Program Objectives and Learning Outcomes

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Program Objectives and Learning Outcomes

• Saouma BouJaoude

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Outline

• Program Mission Statements
• Program Educational Objectives (with examples)
• Program Learning Outcomes (with examples)
• Alignment between mission, objectives, and
  learning outcomes

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Questions on Program Mission Statements

• How can you make sure that the program mission is
  aligned with the University mission?
• What can you do to make sure that a program
  covers all topics/issues included in the mission?

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Missions, Objectives, and Learning Outcomes

• Writing the mission, objectives, and learning
  outcomes is a dynamic and reflexive process. Each
  of the components influences and is influenced by
  the other.

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Mission Statements

• Mission A statement of the overall purpose of an
  organization. It describes what the program is,
  what it does, for whom it does and with what
  benefits
• See Selim, B.R., Pet-Armacost, J., Albert, A.,
  and Kirst, P.S., Program Assessment Handbook
  Guidelines for Planning and Implementing Quality
  Enhancing Efforts of Program and Student Learning
  Outcomes, UCF, 2005.

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The mission statement should

• provide a clear description of the purpose of the
  program and the learning environment.
• in specific terms, reflect how the program
  contributes to the education and careers of
  graduating students.
• reflect how the teaching and research efforts are
  used to enhance student learning.
• be distinctive for your program.
• be aligned with the Department, College, and
  Universitys mission.
• In departments with more than one program

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Tips for Writing a Mission Statement

• Briefly, state the purpose of the academic
  program.
• Indicate the primary functions or activities of
  the program.
• Indicate who the stakeholders are.
• Write a distinctive mission statement.
• Ensure that the mission statement clearly
  supports the institutions mission.

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Group activity

• Read the following mission statements
• Use criteria 1-4 for writing mission statements
  to evaluate these mission statements (checklist)
• Note Alignment with university mission will be
  done at a later stage

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Hypothetical mission

• The mission of the bachelors degree program in
  Hypothetical Engineering is to educate (through
  courses and an internship) students coming from
  diverse backgrounds in the fundamental skills,
  knowledge, and practice of hypothetical
  engineering in order to (1) prepare them for
  hypothetical engineering positions in service
  and/or manufacturing industries and (2) prepare
  them for continuing for advanced degrees in
  hypothetical engineering or related disciplines.
  The program will promote a commitment to
  continued scholarship and service among its
  graduates and foster a spirit of innovation. It
  will also promote an environment that is
  inclusive and diverse.
• Seehttp//www2.oeas.ucf.edu/oeas2/pdf/acad_progr
  am_assessment_handbook_rev022704.pdf

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Examples of program mission statements biology

• The Biological Sciences Department in Qatar
  University, being the oldest and the only
  full-fledged department in the country. The
  mission of the Department is to provide students
  with excellent science, knowledge, and
  laboratory, research, and field techniques to
  prepare them for satisfying careers in
  biology-related areas and to prepare them in
  their pursuit of advanced degrees in biology,
  environment, or health-related professional
  schools, reflecting the educational mission of
  the Qatar university.

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Group activity

• Review your program mission to make sure that it
  satisfies the criteria listed above (checklist)
• Present the changed mission statement followed by
  group discussion.

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Alignment with university mission Group work

• What are the elements or components of QU
  mission?
• Identify the elements of the QU mission and write
  them in the form entitled Alignment between
  university and program missions
• What are the elements or components of your
  program mission?
• Identify the elements of your program mission and
  write them in the form entitled Alignment
  between university and program missions

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Group work- continued

• Are there common elements between your program
  mission and QU mission?
• Adjust your program mission statement to align it
  with the University mission.
• Present the changed mission statement followed by
  group discussion

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Uses of Program Mission Statements

• Program Mission Statements can be used to develop
  two more specific levels of tasks
• program educational objectives
• program learning outcomes

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Program educational objectives

• Program Educational Objectives program
  Educational Objectives are expressed in broad
  statements that describe the academic and/or
  professional accomplishments that the program is
  preparing students to achieve.
• Program educational objectives should be aligned
  with the mission statement

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Examples of Objectives

• Students should develop a critical understanding
  of the historical and contemporary aims and
  methods of experimental psychology.
• Students should develop an understanding of
  important concepts and methods in the field of
  literary criticism.
• students should understand the scientific basis
  of nutrition and apply that to the practice of
  medicine.

