Goals? Outcomes? What? - Cornell College Outcomes? What? ... Intended Student (Learning) Outcomes...
Transcript of Goals? Outcomes? What? - Cornell College Outcomes? What? ... Intended Student (Learning) Outcomes...
Goals? Outcomes? What?
“Assessment begins not with creating or implementing
tests, assignments, or other assessment tools but by
deciding on your goals: what do you want students
to learn and why.”
Suskie, 2009
What do you want to achieve and why?
Cornell Matrix
Cornell Educational Objectives Department / Program
Goals
Intended Student
(Learning) Outcomes
One: Be able to acquire, analyze,
interpret, and communicate knowledge;
possess skills including, but not limited to,
writing, reading comprehension, critical
thinking, quantitative reasoning,
information literacy, and oral
communication;
Goals
“Goals state what you, your colleagues, or your
college aim to achieve. They can describe aims
outside the teaching and learning process as well as
within it.”
Suskie, 2009
Writing Goals
Focus on what the program/department aims
to achieve.
Be specific.
Define terms.
Articulate time frames.
Use action verbs.
Be realistic.
Goal Examples
The Geology Department will:
enhance all middle and upper level courses by 2011-12 to include extensive group or individual research projects;
require all Geology majors to complete at least one field course;
foster student appreciation for other cultures via participation in field study in the Bahamas and/or New Zealand;
secure funding to send 10 students per year to the Geological Society of America annual conference.
Goal Examples
The Office of Admission seeks to:
identify, attract, select, and enroll a well-
rounded and diverse community of students
who will benefit from our distinctive learning
environment; and,
achieve enrollment and revenue goals which
will allow the institution to remain a healthy
and vibrant community.
Give it a try…
Think about your department / program / office.
Make a list in your own words of what you’re
trying to accomplish.
Select one item on your list.
Write that item as a goal statement.
OR
Review your existing goals to determine how well they
capture that item.
Outcomes
“Outcomes are goals that refer to a destination rather
than the path taken to get there – the end rather
than the means, the outcome rather than the
process….an outcome explains why we do what we
do.”
Suskie, 2009
Learning Outcomes
“Learning outcomes … describe how students will be
different because of a learning experience. More
specifically, learning outcomes are the knowledge,
skills, attitudes, and habits of mind that students
take with them from a learning experience.”
Suskie, 2009
Learning Outcomes
Translate intentions into actions.
Describe what people should be able to do, value, or
know as a result of participation in a learning activity.
Articulate what people should be able to
demonstrate / produce.
Use action verbs.
SWiBAT
Upon completion of the pre-ninja program,
students will be able to:
rip a man’s heart out and show it to him before
he dies;
spin slowly in mid-air;
skulk undetected through abandoned factories at
night;
mix black clothes with other black clothes without
clashing. Dean Dad, Inside Higher Ed, April 21, 2008
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
Compare, contrast, deconstruct,
differentiate, analyze
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom (1956)
Appraise, compare, conclude, critique,
defend, interpret
Compile, compose, explain, revise,
reconstruct, combine
Compute, construct, modify, predict,
use, solve, relate
Comprehend, convert, explain,
distinguish
Define, describe, identify, know,
recognize, recall
Affective*
receiving phenomena ask, describe, select, follow, select
responding to phenomena answer, assist, conform, discuss
valuing demonstrate, justify, differentiate, initiate
organization adhere, formulate, arrange, relate
internalizing values act, display, influence, question
*Krathwohl, Bloom, Masia (1973)
Bloom’s Taxonomy
SMART Outcomes
Specific: Clear and definite terms describing expected
abilities, knowledge, values, attitudes, and performance.
Measurable: It is feasible to get the data; data are
accurate / believable; can be assessed in more than one
way.
Aggressive but Attainable: Consider stretch targets to
improve programs.
SMART Outcomes
Realistic: Take note of the timeframe and the
resources you have available.
Time-bound: Describe where you would like
students to be within a specified period of time.
Adapted from Paula Krist,
Director of Operational Effectiveness and Assessment Support,
University of Central Florida, May 2006.
Cornell Educational Objectives Department /
Program Goals
Intended Student
(Learning) Outcomes
Two: Understand the methods and practices of the
natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and
humanities:
• as a result of their experiences with various
methods of inquiry, graduates will recognize and
apply different disciplinary and interdisciplinary
forms of thinking;
• as a result of their experiences with a major or
concentration, graduates will possess depth of
understanding and research skills in at least one
method of inquiry;
Every Geology major will
successfully complete a core
curriculum of 5 courses and a
set of 3 electives.
Over the course of their
junior and senior years, at
least 75% of majors will
attend a science-oriented
conference.
(Geology): “Graduating
seniors will be able to
conduct original scientific
research and present it in
writing and orally to a
scientific audience.”
(Walvoord, 2004)
Three: Possess intercultural knowledge and
recognize global perspectives;
50% of students will study
off-campus
“Students will demonstrate
the ability to perceive any
given event from more than
one cultural viewpoint.”
(Global Learning for All,
2009)
Four: Integrate and transfer knowledge and skills
from one setting to another;
Five: Be cognizant of their responsibility for
individual, civic, and social choices
100% of graduating seniors
will have participated in
community service
Outcomes Examples
As a result of their co-curricular experiences, students will:
Demonstrate behaviors to maintain a healthy lifestyle and relationships;
Engage in civic, leadership, and campus activities;
Develop effective leadership skills/traits;
Consider differing social, political, and cultural viewpoints and share perspectives in a mutually respectful manner;
Outcomes Examples
As a result of their experiences in a Living
Learning Community, students will:
be able to analyze and interpret a societal
issue in-depth;
create an action plan to address issues and
concerns that arise from researching the group’s
topic;
be able to articulate the purpose of roommate
agreement.
Outcomes Examples
Upon completion of the Studio Art major, students
will:
demonstrate competent and creative studio
practice in at least one medium;
be able to locate their art within an historical
continuum of art ideas and in relation to
established art antecedents.
Give it a try…
Think about your department / program / office.
Make a list in your own words of what you think
[students] are learning.
Write a quick / simple learning outcome.
Try using one of these sentence stems:
Upon completion of …, students will…
As a result of participation in [xyz] program,
[Cornell alumni] will…
SWiBAT formula: “Students will be able to…”
Verbs cognitive affective
evaluation appraise, compare, conclude,
critique, defend, interpret
receiving
phenomena
ask, describe, select,
follow, select
synthesis compile, compose, explain,
revise, reconstruct, combine
responding to
phenomena
answer, assist, conform,
discuss
analysis compare, contrast, deconstruct,
differentiate, analyze
valuing demonstrate, justify,
differentiate, initiate
application compute, construct, modify,
predict, use, solve, relate
organization adhere, formulate,
arrange, relate
comprehension comprehend, convert, explain,
distinguish
internalizing values act, display, influence,
question
knowledge define, describe, identify,
know, recognize, recall
Consider
Meaningful: Is this outcome aligned with the division or department
missions or goals?
Manageable: Is this outcome actually achievable and assessable?
Measurable: Can you articulate how you would know you achieved the
outcome?