the next part of the course
 reveals what the instructor is looking for (no guessing
what “understand” means.)
 allows student to check that s/he has mastered the
concept (especially when studying later)

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, themselves.

8. Learning Outcomes
8
Simon & Taylor (2009)

9. Learning outcomes are valuable to…
Learning Outcomes9
 the students
 big picture of the next part of the course
 reveals what the instructor is looking for (no guessing
what “understand” means.)
 allows student to check that s/he has mastered the
concept (especially when studying later)
 the instructor
 crystallizes what prof actually cares about
 helped prof
 choose clicker questions for class
 write the final exam

10. …choose clicker questions for class
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.

12. 1. “Back-engineer” LOs from exams
Learning Outcomes12
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?

13. 2. Draft LOs from course outline
Learning Outcomes13
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 many low-level LOs.
When you revise, you’ll start grouping them into
higher-level LOs.
(see ASTR 310 Learning Goals)

14. Topic-level and Course-level LOs
Learning Outcomes14
You likely have some “big picture” goals for your course
that can’t be assessed by a single exam question
“gain a quantitative perspective on the scale, age and
diversity of our Solar System”
“develop evidence-based arguments to defend a position”
When you have a list of topic-level LOs, sync them with
your course-level goals (see ASTR 310 Learning Goals)

15. Share your LOs with your students
Learning Outcomes15
 After you’ve gone to the trouble of creating learning
outcomes, share them with your students
 (good) publish them as a document along side your syllabus
 (better) include relevant learning goals in your lecture slides
at the beginning of each topic
 Be wary of reading them aloud: the students may not yet
have the knowledge to appreciate the LOs. The LOs will
be there when they study.
 Don’t worry about “spoon-feeding” them – so what if
students do exactly what you feel demonstrates
understanding?

16. Deciding on the level of a LO
Learning Outcomes16
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:

17. Bloom’s Taxonomy [2,3]
Learning Outcomes17
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create
think critically about and defend a position
transform or combine ideas to create
something new
break down concepts into parts
apply comprehension to unfamiliar situations
demonstrate understanding of ideas and
concepts
remember and recall factual information

18. Bloom’s Taxonomy [2,3]
Learning Outcomes18
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create
higher order thinking
lower order thinking

19. Bloom’s Taxonomy [2,3]
Learning Outcomes19
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create
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

20. Driver’s Ed 101: How to Drive in CA
The whiteboards on the tables are numbered. Your
group will concentrate on the DMV Test Question
matching your board’s number.
Task: Write a learning outcome
that your group’s question assesses.
(If necessary, refer to Wieman handout)
Learning Outcomes20

21. Scholarly approach to teaching:
Learning Outcomes21
Carl Wieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?
learning
outcomes
(goals, objectives)
assessment
(May 14)

22. References
Learning Outcomes22
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.
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.
Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/RevisedBlooms1.html
3. Excerpt from Wieman, C. (2007). Slides from the Wieman Learning Goals Workshop.
www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm
4. California DMV Sample Class C Written Test 5
www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/interactive/tdrive/clc6written.htm

23. Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain
(Levels of Learning)
Learning Outcomes
Center for Teaching Development
23
1. Factual Knowledge: remember and recall factual knowledge
define, list, state, label, name, describe
2. Comprehension: demonstrate understanding of ideas, concepts
describe, explain, summarize, interpret, illustrate
3. Application: apply comprehension to unfamiliar situations
apply, demonstrate, use, compute, solve, predict, construct, modify
4. Analysis: break down concepts into parts
compare, contrast, categorize, distinguish, identify, infer
5. Evaluation: think critically about and defend a position
judge, appraise, recommend, justify, defend, criticize, evaluate
6. Synthesis: transform and combine ideas to create something new
develop, create, propose, formulate, design, invent
Carl Wieman (2007) www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm