the college classroom wi16 meeting 3: learning outcomes

Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 1 Flight Deck by Wayan Volta on flickr CC

Do you understand how to fly an airplane?

Yes

Okay, but let’s look at this checklist. [trust and verify]

The College Classroom Meeting 3

Learning Outcomes / Goals / Objectives

January 19 and 21, 2016

Unless otherwise noted, content is licensed under

a Creative Commons Attribution- 3.0 License.

Peter Newbury

Center for Engaged Teaching, UC San Diego

[email protected]

collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

Scholarly approach to teaching:

(“Backward Design”)

Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 3

Carl Wieman

Science Education Initiative

cwsei.ubc.ca

What should

students

learn? learning

outcomes

assessment

active

learning

What should

students

learn?

What are

students

learning?

What instructional

strategies

help students

learn?

(Image: NASA) Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 4

Introductory “Astro 101”

Traditional Course Syllabus Course with

Learning Outcomes


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.

provide notable examples of

how comets influenced

history, art and science

Learning outcomes


completes the sentence, “By this end of this

lesson/unit/course, you will be able to…”

begins with an action verb (“deduce”) (more later)

deduce from patterns in the

properties of the planets,

moons, asteroids and other

bodies that the Solar System

had single formation event.

Learning outcomes are valuable to…


the students

o reveal what the instructor is looking for: no more guessing what “understand” means or what will be on the exam

o big picture of the next part of the course

o allow students to monitor their own progress metacognition

o allow students to check they’ve mastered the concept (especially when studying later)

What is the Value of Course-Specific

Learning Outcomes[1]

8 Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

How People Learn[2]


Which Key Finding(s) do you

think this supports?

pre-existing knowledge

expertise

metacognition

Write your thoughts on an

index card and be prepared

to share with your neighbors.

How People Learn[2]


How People Learn[2]


Key Finding 3:

A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.

(How People Learn, p.18)

Learning outcomes are valuable to…


the instructor

o crystallizes what the instructor cares about

o helps the instructor create assessments

o helps the instructor select instructional strategies and activities

“create assessments”


Astro 101 Final Exam

(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.

“select instructional activities”

Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu 14 ClassAction http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/

Does this peer

instruction question

support the

learning outcomes?

don’t

use it use it

yes no

A course should have

Course-level LOs Topic-level LOs

Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

several LOs giving big

picture, attitudes,

behaviors: “how you will

be different by the end”

likely can’t be assessed

with a single exam

question

many LOs defining what

it means to “understand”

at this level (freshman,…)

should be repeatedly

assessed on homework,

exams

15

course-level and topic-level LOs are related

Topic-level

LO

Topic-level

LO

Topic-

level LO

Course-level LO #4


Course-level LO #2

Course-level LO #3 Course-level

learning outcome (LO) #1

Topic-level

LO Topic-level

LO

Topic-level

LO

Topic-level

LO

Topic-level

LO

Topic-level

LO

Topic-level

LO Topic-level

LO

Topic-

level LO

Topic-

level LO

Topic-

level LO

Topic-

level LO

Topic-

level LO Topic-

level LO

Topic-

level LO

Topic-level

LO Topic-level

learning outcome

How are course-level and topic-level learning outcomes related?

Write down on an index card at least 2 rules or patterns you see here.

Course-level and topic-level LOs


Every course-level outcome is supported by many

topic-level outcomes

Every topic-level outcome supports/contributes to one

or more course-level outcome

Every course-level outcome has support.

Every topic-level outcome is there for a reason.

Writing topic-level LOs


Writing learning outcomes is hard because you have to

recognize (through your expert blindness)

declare (and be accountable for)

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.

