Good practice guide - Developing learning outcomes

Learning outcomes (LOs) are an essential component of topics and courses. They clarify for students the knowledge and skills they should acquire by the end of their studies. The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) states: “The learning outcomes are constructed as a taxonomy of what graduates are expected to know, understand and be able to do as a result of learning. They are expressed in terms of the dimensions of knowledge, skills and the application of knowledge and skills” (AQF, 2013, p. 11). Given their importance, it is vital to know how learning outcomes should be written.

Constructive alignment

Constructive alignment, simply means the curriculum is designed so that the LOs, learning activities and assessments all link together. Given LOs are what students need to achieve by the time they complete their studies, they need to be assessable and students need to be provided with the skills and or knowledge to be able to achieve them. Figure 1 shows how this works. 

However, depending on whether you are developing LOs for a topic, major/minor or a course they may not explicitly link to all three, the nuances are discussed in more detail below. Learning objectives differ from learning outcomes, these refer to what the teacher will do and indicate “what students will be taught” (Popenici & Millar, 2015, p. 4). At Flinders, learning objectives are not explicitly articulated to students.

The purpose of learning outcomes

LOs for a topic, major/minor or a course will be slightly different. There are set stems to learning outcomes. These relate to the purpose of the outcome, for example:

• Course learning outcomes: On completion of this course you will be able to:
• Major/minor/Honours learning outcomes: On completion students will be able to:
• Topic learning outcomes: On completion of this topic you will be expected to be able to:

In a course:

The course and major/minor LOs need to cover all the learning (acquired knowledge and skills) a student has achieved, and each must be assessed across a number of the topics. Topic LOs are all assessed within the topic itself and all the learning (skills and knowledge) need to be developed so they can be met.

Therefore, all topic learning outcomes should feed into course learning outcomes and support students to apply the knowledge and skills stated at the course outcome level.

In a topic:

Popenici & Millar (2015, p. 4), Define LOs as “what a student will be able to do or demonstrate at the completion of a certain sequence of learning” or at the end of a topic. They “inform students of what is expected of them in terms of performance” so they can pass the topic and acquire the grades they desire. Therefore, they perform a number of functions including:

• describing what students should be able to do on completion of a topic
• linking expectations of what will be achieved in (aspects of) the topic, teaching and assessment
• assisting in planning (instruction, method of delivery and evaluation of learning) and in reviewing topics (it is useful to revisit them periodically)
• guiding learners
• providing an analysis of teaching.

Assessment and learning outcomes

Assessments determine whether students have met the learning outcomes. It is therefore important to write LOs which are assessable and it is imperative students have been given ample opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge to meet them through the sequenced learning activities. Ensuring LOs can be met also means assessments need to be written in ways that determine students have acquired the expected skills and knowledge.

Writing learning outcomes

There are quite specific action verbs (linked to thinking skills) that are used when we write LOs, these need to reflect the student’s capacity to reflect their expertise at the level appropriate to their topic. Most people rely on versions of Bloom’s Taxonomy to support this verb choice, the link provides examples as does Table 1 and the Macquarie University guide to writing learning outcomes.

Ideally, most university topics reflect thinking skills included in levels linked to applying, analysing, synthesising or evaluating knowledge, with second- and third-year topics falling at the high end (synthesising or evaluating).

When writing learning outcomes, there are some commonly made errors. These include:

• using lower level verbs such as ‘know’ or ‘understand’, as these verbs are vague and don’t indicate what level of understanding or knowledge a student must demonstrate
• listing teaching objectives (because these are about what the teacher will do, not what the student needs to accomplish)
• listing topic content, not student outcomes
• being too complex (using more than one verb and not relating to the context in which it applies)
• not written in ways that are assessable or not linked to assessment tasks
• having too many listed (4 – 6 are sufficient)
• nested learning outcomes i.e. dot points within dot points

The following checklist adapted from the University of Melbourne, (Popenici & Millar, 2015 p. 11) should help you self-evaluate the learning outcomes you have written. Learning outcomes need to:

1. be clearly stated, using unambiguous language that students can understand
2. clearly indicate what the students should learn
3. use one verb that is aligned to the level of the topic/course
4. be significant and meaningful in the long term
5. provide a guide for the development of learning activities, teaching and assessment
6. effectively assessable – you can envision assessment tasks able to achieve the LOs
7. align to the level of study, faculty and university strategic priorities and values
8. ensure topic learning outcomes reflect/align with course LOs

If you need help or are unsure whether your LOs make really reflect what the skills and knowledge you require your students to achieve, ask a colleague to look over them and/or contact your Academic Development Team. Asking a colleague to look at them or having your topic calibrated through the IRU Academic Calibration process is also a useful way to ensure that your learning outcomes are appropriate, align effectively with your assessments, and are benchmarked against topics offered elsewhere.