Develop / Revise Learning Outcomes

Characteristics of Learning Outcomes

High quality learning outcomes have the following five (S.M.A.R.T.) characteristics:

• Specific—Clear, definite terms describing the abilities, knowledge, values, attitudes, and performance desired. Use action words or concrete verbs.
• Measurable—Your learning outcomes should have a measurable outcome and a target that can be set, so that you can determine when you have reached it. There needs to be direct observation (e.g., essay, speech, behavior) that indicates that the outcome has been met.
  
  Poorly written learning outcomes are too general and are very hard to measure.
  Examples of learning outcomes that are hard to measure:
  …students will value knowing how to speak a foreign language.
  …students will develop essential critical thinking skills.
  …students will have more confidence in their knowledge of the subject matter.
  
• Achievable—Know the outcome is something your students can accomplish.
• Realistic—Make sure the outcome is practical in that it can be achieved in a reasonable time frame.
• Time-bound—When will the outcome be reached? Identify a specific time frame.

 

To write student learning outcomes, the following approach is recommended:

Learning Outcomes (LOs) Framework

Condition	What course or program?
Audience	Who?
Behavior	What will be done? (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

 

Examples of PROGRAM LOs Framework Breakdown

Condition	Upon successful completion of the AA-T in English,
Audience	students
Behavior	will apply the elements of the writing process (inventing, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, etc.) to any writing assignment both in the academic and professional spheres.

 

Condition	Upon completing the Criminal Justice Certificate,
Audience	students
Behavior	will explain appropriate investigative techniques and responsibilities at a crime scene to demonstrate mastery of crime scene management.

 

Examples of COURSE LOs Framework Breakdown

Condition	Upon successful completion of NURAST 400,
Audience	students
Behavior	will practice and implement safety measures when caring for residents.

  

Condition	Upon successful completion of ART 10,
Audience	students
Behavior	will produce compositions that successfully incorporate the basic elements and organizing principles of two-dimensional art.

CONDITION
Under what circumstances or context will the learning occur? An easy way to specify the condition is to use a template similar to the following:

• Upon completing [name of program, course prefix and course number]…
• Upon successful completion of [name of program, course prefix and course number]…
• As a result of [name of program, course prefix and course number]…
  
  

AUDIENCE
Who is the audience or population we are trying to impact? In most cases, this will be students.

BEHAVIOR
Faculty will need to specify a behavior that students should be able to do after completing a course, program, or degree/certificate. Learning outcomes need to include an action verb to describe the learning. Benjamin Bloom and colleagues created a taxonomy of measurable verbs to help describe and classify observable knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors, and abilities.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

A Brief Description of the Theory

Dr. Benjamin Bloom and colleagues (1956) believed that educators should strive for a higher order of thinking that goes beyond the memorization of facts. They created a classification system to capture a holistic educational approach by developing three domains of learning activities: cognitive (knowledge/thinking/mental skills), affective attitudes (emotions/feelings), and psychomotor (physical skills/kinesthetic). Of the three domains, the cognitive model can be used as a guide for faculty and student support professionals to write the behavior component of learning outcomes statements.

In the original cognitive domain, the hierarchical framework includes six major categories or levels: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation (Bloom & Krathwohl, 1956). Each level builds upon the previous one with the aim to acquire a higher order of thinking or deeper learning. Knowledge is the first stage of learning and the precondition necessary to achieve the next level of cognitive skills and abilities. In 2001, two revisions were made to Bloom’s cognitive categories: the top two tiers were interchanged, and the category names were changed from nouns to verbs (Anderson & Krathwohl). The strict hierarchical structure that was originally arranged is now more relaxed to allow the overlapping of categories.

Bloom’s Six Levels of Cognitive Learning

 

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
Definitions of the Six Major Cognitive Domains

Remember (Know)	The learner can recall and remember relevant knowledge from long- term memory.
Understand	The learner can construct meaning from various forms of communication, including oral, written, and graphic messages. The learner can explain ideas or concepts.
Apply	The learner can use previous knowledge (use of concept) or a skill in a new or unfamiliar situation. The learner can carry out or use a procedure through implementation.
Analyze	The learner can break down material into its constituent parts (deconstruction of concept) and determine how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose.
Evaluate	The learner can make judgments based on criteria and standards. The learner can justify why a decision was made or why a course of action was taken.
Create	The learner can put together elements or reorganize elements (the combination of information) into a new pattern or structure. The learner can generate new ideas or different perspectives.

 

How can I use Bloom’s Taxonomy in my learning outcomes statements?

The six levels of cognitive learning can help faculty and student support professionals with writing learning outcomes. By creating learning outcomes using measurable verbs, faculty and staff can indicate explicitly what students should do in order to demonstrate learning. The categories, analyze, evaluate, and create demonstrate higher-order critical thinking skills. Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a list of action verbs based on the six major cognitive domains.

 

Depending on the context, verbs could be used in more than one level of the taxonomy.

Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.

 

Avoid Unmeasurable Verbs

One of the most common unmeasurable verbs found in learning outcomes is “understand.” The reason this is a problem is because it is difficult to measure what evidence would determine understanding. Learning outcomes that have active verbs describe an observable or identifiable behavior that can reveal the type and degree of “understanding.” If faculty want to measure understanding, for example, they can use the active verbs compare, contrast, or evaluate. See the table below for a list of other verbs and phrases that are difficult to assess.

 

Unmeasurable Verbs

Words to Avoid	Phrases to Avoid
Anxiety, Appreciate, Believe, Capacity, Intelligence, Comprehend, Conceptualize, Depth, Experience, Explore, Familiarize, Feel, Hear, Improve, Insecurity, Intelligence, Know, Learn, Listen, Memorize, Perceive, Realize, Recognize, See, Self-Actualize, Think, Understand, Value	Appreciation for... Acquainted with... Attitude for... Adjusted to... Awareness of... Capable of... Comprehension of... Cognizant of... Enjoyment of... Conscious of... Feeling for... Familiar with... Interest in... Self-confident in... Knowledge of... Understanding of...