Student Learning Outcomes and the Mapping Process

Jenny Kindred EMU Assessment Institute May 1, 2014

Where do you begin?

Begin at the end!

Backward Design  1. Identify Outcomes  2. Determine what counts as acceptable evidence of meeting the outcomes  3. Plan instructional strategies and learning experiences that bring students to desired outcomes “What do I want students to learn” versus “What do I want to cover” (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005)

What’s the Difference?

Goals/Objectives

versus

Outcomes

Goals and Objectives  Goals and Objectives  describe the

intended

purposes and expected results of teaching activities  establish the

foundation

for assessment.

 Goals are broad, general statements of what the program, course, or activity

intends

to accomplish.

 Goals should provide a framework for determining the more specific educational objectives of a course or program. A single goal may have many specific subordinate learning objectives.

Goals and Objectives CTAC 354  Goal: “To introduce students to the field of organizational communication”  Objective: “Students will learn about significant organizational communication theories”

Outcomes 

Learning Outcomes

are statements that describe significant and essential learning that students can reliably demonstrate at the end of a course or program.



Learning Outcomes

identify what the student will know and be able to do by the end of a course or program

Objectives versus Outcomes 

Goals and Objectives

are intended results or consequences of instruction, curricula, programs, or activities.



Outcomes

are achieved results or consequences of what was learned; i.e., evidence that learning took place.

 Objectives are often teacher-centered  Learning outcomes are student-centered

Course Example – CTAC 354  Goal: “To introduce students to the field of organizational communication  Objective : “Students will learn about significant organizational communication theories”  Outcome : “Students will be able to apply organizational communication theories to real and fictional organizational case studies”

Course versus Program Student Learning Outcomes  Course  Unique to the particular course  Related to course topics and course assignments  What can students do after completing the course?

 Program  Related to multiple courses across the program  What can students do after completing the program?

Course versus Program Student Learning Outcomes  Course Student Learning Outcome (CTAC 354) : “Students will be able to apply organizational communication theories to real and fictional organizational case studies”  Program Student Learning Outcome (COMM program) : “Students will be able to apply communication theory and concepts to various situational forms of message production .”

Curriculum Mapping  Which course(s)

introduce

the student learning outcome?

 Which course(s)

reinforce

the student learning outcome?

 In which course(s) should students be able to

demonstrate achievement

of the student learning outcome?

“Students will be able to apply communication theory and concepts to various situational forms of message production .” CTAC 227 Interpersonal Communication CTAC 274 Intercultural Communication CTAC 350 Persuasion CTAC 354 Organizational Communication CTAC 460 Speech Criticism CTAC 485 Communication Theory Introduced Introduced Reinforced Reinforced Demonstrated Demonstrated

101 120 201 253 310 355 411 495 Sample Curriculum Map

Outcome 1

I R I R

Outcome 2 Outcome 3

I

Outcome 4

I R R R R R D D D D

Discussion  What are some potential issues with this map?

 What if anything does it tell you about the program’s SLOs?

 What if anything does it tell you about the program’s courses?

 If a course does not appear to be linked to any programmatic SLO, then does that mean the course should be eliminated?

 How often should an SLO be reinforced? Can it be simply introduced, and then assessed without reinforcement?

 Where in the curriculum should SLOs be demonstrated (assessed)?