{"id":402,"date":"2014-11-07T11:08:15","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T11:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/?p=402"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:23:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:23:59","slug":"beyondwriting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/2014\/11\/07\/beyondwriting\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing &#8216;learning outcomes&#8217; is only the first step: points to consider in how teachers and students work with them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/11\/Teaching-input.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-413\" src=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/11\/Teaching-input-300x227.png\" alt=\"Teaching input\" width=\"143\" height=\"108\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/11\/Teaching-input-300x227.png 300w, https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/11\/Teaching-input.png 349w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 143px) 100vw, 143px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Over the last year or so I have input various times into teaching and learning development sessions run by the institution for new and existing members of staff.\u00a0 My contribution has always been sought when the topic under discussion is &#8216;learning outcomes&#8217; (LOs).\u00a0 Often these sessions, particularly for new lecturers, focus on why LOs are important and how to write them.\u00a0 The session content and format also usually follow closely the standard guidance offered by most institutions.\u00a0 This, of course, is not a\u00a0criticism of these sessions.\u00a0 There is limited time for staff to attend these sessions and they must cover the basic essentials of what staff need to know to fulfil their teaching role and duties.<\/p>\n<p>However, the point that I am always keen to stress, and for which there is usually not enough time to discuss, is\u00a0that\u00a0a teacher&#8217;s work with LOs should not stop once the LOs are written.\u00a0 Writing LOs, I would argue, is only the first step &#8211; how do you then work\u00a0with them to ensure that the LOs you have written are used by, and useful for, students to support and enhance their learning?<\/p>\n<p>At the University of Leicester, we have developed a &#8216;Working with Learning Outcomes&#8217; online resource for academic staff in which we are able to dig into this question to some extent\u00a0and encourage staff to give further consideration to how they work with LOs <em>after<\/em> they have written them.\u00a0 I will briefly review here some of the points we raise in the resource (and a few others we&#8217;ve thought of since then) in the hope that it may\u00a0help to inform the LO-related practices of other teachers:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/10\/Blue-question.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-382\" src=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/10\/Blue-question.png\" alt=\"Blue question\" width=\"86\" height=\"103\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>When should you refer to the LOs?<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Often tutors point out the LOs\u00a0of a module or course to students in the\u00a0beginning\u00a0or introductory session, and then do not refer to them again.\u00a0 In our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/citedby\/10.1080\/13562517.2014.901964\" target=\"_blank\">research with students<\/a>, some told us that they might not start\u00a0to really understand the LOs until they have done some studying within the module.\u00a0 For some, LOs do not really make sense until the module is completed and students have covered all the content referred to in\u00a0the LOs.\u00a0 It is worth considering then when you think your students will fully understand the LOs that you have written.\u00a0 The answer to this question may, quite rightly,\u00a0not be &#8216;at the beginning of the module&#8217;.\u00a0 Yet this is often\u00a0when students typically have most\u00a0interaction with the LOs.\u00a0 Consequently, if LOs are to play any meaningful role within the learning process, you might want to think about when you should be referring to them &#8211; will it be more beneficial for your students if you refer to them at various points in the module instead of just at the beginning?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>How do you want your students to use their LOs?<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Again, if LOs are to be a meaningful, rather than tokenistic, part of students&#8217; learning experiences, you might want to think about how you want your\u00a0students to use them\u00a0 &#8211; or how they could be used in meaningful ways by your students.\u00a0 For example, in our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/03075079.2014.966668#tabModule\" target=\"_blank\">research with academic staff<\/a>, some told us that they\u00a0encourage their students to\u00a0view their LOs as useful employability-related resources, i.e. the LOs provide a framework through which\u00a0students can talk to potential employers about the skills that they have developed and the knowledge that they have gained during their course.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/08\/Girl-thinking.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-271\" src=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/08\/Girl-thinking.png\" alt=\"Girl thinking\" width=\"77\" height=\"99\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>\u00a0How are you specifying levels of learning in your LOs?<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Most LO-related guidance\u00a0encourages\u00a0teachers to\u00a0use Bloom&#8217;s taxonomy and its associated active verbs\u00a0when writing LOs.\u00a0 The assumption is that these active verbs help to clearly convey to students what they are expected to be able to do at the end of the learning period.\u00a0 However, some students <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/citedby\/10.1080\/13562517.2014.901964\" target=\"_blank\">in our research <\/a>indicated that they may struggle at times to understand the depth and level of learning that they are required to engage in from their LOs.