• QUESTION What are the characteristics of the
  above objectives?

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Examples (contd)

• The Department of ___________will produce
  graduates who
• Understand and can apply fundamental concepts of
  the discipline.
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in
  writing.
• Conduct sound research.
• Address issues critically and reflectively.
• Create solutions to problems.
• Work well with others.
• Are committed to open-minded inquiry and lifelong
  learning.

• QUESTION What are the characteristics of the
  above objectives?

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Examples from QU

• Study the concepts of cellular structure
• Determine the structure-function relationships of
  cells
• Helping students to Enhance critical thinking
  skills
• Demonstrate awareness of lab safety procedures
  and the environmental impact of chemical process.
• Familiarizing students with linguistics, its
  sub-branches, applications and relations to other
  disciplines

• QUESTION What are the characteristics of the
  above objectives?

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Group activity

• Review the objectives of your program to make
  sure that they are broad rather than specific
  statements (checklist)
• Present program objectives followed by discussion

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Alignment between program missions and objectives

• Use the elements of the mission statement
  identified earlier to make sure that objectives
  are aligned with the mission.
• Use the table entitled alignment between program
  mission and program objectives.
• Present alignment table followed by discussion

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Program Learning Outcomes

• Program learning outcomes are expressed in
  statements that describe significant and
  essential learning that learners have achieved
  and can reliably demonstrate at the end of a
  program. They identify what the learner will know
  and be able to do by the end of a program.

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Writing Program Learning Outcomes

• There are at least three characteristics of
  well-developed learning outcomes
• The specified action/behavior by the learners
  must be observable.
• The specified action/ behavior by the learners
  must be measurable.
• The specified action/ behavior must be done by
  the learners.

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Characteristics of Program Learning Outcomes

• Program Learning outcomes should
• Be stated in clear, specific and measurable terms
• Describe what the learner can accomplish as a
  result of completing a program or a course,
• Describe what the learner can draw from the
  knowledge, skills, and experiences acquired in
  multiple courses, and combine or apply them in
  ways that exceed what they learned in the
  individual courses.

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Characteristics of Program Learning Outcomes
(contd)

• be aligned with the institutional and program
  missions, objectives, and expectations of the
  profession.
• Focused on broad conceptual knowledge and higher
  order skills and represent the minimum
  requirements to complete a program.

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Types and levels of program learning outcomes

• Learning outcomes for a particular program may be
  of various types and levels.
• One useful way of categorizing them for the
  purposes of writing learning outcomes might be to
  use Blooms taxonomy which delineates types and
  levels of knowledge.

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Types and levels of program learning outcomes
(contd) Blooms Taxonomy

• In Blooms taxonomy there are three types
• Cognitive classifying student cognitive behavior
  into six levels ranging from simple (knowledge)
  to more complex behaviors (evaluation).
• Affective This taxonomy refers to developing
  learning outcomes related to students feelings,
  attitudes, values, and emotions.
• Psychomotor Learning outcomes here relate to
  developing muscular skills and abilities and what
  students are expected to do.

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Types and levels of program learning outcomes
(contd)

• Please note that Blooms is not the only possible
  taxonomy you could use. There may be a more
  useful discipline-specific taxonomy in your field
  that could be used for this same purpose.

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Examples

• Objective Know how to apply fundamental concepts
  of the discipline.
• Learning Outcomes
• Demonstrate understanding of basic concepts in
  the following areas of the discipline _______,
  _______, _________ and _________.
• Identify the source(s) of major viewpoints in the
  discipline.
• Apply concepts and/or viewpoints to a new
  question or issue.

