{"id":473,"date":"2015-02-13T11:03:21","date_gmt":"2015-02-13T11:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/?p=473"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:23:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:23:59","slug":"assumptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/loproject\/2015\/02\/13\/assumptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Unravelling the assumptions in learning outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Project\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In a previous post <\/a>I described a specific study that we are currently undertaking in the ‘Learning Outcomes Project’ that aims to explore frameworks regarding how student involvement in developing learning outcomes (LOs) could occur and what type(s) of LOs support collaborative student\/tutor development\u00a0\u00a0(e.g. content-based ones, broader ones, those that are more specific or tightly focused, etc).\u00a0 I also mentioned that this study has been included within the Higher Education Academy\u2019s (HEA) Strategic Enhancement Programme, as part of the \u2018Engaged Student Learning\u2019 strand.\u00a0\u00a0 As I stated in that post, our place within this programme means that we benefit from developing networks with colleagues in other institutions who are also concerned to enhance student engagement within areas of their own practices.<\/p>\n

\"Thinking2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I recently attended the second network meeting of this strand in which we were encouraged by the HEA to reflect on some of the assumptions that we might be making within our projects.\u00a0 This reflection was to help us\u00a0critically think about our own thinking towards our projects.\u00a0 For example, are we engaging in stereotypical thinking (i.e. students won’t be motivated to be engaged in the project, students will find it difficult to talk about their learning) or are we putting limits on our projects (i.e. it will have to be small-scale because staff will see the project as adding to their workloads)?\u00a0 It was a useful activity to engage in, and it further made me think about assumptions that might be being made within the topic of learning outcomes as a whole.\u00a0 I have been doing some thinking around this as part of our study because, ironically, the study started with one big assumption – that students will want to be involved in developing LOs.\u00a0 Our study initially began from the starting point of aiming to find out how effective student involvement could occur.\u00a0 But we soon realised that we needed to take a big step back and ask the question first – do students want to be involved?\u00a0 This led me to think if there were any other assumptions we might be making, which led on to thinking about assumptions that are being made within the topic as a whole.\u00a0 And there are a few.\u00a0 Below is a list (in no particular order)\u00a0I’ve come up with so far based on my reading and knowledge of much of the published and ‘grey’ literature concerning LOs:<\/p>\n

Assumptions:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n