Inspire Blog Tag: learning outcomes

Learning Outcomes: Do Students Even Read Them?

Learning outcomes (LOs) are used in instructional design to describe the skills and knowledge that students should have at the end of a course or learning unit, and to design assessments and activities that support these goals. It is widely agreed that specific, measurable outcomes are essential for planning instruction; however, some educators question the benefits of explicitly presenting them to students. I have been asked (and wondered myself): “What is the point of listing learning outcomes in the course?” “How do they help learning? “Do students even read them?” So, I went on a quest for research that attempted to answer such questions. I was particularly interested in unit/module-level outcomes, as those are the ones that directly steer the … Learning Outcomes: Do Students Even Read Them?
by · February 2, 2023

Beyond the Term Paper: Alternative and Authentic Assessments

Four students working together on a project

A term paper is a common final assignment, but does the final assignment have to be a paper? The answer depends on the type of course and the learning outcomes. If the final assignment can be an alternative to the term paper, we can consider other types of assignments that allow students not only to accomplish the learning outcomes, as expected, but also to engage more deeply with the content and exercise critical thinking. A caveat related to the discipline is important here. Fields that require a writing component may necessarily rely on the term paper which can be scaffolded through a set of stages. For assignments with a sequence of tasks, refer to staged assignments (Loftin, 2018) for details … <strong>Beyond the Term Paper: Alternative and Authentic Assessments</strong>
by · December 12, 2022

Course Learning Outcomes – High-Beam or Low-Beam Lights?

The following is a guest blog post from Meilianty Gunawan. Meili completed an Instructional Design internship with OSU Ecampus during Fall 2021. Have you ever driven a car on a highway with no streetlights in the middle of the night? Your first instinct is to turn your car’s high-beam lights on to give you greater visibility on what lies far ahead of you. You are probably fine just by relying on the car’s low-beam lights, but you will not be able to get a clearer picture of the far end of the road as you would get from the high-beam. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a framework used by instructors to develop course learning outcomes. It lays out six cognitive domains (from … Course Learning Outcomes – High-Beam or Low-Beam Lights?
by · March 14, 2022

Gagné’s Nine Instructional Events Online

Half a century has passed since educational psychologist Robert Gagné published his influential book, The Conditions of Learning, but his ideas are relevant to online and hybrid learning even today. He presciently wrote, “The real point to be made is that use of a variety of instructional modes is both feasible and potentially effective. . . . What is needed in each case is thoughtful design and management of the learning environment.” Gagné popularized the concept of nine “instructional events.” Each represents a step in the teaching and learning process: Gain learners’ attention Inform students of learning objective Stimulate recall of prior knowledge Present stimulus material (content) Provide learning guidance Elicit performance (practice) Provide feedback Assess performance Enhance retention and … Gagné’s Nine Instructional Events Online
by · September 4, 2015

Learning Outcomes: Tools for You

OSU’s Curricular Policies and Procedures specify that every course syllabus should include measurable student learning outcomes.  The outcomes are defined as “learner-focused statements reflecting what a student will be able to do as a result of an instructional activity. Each outcome statement should start with a measurable action verb that indicates the level of learning, followed by a precise description of the learned behavior, knowledge, or attitude.” For guidance in developing learning outcomes, educators have long turned to Bloom’s Taxonomy, with its pyramid of cognitive levels.  Two much newer tools can help you refine learning outcomes for a course or find learning activities and associated tech tools that will align with your course outcomes. 1 – On the Ecampus website, … Learning Outcomes: Tools for You
by · November 4, 2013