\u00a0 This seems very plausible\u00a0when you consider that all of the activities (or active verbs)\u00a0associated with Blooms&#8217; taxonomy, e.g. analyse, compare, justify, explain, describe, etc, can be done to varying degrees and levels.\u00a0 One example given in our resource to address this potential\u00a0situation is the linking of the module&#8217;s\u00a0marking criteria to\u00a0its LOs.\u00a0 This would help to show students that LOs can be achieved at different levels, and it would also convey the level of work that they need to engage in\u00a0if they want to achieve high marks.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>Is there still room for flexibility in the learning journey?<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are <a title=\"Arguing against learning outcomes: limited evidence and moving forward\" href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/2014\/05\/08\/limitedevidence\/\" target=\"_blank\">some whose arguments\u00a0suggest <\/a>that a potential consequence of a LOs approach in higher education is that students will passively accept LOs as the limits to their learning, and then demand further LOs to guide their studies rather than take responsibility for independently directing some of their own work.\u00a0 This would indeed be a sad situation if it occurred.\u00a0 However, many students in our research were keen to stress that they did not want LOs to become the sole focus of their learning.\u00a0 They find LOs very useful as guides for their learning, but they still want to feel that they have the freedom and flexibility to direct their learning in ways meaningful to them.\u00a0 So, you might want to consider how you can work with LOs in ways that do not restrict or narrow students&#8217; learning?\u00a0 Do your LOs\u00a0convey to students the opportunities that they may have to\u00a0extend and direct their own learning?<\/p>\n<p>A few other final brief ideas that you might want to think further about:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/06\/Diverse.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-217\" src=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/files\/2014\/06\/Diverse.png\" alt=\"Diverse\" width=\"106\" height=\"96\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>Involving students in writing LOs<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many proponents of a LOs approach argue that LOs are indicative of a student-centred paradigm in which the focus is on what students are learning rather than what teachers are teaching.\u00a0 In a <a title=\"Making learning outcomes really student-centred\" href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/2014\/04\/24\/studentcentred\/\" target=\"_blank\">previous blog post<\/a> I question whether LOs can really be considered student-centred if students have no role or responsibility in developing them.\u00a0 Without any active student role in the development process, LOs could still be viewed as teacher-centred in that they are what the teacher has developed to then simply\u00a0hand down to the students.\u00a0 At the University of Leicester, we are currently working on a project that is exploring how students can be effectively engaged in the process of developing their learning outcomes, and evaluating the effect of such engagement.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>Using LOs to support other learning and teaching activities<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In <a title=\"\u2018Learning outcomes\u2019 as a tool for student and tutor reflection\" href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/2014\/08\/28\/reflection\/\" target=\"_blank\">another blog post <\/a>I discuss how LOs could be used to support activities such as student self-assessment and reflection, and module evaluation.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>Going beyond the &#8216;rules&#8217; of LOs, e.g. using taxonomies other than Bloom<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Again, see\u00a0my <a title=\"Going beyond the \u2018rules\u2019 of learning outcomes: opening up the discourse\" href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/2014\/03\/21\/lorules\/\" target=\"_blank\">previous blog posts <\/a>for discussions\u00a0concerning the (over?)reliance on Bloom&#8217;s taxonomy within LO-related guidance and an <a title=\"Beyond Bloom: other useful taxonomies for learning outcomes\" href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/2014\/03\/28\/lotax\/\" target=\"_blank\">exploration of other taxonomies <\/a>that might also\u00a0prove useful.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>Creating\u00a0LOs that are based on developing students&#8217; values, attitudes and beliefs, not just content knowledge<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Followers of my blog posts will know that this is a particular interest of mine.\u00a0 Some of my <a title=\"Can learning outcomes support the broader purposes of higher education?\" href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/2014\/02\/20\/lopurposes\/\" target=\"_blank\">previous posts\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0explore<a title=\"Making learning outcomes work for social responsibility and not neoliberalism\" href=\"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/2014\/03\/14\/socialresp\/\" target=\"_blank\"> this topic <\/a>in detail.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any other thoughts\/ideas about how teachers and students can work with LOs, please do get in touch &#8211; and comments on any of the points raised above will be most welcome indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the last year or so I have input various times into teaching and learning development sessions run by the institution for new and existing members of staff.\u00a0 My contribution has always been sought when the topic under discussion is &#8216;learning outcomes&#8217; (LOs).\u00a0 Often these sessions, particularly for new lecturers, focus on why LOs are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3,6,2],"tags":[17,19,26,15],"class_list":["post-402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-implementinglos","category-lodebates","category-losinhe","category-uolproject","tag-reflections-on-los","tag-student-experience","tag-tutor-experience","tag-writinglos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions\/417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}