Transcript EMU Assessment Institute: Building Leadership Capacity With

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
 Program
 Unique to the
 Related to multiple
particular course
 Related to course
topics and course
assignments
 What can students
do after completing
the course?
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
Introduced
CTAC 274 Intercultural
Communication
Introduced
CTAC 350 Persuasion
Reinforced
CTAC 354 Organizational
Communication
Reinforced
CTAC 460 Speech Criticism
Demonstrated
CTAC 485 Communication Theory
Demonstrated
Sample Curriculum Map
Outcome 1
Outcome 2
Outcome 3
Outcome 4
101
I
120
R
I
R
201
I
R
R
253
R
310
I
R
R
355
411
495
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)?