Learning outcomes.

A learning outcome is the particular knowledge, skill or behavior

that a student is expected to exhibit after a period of study. 

Learning outcomes are statements that specify what learners

will know or be able to do as a result of a learning activity.

Outcomes are usually expressed as knowledge or skills.

Other times, they represent the lesson objectives.Learning

outcomes should flow from a needs assessment.

The needs assessment should determine the gap between an

existing condition and a desired condition. Learning outcomes

are statements which describe a desired condition – that is,

the knowledge, skills, or attitudes needed to fulfill the need. 

They represent the solution to the identified need or issue.

• Knowledge/remembering.

• Comprehension/understanding.

• Application/applying.

• Analysis/analyzing.

• Evaluation/evaluating.

• Synthesis/creating.

Developing Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes are user-friendly statements that tell students what they will be able to do at the end of a period of time. They are measurable and quite often observable. Learning outcomes are usually discussed within the context of program-wide assessment, but they can be valuable components of any class because of the way they sharpen the focus on student learning.

Learning outcomes:

• state in clear terms what it is that your students should be able to do at the end of a course that they could not do at the beginning.
• focus on student products, artifacts, or performances, rather than on instructional techniques or course content.
• are student-centered rather than instructor-centered.
• explicitly communicate course expectations to your students.

Writing Effective Learning Outcomes

The key to writing effective learning outcomes is the selection of active, measurable verbs—the tasks you want students to do at the end of your class.  Words like know, understand, or appreciate are difficult to measure, and they rarely get at the higher order thinking tasks most of us really want to see in our students.

Consider, instead, more specific words like these, which progress toward more complex intellectual tasks: By the end of the class, students should be able to ….

• Recall
• Explain
• Interpret
• Compare
• Differentiate
• Implement
• Judge
• Create

Next, consider how you will be able to measure whether students have met those outcomes. What types of activities or assignments will let students provide evidence they can meet these outcomes?

Is this something they can demonstrate through a specific essay assignment? Via a poster or other presentation?  As part of a course project?  Through well-crafted exam questions?

Domains of learning:

Educators often discuss learning as a composite of three kinds of behavior on the part of a learner, called "Learning Domains" or “Domains of Learning.”

Standards and Guidelines about curriculum outcomes (the content of what you teach to students, and the results you want to have some measures of) are expressed in these three words:

• Cognitive (cognition; what you know, factually
  
• speaking, and can discuss matter-of-factually;
•  professional knowledge such as human anatomy;
•  the stuff of textbooks).

• Psychomotor (what your body can do with what your mind knows, such as drawing blood, moving a patient, etc.; the stuff of professional skill;
•  things rarely learned without demonstration, coaching and practice).

• Affective (affect; the emotions or feelings of being a professional -- such as desire to keep learning,
  

• compassion for the sick, respect for fellow workers and employers).

Measuring learning outcomes:

Measuring learning outcomes provides information on what

particular knowledge (cognitive), skill or behavior (affective)

students have gained after instruction is completed.

They are typically measured by administering assessments

at sub-national, national, regional and international levels.

Countries decide what the purpose of the assessment is,

what population will be assessed,

what is to be assessed, how it is to be assessed, and how the

measures are to be reported and utilized.

Policy makers might decide to focus on a limited amount of

domains and grade levels while others will focus on the

measurement of student knowledge in a wide range of domains

and grade levels. 

Assessment must be(s  m  a  r t )

 I mean that it must be: subjective / Specific, measurable, actual / agreed upon, reliable /realistic / relevant / reasonable and

timed / time related.

Education, Learning Outcomes and Economic

Growth

Education systems across the world are based on the principle

that education quality is defined by its contribution to the

development of cognitive skills and behavioral traits, attitudes

and values that are judged necessary for good citizenship and

effective life in the community.

Over the last 10 years growth research has been able to

demonstrate that the quality of education, has a statistically

significant and important positive economic effect and that

ignoring the quality of education limits economic growth.

Why learning outcomes?

     Researchers can now document that the quality of human resources, as measured by assessment scores, is closely related to individual earnings, productivity and economic growth.

This evidence shifts policy makers’ attention increasingly from inputs to

outcomes, i.e. what learners should ultimately have learned at the end of a significant educational experience.

 While it is important to know how much money is being spent

on such issues as teacher education and physical facilities, policy

makers recognize that it is equally important to know what children

are learning in the classroom: What kind of knowledge, skills and

attitudes does the education system develop?

How do assessed learning outcomes reflect the stated goals and

objectives of national education systems? What factors are

associated with student achievement? Do particular sub-groups

in the population perform poorly? How well are students being

prepared to succeed in an increasingly knowledge-based

economy?

 In the context of international development assistance,focus on

learning outcomes increases stakeholder attention on deliverable and

results, and may increase accountability based on performance.