Summer Graduate Teaching Scholars
Preparing to Teach 2:
Learning Outcomes
May 6 and 8
1 sgts.ucsd.edu
sgts.ucsd.edu 2 Image: “Slalom course inspection” by jonwich04 on flickr CC-BY
See if you can follow this analogy:
Learning outcomes are like the gates
the skiers go through on a downhill
slalom course. There are many gates
in sequence. Some gates are easy to
pass through, some are hard.
Together, they contribute to the
course-level outcome, getting to the
bottom of the hill.
Unlike a slalom course, though, if you
miss a learning outcome in class, you
can go back and try again. When you
miss a gate, you’re out of the race.
Sure, you can get back on the course
but you can’t climb back uphill.
(P.S. If you’re going to use an analogy,
know when you’ve pushed it too far.)
Peter
Learning outcomes
complete the sentence, “By this end of
this lesson/unit/course, you will be able
to…”
begin with an action verb (“deduce”)
(more below)
tell the students what they must do to
demonstrate they “understand” the
concept
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Learning outcomes are valuable to…
the students reveals what the instructor is looking for (no
guessing what “understand” means.)
big picture of the next part of the course
allows student to check that s/he has mastered
the concept (especially when studying later)
the instructor crystallizes what the instructor actually cares
about
helps the instructor select resources like peer
instruction questions and exam questions
sgts.ucsd.edu 4
several LOs giving big
picture, attitudes,
behaviors
(likely) can’t be
assessed with a single
exam question
supported by many
topic-level LOs
(if not, why not?)
many LOs defining
what it means to
“understand” at this
level (freshman, etc.)
can be (should be)
repeatedly assessed
on homework, exams
support one or more
course-level LOs
(if not, why not?)
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Course-level LOs Topic-level LOs
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-
level LO
Course-level LO #4
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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 LO
Course-level LO #4
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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
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-
level LO
Course-level LO #4
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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
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-level
LO
Topic-
level LO
Course-level LO #4
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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
LO
sync your LOs see ASTR 310 handout
Writing topic-level LOs
Writing learning outcomes is hard because you have to
recognize
declare
(admit)
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.
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Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain
(Levels of Learning)
Adapted from Carl Wieman (2007) www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm
6 Create: transform or 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
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Learning outcome: How to read
Many instructors want their students to learn to read primary literature, like journal articles, original writings of Marx, magazine/newspaper articles, watch videos, etc.
In pairs, write 1–3 learning outcomes on your whiteboard about learning to read primary literature, written for students at the level you’ll be teaching this Summer.
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Learning outcome: your course
By yourself, write 1–3 learning outcomes on your
whiteboard for the course you’ll be teaching this
Summer.
Discuss and critique with your table-mate when
you’re both done. sgts.ucsd.edu 13
back-engineered from good exam, essay,
homework questions
back-engineered from previous
instructors’ course notes
bottom up: pick a topic and declare what
you want students to learn
Writing LOs Challenges:
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Share your LOs with your students
publish them as a document along side your
syllabus
publish them with 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: the students may not
yet have the knowledge (or jargon) to appreciate the
LOs. The LOs will be there when they study.
Don’t worry about “spoon-feeding” them – help the
students do exactly what you feel demonstrates
understanding
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Next week: best practices for
running peer instruction
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What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?
Carl Wieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
sgts.ucsd.edu
Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain
(Levels of Learning)
Adapted from Carl Wieman (2007) www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/learn_goals.htm
6 Create: transform or 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
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