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Examples (contd)

• Objective Respect persons from diverse cultures
  and backgrounds.
• Learning Outcomes
• Communicate positively with those from groups
  other than the students own.
• Entertain viewpoints from a variety of
  perspectives.
• Adapted from http//www.academics.calpoly.edu/ass
  essment/assessplanguide.htmdefining

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Activity

• Remember that in good program learning outcomes
• The specified action/behavior by the learners
  must be observable.
• The specified action/ behavior by the learners
  must be measurable.
• The specified action/ behavior must be done by
  the learners
• Also LOs should be a different levels of Blooms
  Taxonomy
• Read the Learning outcomes on the following pages
  and decide if they satisfy the above criteria.

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Examples of LOs from QU

• Describes and analyzes experimental data
• Recognizes ecological principles
• Discusses biological principles and their
  relation to other scientific disciplines.
• Organize work flow and keep work area neat and
  clean in biomedical labs.
• Demonstrate awareness of environmental chemical
  hazardous materials
• Demonstrate knowledge related to the functions
  and metabolism of nutrients and their food
  sources

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Examples from QU (contd)

• Demonstrate personal attitudes towards lifelong
  learning and professional growth
• Recognize the concept, nature, types, scope and
  effects of rights.
• Recognize arbitration rules and procedures.
• Teach mathematics to all levels of general
  education (see Communicate mathematical ideas
  orally and in writing).
• Pursue higher studies in statistical science by
  having a solid background of theoretical and
  mathematical statistics.

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Examples from QU (contd)

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  ??????.
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  ?????????? ???????? ??????? ??????.

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Activity

• Review the learning outcomes developed for your
  program
• Check if they satisfy the three criteria for
  writing learning outcomes.
• Check the types and levels of the objectives
  using Blooms taxonomy.
• Use the document entitled checklist for good
  program learning outcomes
• Present a number of your PLO followed by
  discussion

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Alignment of learning outcomes and objectives

• Check the alignment between objectives and
  learning outcomes using the table entitled
  Alignment between Learning Outcomes and
  Objectives
• Make sure that all objectives have learning
  outcomes and all learning outcomes are related to
  objectives.
• Present alignment table followed by discussion

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Link between PLO-PEO and Mission
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Question

• Why is it important to prepare program learning
  outcomes?
• Program Learning Outcomes are important because
  they are tools for determining consistency,
  accountability, and accessibility.

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Course Educational Objectives

• Course Educational Objectives
• Course Learning Outcomes
• Characteristics of Course Learning Outcomes

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Learning Outcomes at the Course Level

• Course learning outcomes are statements that
  describe significant and essential learning that
  learners have achieved, and can reliably
  demonstrate at the end of a course. In other
  words, learning outcomes identify what the
  learner will know and be able to do by the end of
  a course.

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Question

• What are the characteristics of course Learning
  Outcomes?

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Characteristics of course Learning Outcomes

• Course learning outcomes should
• Be stated in clear, specific, and measurable
  terms,
• Describe what the learner can accomplish as a
  result of completing a course,
• Focus on what the learner can draw from the
  knowledge, skills, and experiences acquired in a
  course.
• Be aligned with the program learning outcomes and
  represent the minimum requirements to complete a
  course.

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Links
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Examples

• Analyze the effects of laser energy, beam
  profiling and beam modification on different
  forms of matter, and articulate the advantages of
  laser machining over conventional machining
  processes.
• Analyze the characteristics of a variety of
  optical resonator configurations in order to
  determine the effects on laser radiation quality.
  
• Design optical trains and beam delivery systems
  for specific applications, including the
  proficient handling and cleaning of optical
  components.

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Question

• Why is it important to prepare course learning
  outcomes?
• Provide the opportunity to establish consistency,
  accountability, and accessibility in an
  educational program.