Transcript ABOUT WRITING GENERAL LEARNING OUTCOMES

ABOUT WRITING GENERAL LEARNING
OUTCOMES (one instructor’s experience)
The following 3 slides tell a brief story about
learning to write learning outcomes over the
course of 2 semesters and they highlight the
real usefulness of consulting and discussing
learning outcomes with peers. The 3 writing
events began before the QA initiative and ended
as the QA initiative got underway. The first
attempt at writing learning outcomes took place
in the Spring semester of 2008. All were written
for the same undergraduate course.
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First draft of Learning Outcomes, Spring
2008
•
GENERAL LEARNING OUTCOMES
• The course surveys broad movements of ideas and practices in
science.
• Students will develop perspectives and dispositions toward
science education
• Students will develop perspectives and dispositions toward
science
• The course includes a field component
• Students will observe a scientist at work in the community
• Students will determine values and productivity of science in
practice
• Students will chart the evolution of scientific thought and
practice in the Near East and in Western Europe.
• Implicit outcomes include
• Understanding the relation between science and being an
educated person
2
Discussion on the first draft
• You will see in the first draft that there are 9 learning
outcomes written to describe what students are expected
to do at the end of this course. The first statement begins
“This course,” as such, it is not about students at all. So
it requires change. The fourth statement has the same
problem so the 4th and the 1st statements are not
learning outcomes. The 9th statement like the 1st and 4th
is not a learning outcome either but might fit as an aim if
it were rewritten. There are also 5 other statements in
this draft that almost are learning outcomes but need
further editing and thinking. Personally, I see a problem
with using ‘will,’ since it is a passive construction and
does not readily give action. As my peers pointed out the3
action verbs better express what students do.
2nd Draft Learning Outcomes, Sept. 2008
• describe the major phases of the scientific
design process.
• compare different scientific frameworks.
• describe the ways to learn about the science
classroom.
• At the end of the course, the students will
• explain ideas about the role of value in the
science curriculum
• describe how technology and science can be
used to foster student understanding.
• explain the meaning and the work of a
practicing scientist.
• Compare the work done by scientist in different
cultures.
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Discussion on the 2nd Draft of
Learning outcomes-- Fall 2008
• Two statements in the 2nd draft immediately stand out as
problems—the 4th and the 8th statements.
Neither are learning outcomes but serve as comments
about learning outcomes.
• The other 6 statements are nearly proper learning
outcomes. Each starts with an action verb, but all seem
repetitive, and again there is a problem with logic.
• The way that learning outcomes are listed here is
illogical as well. Each learning outcome should be
distinct.
• In the last statement of this draft “scientist” should be
scientists for purposes of agreement in verb tense.
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3rd Draft of Learning Outcomes, Jan. 2009
• Compare different scientific frameworks within
modern and classical Islamic science
• Explain ideas about the role of value in the
science curriculum, specifically how do scientific
activities and innovations in Turkish scientific
inquiry relate to contemporaneous forms of
inquiry
• Evaluate the work done by scientists in different
Islamic cultures
• Imagine a dialogue across and within cultures of
science.
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Discussion on the 3rd Draft of Learning
Outcomes, Jan. 2009
• The 3rd attempt at writing learning outcomes seems
closest to success with the exception of the 2nd outcome.
• The problem in the 2nd statement is that the learning
outcome is stated in too complex a way.
• If the second clause that starts, ‘specifically,’ were
removed then the 2nd statement would be consistent with
the other 3 statements in this draft.
• Notice that each statement in this draft begins with a
different action verb. You might compare this draft with
the 1st draft from Spring 2008 to understand the progress
made.
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The Final Draft (29 January, 2009)
The third draft is in blue for a comparison
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, the students are able to:
• Articulate a detailed account of the development of science since
622 CE,
•
(Compare different scientific frameworks within modern and classical Islamic science)
• Describe & outline the major patterns of scientific discoveries in the
Muslim world,
•
(Explain ideas about the role of value in the science curriculum, specifically how do
scientific activities and innovations in Turkish scientific inquiry relate to
contemporaneous forms of inquiry)
• Explain ideas about the role of value in the science inquiry,
•
(Evaluate the work done by scientists in different Islamic cultures)
• Compare the work done by scientists in different cultures,
• Imagine a dialogue across and within cultures of science.
•
(Imagine a dialogue across and within cultures of science.)
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