CoAT | Workshop Reflection 1/6
Writing Learning Outcomes
January 24th 2011

Reflection

Describe

Writing Learning Outcomes | Administered by Barbi Honeycutt

Online Workshop | January 24th – 29th 2011 | Approximately 10 participants

The goal of the workshop is to practice writing and discuss the value of developing learning outcomes for a course as an instructor. The workshop lead students in a writing and critiquing other workshop participant’s learning outcomes on an online discussion board.

First half of the workshop included reading a series of materials and then re-writing learning outcomes that were provided and post the revisions on the online discussion board. This was then followed by developing your own learning outcomes for a class and then comment on two other participant’s posts in an effort to help refine each other’s learning outcomes.

Analyze

In this workshop, we read a series of materials (via Maryland Faculty and Learning Resource Unit) that deconstruct the qualities that make up well-developed learning outcomes. Clarification on objectives was a focal point of the readings and how they benefit both the students and professor.

The readings also provided specific tools that I have already utilized in writing learning outcomes. For instance, the ABCD model of writing learning objectives provides a helpful framework to guide the development of outcomes. Its a balanced approach to accomplish high-quality learning objectives that are clear, results oriented, observable and measurable, and performance driven.

The ability to work through writing outcomes provides me confidence to present and explain material because I have worked through the material in detail. The online discussion boards was a helpful confidence boost because it made me overcome initial anxiety of writing below average outcomes. The discussions online allowed me to view other student attempt to do the same and receive feedback from them.

Being able to critique and provide recommendations for fellow CoAT participants provided me a sense of empathy for students. I am glad the workshop not only had use write our own but also review others. The collaboration helped me re-frame my mindset as I write learning outcomes in the future to make sure I accommodate my target readers. To get the most out of the outcomes, the students have to be able to digest the information as much as I do.

Writing learning outcomes has become something that I have found beneficial for myself in wrapping my head around what needs to be accomplished in a course, especially in-terms of assessment. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is something that I reference when getting ready to present to ensure I am having the students work on activities that I can actually assess. The document provides a concise list of action verbs that ensures my learning outcomes can be used to measure how well student’s are retaining the information I present.

Overall, this workshop provided quality resources that I have already referenced in developing learning outcomes. The discussion that I had on the discussion board was helpful in seeing how others interpreted the same information. I was also able to gauge how students might interpret learning objectives by reading the posts on discussion boards. I plan to continue to utilize learning outcomes to guide myself in presenting information, inform the students on what they are going to learn, and as a tool used for analysing student performance.