Common Mistakes

There are a variety of common mistakes that can undermine your unit-level outcomes, including:

instructions that are disguised as outcomes,
vague or unmeasurable verbs,
verbs that don't represent the correct cognitive level,
or unit-level outcomes that don't align to course-level outcomes or objectives.

Let's take a look at some examples of poorly written outcomes that will help us avoid these pitfalls and potholes in our roadmap, and then at some well-written examples that will help you pave a smooth road to success for your students!

Poor Outcomes

Here are some examples of poorly written outcomes and why they are not appropriate:

"Read unit one in your e-text book or printed textbook."

This is an instruction or task, not an outcome. Students may read an e-text or textbook as content in the learning unit, but this does not describe the intended outcome of the learning process.

"Understand the importance of managing records."

There is no true way to assess "understanding" as this is an internal process. You might assess memorization of facts or the application of a theory in a practical matter, but because it is difficult to concretely measure, "understand" is a deadly verb that should never be used in a learning outcome. Rather, think of what students would actually do that illustrates understanding, and use that verb instead.

"Develop an understanding of the conventions of business etiquette."

You cannot conceal the verb "understand' with the even more vague term "Develop an understanding" and expect students to be clear on what is expected of them. This instructor re-wrote the learning outcome to reflect a more appropriate goal, "Create a business scenario for your peers, and describe correct applications of business etiquette in that scenario."

"Learn the alphabetic filing rules."

Along with "understand", the term "learn" is considered a deadly verb. Most students will argue that they have "learned" the material, and therefore it is the assessment that was "tricky" or "off base". We want students to apply their knowledge in a specific assessment. For instance, an outcome may state they should correctly alphabetize a set of given files at a 90% mastery. If we state this outcome upfront, and then present an assessment where they must alphabetize files, they will be prepared and there will be no surprises.

"Discuss leadership theories. Discuss leadership styles. Discuss leadership traits."

This example illustrates one way of quickly jotting down learning outcomes. In this example, there is one glaring problem among many: the assessment given was a multiple-choice test! There were no opportunities to "discuss" anything in the learning activity, and if the entire learning unit had to do with a vague and open discussion of this particular topic, the students might have every right to feel bored and adrift. Instead, use a range of verbs for your learning outcomes, and make sure they align well the intended outcome.

Clear Outcomes

A clear unit-level learning outcome:

begins with an action verb
aligns with the course-level outcomes
represents an appropriate level of cognition
is measurable

The following examples of well-written learning outcomes come from previous participants in @ONE courses:

Example 1: By the completion of this learning unit you will be able to:

Identify the major contributions of Sigmund Freud and the impact that his Psychodynamic perspective has on modern psychology.
Summarize the basic concepts behind operant conditioning.
Distinguish between the Humanistic perspective of Maslow and Rogers and the perspectives of Cognitive, Sociocultural and Evolutionary Psychology.

In reading these outcomes, if you were a student you would probably realize there is an essay or a discussion post at the end of this learning unit ("summarize"), as well as perhaps a quiz ("identify", "distinguish between"). In this case, the instructor also used a video and discussion format to encourage students to "identify" contributions. Each of these verbs can be measured in an assessment, and these were aligned to the course-level outcomes. Additionally, this is an introductory unit, so the low-level verbs (Identify, Summarize, and Distinguish) are appropriate.

Example 2: By the end of this week you should be able to…

identify the major components of the plasma membrane and label a diagram of the plasma membrane similar to the one in your study guide.
describe the major functions of the plasma membrane
explain the ways substances move across the plasma membrane and be able to identify examples of each process

As a student, you can guess that there will be an opportunity to provide labels to a diagram, perhaps in an online interactive module, and that you will need to write a discussion post or essay ("describe" or "explain"). Again, each of these can be measured, and the levels of the verbs build to more cognitive complexity (from identify/describe to explain).

Image: "no kidding" by bradleyolin is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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