2. How to define learning goals and outcomes [EN]SM2

HOW TO DEFINE LEARNING GOALS AND OUTCOMES

As we have seen, there are several ways of establishing and expressing our desired outcomes, such as learning outcomes, learning objectives, big questions and big ideas, competencies, and so on. However, there are still some questions we need to address:

• How can we use each of these expressions?
• What must we keep in mind?
• How can we build these expressions?

In this section, we will review how we can build these expressions or devices in order to establish the desired outcomes, both throughout the course and in a particular class.

For that, we can seek additional guidance from the book written by the professor of this module, Oscar Jerez,

The design of syllabus in higher education (2015).

BIG IDEAS OR BIG QUESTIONS

Asking questions or generating ideas about essential questions of life, society, and the world (among many, many other things) is a timeless strategy to bring about meaning and the creation of new visions: From the Socratic method established many millennia ago to the queries currently guiding scientific research.

Definition

In training contexts, the big questions or big ideas (BQs and BIs, respectively) are tools that connect relevant learnings framed under the Understanding by Design trend in the curriculum (Virgin, 2014). This trend urges teachers to focus training on essential questions and challenges them to organize learning around big ideas or knowledge axes (Tomlinson, McTighe and Development, 2006). Questions help guide training at multiple levels, engaging students and encouraging them to explore the relevant ideas in order to formulate the answers (Wiggins, 1989).

The big questions associated with a course have three functions:

They ensure the course program is adjusted to the type of training being offered: It must consider the student's proficiency at the time of completion as well as their current or future training.

Type of Training

They enhance coherence between the design, development, and evaluation phases of the teaching and learning experiences.

Coherence

They allow students to see the course objectives reflected in their own professional activity.

Course Objectives

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THE BIG QUESTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A COURSE

Although the BQs are starting points for the organization of the course, throughout the process they allow the instructor to redirect, emphasize or qualify the questions with the purpose of increasing student participation (Jacobson, Eggen, Kauchak, & Dulaney, 1993) and improve their understanding. This does not change the nature of the BQs, but it places students in a position to better understand the complexity that the question addresses as they go through the training process. A good way to begin is to establish the intention of the BQs. We will call these components particles, which correspond to the first part of the BQ statement.

What guidelines should be followed when formulating BQs in learning contexts?

What are the characteristics of the BQs associated with a course?

Examples of Initial Particles to Build a Big Questions (BQ)

In the following table, there are a series of examples of initial particles to build a BQ, classified depending on their intentions.

Specific examples

Intention

Meaning

Find the why of assumptions, actions or impacts.

How is it useful...? What is the point of ...? What are the goals...?

Purpose

Why did it happen...? What could have affected...? What caused...?

Establish the reasons or motives that led to a certain fact, action or consequence.

Cause

Systematically and comprehensively describe processes, stages or phases of a complex compon ent.

How do you get...? What is the process...? What are the relevant milestones or stage s?

Process

Delimit or project the effects, implications and impacts of a certain fact or phenomenon

What effects does it produce...? What are the consequences...? What impacts...?

Consequence

What effects does it produce...? What are the consequences...? What impacts...?

Extracting the essence, characteristics or nature of a t hing, fact or phenomenon.

Essence

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THE BIG QUESTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A COURSE

Specific examples

Intention

Meaning

Produce or project something new or in diverse contexts or situations considering certain bases.

How could it be addressed...? What would happen if we assume...? How is it possible to generate...?

Creativity

Essentially connecting parts or diverse elements to establish significant and transcendental relationships.

What does it relate to...? What are the links...? What are the relevant connections...?

Link

Form, assume or hypothesize from certain principles about actions or facts.

What would happen if...? What happens then...? How would you explain...?

Assumptions

Articulate a series of parts, approaches or components and constitute them as part of a whole. Likewise, it may consider the integration of two or more particles in a complex BQ.

How are they articulated... to...? To what extent are they integrated... to...? How do the factors influence the integration of... to...?

