Learning Outcomes
What are Learning Outcomes?
Learning outcomes are user-friendly statements that explicitly communicate course expectations and tell students what they will be able to do at the end of a course that they could not do at the beginning of the course.
Learning Outcomes should be
- measurable
- often observable
- student-centered and focus on student products, artifacts, performances, etc.
Instructors often use learning outcomes to provide a useful structure for a class. In well designed courses you will see alignment between the course assignments and the outcomes. You should see how class activities, assignments, and exams prepare students with the skills needed to reach the learning outcomes. We will come back to this topic in the How Teaching Works chapter.
Need: Example L.O. from classes here
Example Learning Outcomes
This section’s learning outcomes
- Explain the benefits to teachers for incorporating undergrad teaching assistants into their courses
- Explain the benefits to students for having undergrad teaching assistants in their courses
- Discuss the benefits to students who serve as undergraduate teaching assistants
Reflection Exercise
Do you read the learning outcomes for your courses?
- How can you remind students of the learning outcomes and explain why these are helpful to their learning?
- How can show peers when they make progress towards the learning outcomes?