Bloom’s Taxonomy [3-5]


transform or combine ideas to create something new think critically about and defend a position

break down concepts into parts

apply comprehension to unfamiliar situations demonstrate understanding of ideas and concepts

remember and recall factual information

6 Create

5 Evaluate

4 Analyze

3 Apply

2 Understand

1 Remember

Bloom’s Taxonomy [3-5]


higher order thinking

lower order thinking

6 Create

5 Evaluate

4 Analyze

3 Apply

2 Understand

1 Remember

Good Strategy: Start with the verb


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

6 Create

5 Evaluate

4 Analyze

3 Apply

2 Understand

1 Remember

Writing LOs – The Wrong Way


Astro 101 Learning Outcomes

1. understand how Saturn’s rings formed

Assess your LOs:

“understand”? That could be a sentence…or a thesis

how does a student check that they mastered the Saturn

part of the course?

how does a student demonstrate to you they

“understands” at this level?

what and how are you going to teach?

Write LOs from course outline


Work your way through the list of topics and decide “What

do I want students to be able to do, to demonstrate they

‘get’ this topic?”

Astro 101 Learning Outcomes - Saturn

1. give a detailed description of the size and structure of

Saturn’s rings

2. trace the gravitational feedback cycle that keeps

Saturn’s rings so thin

“Back-engineer” LOs from exams


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 for my class?

Driver’s Ed 101: How to Drive in CA


What should

students

learn? learning

outcomes assessment

What should

students

learn?

What are

students

learning?

active

learning

What instructional

strategies

help students

learn?

Write a learning

outcome that your

group’s question

assesses. (Refer to

Bloom’s Taxonomy

handout for verbs.)


Sample Class C Written Test 5

California Department of Motor Vehicles

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/interactive/tdrive/clc6written.htm

Learning outcomes in your discipline


Before today’s meeting, you drafted a Bloom Level 1

(“remember”) learning outcome.

1. Use the Backward Design Worksheet to draft another

learning outcome (or revise your first one)

2. Find someone in your discipline: get feedback on your

outcome, give them feedback on theirs

Share your LOs with your students


Publish them in your syllabus AND include relevant learning goals in your lecture slides at the beginning of each topic, even each class.

Be wary of reading them aloud: your students may not yet have the knowledge (or jargon) to appreciate the LOs. The LOs will be there when they study.

You’re not “spoon-feeding” them – you’re helping your

students develop expert-like ways of thinking and skills

Watch the blog for next week’s

readings and assignments

Next time: Meeting 4

Fixed and Growth Mindsets and

Assessment that Supports Learning

References


1. Simon, B., & Taylor, J. (2009). What is the Value of Course-Specific Learning

Goals? Journal of College Science Teaching, 39, 2, 52-57.

2. National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience,

and School: Expanded Edition. J.D. Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R. Cocking

(Eds.),Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

3. Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive

Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.

4. Adapted from edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy

5. Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/RevisedBlooms1.html

6. California DMV Sample Class C Written Test 5

www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/interactive/tdrive/clc6written.htm

7. Excerpt from Wieman, C. (2007). Slides from the Wieman Learning Goals

Workshop. www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm

http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/RevisedBlooms1.html


http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm

6 Create: transform and combine ideas to create something new

develop, create, propose, formulate, design, invent

5 Evaluate: think critically about and defend a position

judge, appraise, recommend, justify, defend, criticize, evaluate

4 Analyze:: break down concepts into parts

compare, contrast, categorize, distinguish, identify, infer

3 Apply: apply comprehension to unfamiliar situations

apply, demonstrate, use, compute, solve, predict, construct, modify

2 Understand: demonstrate understanding of ideas, concepts

describe, explain, summarize, interpret, illustrate

1 Remember: remember and recall factual knowledge

define, list, state, label, name, describe

Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain

(Levels of Learning)

Learning Outcomes - collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu Adapted from Carl Wieman (2007) www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm

34

Backward Design Worksheet for

(course name)

collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

Topic

Topic-level learning outcome

Bloom’s Cognitive Level

lower-order thinking higher-order thinking

1. remember 2. understand 3. apply 4. analyze 5. evaluate 6.create

Assessment question

Instructional strategy

What course-level outcome(s) does this topic-level outcome support?