Integration

Important

To achieve a good BQ or BI, its validity must be tested according to the impact they have on learning achievements and on student motivation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES AND COMPETENCIES

Some authors suggest that the difference between competencies and learning outcomes is not precise, as there is some confusion and a lack of clarity when it comes to differentiating the two terms (Adam, 2007; Kennedy, 2009; Kennedy et al., 2007). Learning outcomes are used more and more frequently to describe what students are expected to know, understand, or be capable of demonstrating at the end of the module or program (Allan, 1996; Gosling, & Moon, 2002; Harden, 2007; Van der Horst & McDonald, 1997; Jansen, 1999; Jenkins & Unwin, 1996; Killen, 2000), while competencies are given a more holistic meaning in that they encompass the entire training.

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LEARNING OUTCOMES AND COMPETENCIES

Competencies

Learning outcomes can be described as the elements that make up a competency due to their specificity, without losing their comprehensiveness (Jerez, 2008).

The competencies of an educational profile give meaning to the entire development, not just the temporalities of curricular activities (Jessup, 1991), as is the case with the learning out comes.

In the training process (course, subject, or module), learning outcomes are manageable in terms of learning and assessment activities, unlike competencies which are complex and dense (curriculum or a study plan) (Harden, 2002).

Competencies need to be demonstrated in a total, not a partial, manner. This is unlike learning outcomes, which are part of a process (Jenkins & Unwin, 1996).

Competencies are a set of terminally integrated learning outcomes that can be certified around a graduation profile.

A set of learning outcomes will take into account the development of a competency (Harden, 2007).

The content and the learning outcomes of the curriculum are derived from the competencies. An individual is not considered competent unless they have completed the learning program (Harrison & Mitchell, 2006).

In practice, both make sense and have similar structures. The difference lies in their use: While competencies give meaning to the entire training, learning outcomes give meaning to a specific and temporary curricular activity, considering its methodological, disciplinary, or professional context.

Important

Learning outcomes are managed in the module, course, or subject, and a set of outcomes helps identify a competency, which guides the curriculum design.

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LEARNING OUTCOMES AND COMPETENCIES

Structure of Learning Outcomes

Villardón and Yániz (2006) suggest that learning outcomes be written in short sentences using verbs that express action (e.g., prepares, designs, describes, identifies, etc.), followed by the process that must be developed (e.g., an organizational chart of a company) and end with an indirect complement that indicates the context or purpose of the action (e.g., in a clear and orderly way according to the type of company described).

The verb, together with the process and the context selected to identify the learning outcome, should reflect the level of complexity at which the competency is developed. The learning outcomes should describe the expected achievements in a clear and precise way, while always being operational in that they are observable, measurable, communicable, and understandable in their wording.

Examples of Learning Outcomes

• Learners can formulate the nutritional diagnosis based on a physical assessment, case history, and the integration of clinical data to establish the person's condition.
• Learners can analyze the basic functions of job positions in a large organization from the competency-based management to establish relationships and differences with other models.
• Learners can apply the criteria of the narrative genre in the production of comments in order to identify the meaning among different literary works.
• Learners exemplify the different levels of learning progression of reading and writing in basic education according to the curricular framework to establish the implications when designing classroom activities.
• Learners can analyze the architectural fact and its magnitudes, from the spatial and inhabitant's point of view, through graphic and oral instruments, to establish observation categories which are characteristic of the discipline.
• Learners can design preliminary social research projects from the selection or construction of procedures according to the characteristics of the study object and its methodology in order to identify the study processes specific to the discipline.

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For the most part, the BQs associated with a course encourage students to reflect on them and are characterized by:

• Being original rather than obvious
• Considering current elements of the context or situation
• Allowing students to be actively involved in the class by encouraging critical and creative thinking
• Enabling students to take sides or positions on the learnings, thereby helping them teach themselves some aspects of the course
• Enabling students to deduce basic answers using their prior knowledge
• Challenging students to go deeper and make their knowledge more elaborate and complex

Prado Díez (1982) proposes some characteristics of questions in learning contexts, namely that they must:

• Be concise
• Require more reflection than memorization
• Be direct and avoid ambiguity
• Be adapted to the person, circumstance, and environment
• Require an answer in the form of a statement, avoiding monosyllabic responses like "yes" or "no"
• Exclude any clues or indicators
• Avoid the negative form
• Refer to just one topic or a single idea and avoid double or multiple response questions
• Reflect a clear purpose, i.e., referring to program objectives
• Avoid repeating sentences from the text except when they serve as a basis for analysis
• Be developed around key ideas