Intended Learning Outcomes

and
Student Assessment

Dr. Ahmed-Refat AG Refat

FOM-ZU
What are intended learning
outcomes?
Statements describing what students
know, understand, and can do with their
knowledge, as well as what they feel
and believe, as a result of their learning
experiences
Can be written for a course, a program,
or an entire institution
Learning Outcomes

Students will

DO WHAT (how)
Educational Objectives/
Learning Outcomes
Think of the “ideal” students or
graduates
 What students know?>> K
 What students can do? ?>> P
 What students care about (think)? ?>> A

Knowledge, Attitude,and Practice

 ILOs

Learning Outcomes:
Some Examples
Learning Outcomes: Communication
Students communicate well
Communication department will provide
opportunities for students to develop students’
communication skills
Students will communicate effectively
Students’ communication skills will gradually
improve over several courses

Students will be able to communicate

information effectively in writing, orally,
and graphically
 Learning Outcomes:
Research Skill
Students will design and carry out research
Psychology lab should teach students high
quality research skill
Students have demonstrated high quality
research skills

Students will independently design and

carry out experimental research and
evaluate the results critically
Learning Outcomes: Ethics

Biology department will teach ethical

responsibility to students.
Students will be highly ethical
Students took a course on ethics

Students will understand their ethical

responsibility for the field of Bio-medical
research
Alignment of Intended
Outcomes

Design Backward I
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Deliver Forward
ILOs: Intended Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes have three

distinguishing characteristics:
the specified action by the learner must
be observable, measurable and done
observable measurable,
by the learner.
ILOs: Intended Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes (Outcome

Behaviors):
Observable behaviors or actions on
the part of students that demonstrate
that the intended learning objective
has occurred.
occurred
ILOs: Intended Learning Outcomes
ILOs: Intended Learning Outcomes

How to Write Learning Objectives

S
M
A
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 Characteristics of learning
outcomes

1.     They use verbs that indicate how the student

work can be observed.
2.     They focus on what the student should do,
not what the instructor teaches.
3.     They reflect what students should be able to do
after a course ends, not simply what they do during
the course.
4.     can be assessed in more than one way.
5.     They can be understood by someone
outside the discipline.
ILOs: Intended Learning Outcomes

Learning objectives specify both an

observable behavior and the object of
that behavior.
Students will be able to write a research
paper.
In addition, the criterion could also be
specified:
Students will be able to write a research
paper in the appropriate scientific style.
ILOs: Intended Learning Outcomes

Optionally, the condition under which the

behavior occurs can be specified:
At the end of their field research, students will
be able to write a research paper in the
appropriate scientific style.
Note that the verb you choose will help you
focus on what you assess. For example:
Students will be able to do research.
By the end of this course, each student will be able to:

1. explain models currently used in health

promotion programming;
2. conduct a needs assessment;
3. develop a program rationale;
4. specify how to recruit and select advisory
committee members;
5. write program goals and objectives;
6. create a marketing brochure;
7. predict factors that may prevent program
success;
8. develop methods to evaluate program success.
 Broad:
Students will demonstrate knowledge
of the history, literature and function of
the theatre, including works from
various periods and cultures.
More specific:
Students will be able to explain the
theoretical bases of various dramatic
genres and illustrate them with
examples from plays of different eras.
Broad:
The student will be able to discuss
philosophical questions.
More specific:
The student is able to develop relevant
examples and to express the
significance of
philosophical questions
Broad:
Each student will be able to function as
a team member.
More specific:
Each student will reflect upon his or her
contributions to a team effort, ability to
accept other team members as
resources, and willingness to accept
compromises if required to achieve a
team goal.
Broad:
Students will understand how to use
technology effectively.
More specific:
Each student will be able to use word
processing, spreadsheets, databases,
and presentation graphics in preparing
their final research project and report.
 assessable learning
outcomes:
1.     They use verbs that indicate how the student
work can be observed.
2.     They focus on what the student should
do, not what the instructor teaches.
3.     They reflect what students should be
able to do after a course ends, not simply what they
do during the course.
4.     They usually can be assessed in more than
one way.
5.     They can be understood by someone outside
the discipline.
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational
Objective
Bloom’s taxonomy of knowledge

Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational
Objective

Comprehension: Grasping (understanding)

the meaning of informational materials.
VERBS: classifies; cites; converts;
describes; discusses; estimates; explains;
generalizes; gives examples; makes sense
out of; paraphrases; restates (in own
words); summarizes; traces
 Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational
Objective

Knowledge of terminology: specific facts; ways and

means of dealing with specifics (conventions, trends
and sequences, classifications and categories, criteria,
methodology); universals and abstractions in a field
(principles and generalizations, theories and
structures). Knowledge is (here) defined as the
remembering (recalling) of appropriate, previously
learned information.
VERBS: defines; describes; enumerates;
identifies; labels; lists; matches; names;
reads; records; reproduces; selects;
states; views
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational
Objective

Application: The use of previously learned

information in new and concrete situations
to solve problems that have single or best
answers.

VERBS: acts; administers; assesses; charts;
collects; computes; constructs; contributes; controls;
determines; develops; discovers; establishes; extends;
implements; includes; informs; instructs;
operationalizes; participates; predicts; prepares;
preserves; produces; projects; provides; relates;
reports; shoes; solves; teaches; transfers; uses;
utilizes
 Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational
Objective
Analysis: The breaking down of informational
materials into their component parts, examining
(and trying to understand the organizational
structure of) such information to develop
divergent conclusions by identifying motives or
causes, making inferences, and/or finding
evidence to support generalizations.
VERBS: breaks down; correlates; diagrams;
differentiates; discriminates; distinguishes; focuses;
illustrates; infers; limits; outlines; points out;
prioritizes; recognizes; separates; subdivides
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational
Objective

•Synthesis: Creatively or divergently applying prior

knowledge and skills to produce a new or original
whole.
•VERBS: adapts; anticipates; categorizes;
collaborates; combines; communicates;
compares; compiles; composes; contrasts;
creates; designs; devises; expresses;
facilitates; formulates; generates;
incorporates; individualizes; initiates;
integrates; intervenes; models; modifies;
negotiates; plans; progresses; rearranges;
reconstructs; reinforces; reorganizes;
revises; structures; substitutes; validates
 Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational
Objective

Evaluation: Judging the value of the material based

on personal values/opinions, resulting in an end
product, with a given purpose, without real right or
wrong answers.
VERBS: appraises; compares & contrasts;
criticizes; critiques; decides; defends; interprets;
judges; justifies; reframes; supports
 Terms for Asking &
answering questions

your life depends on

your power to master words
Compare:
Examine qualities, or characteristics, to discover
resemblances. "Compare" is usually stated as
"compare with": you are to emphasize similarities,
although differences may be mentioned.

Contrast:
Stress dissimilarities, differences, or unlikeness of
things, qualities, events, or problems.
Criticize:
Express your judgment or correctness or merit. Discuss the
limitations and good points or contributions of the plan or work in
question.

Define:
Definitions call for concise, clear, authoritative meanings.
Details are not required but limitations of the definition
should be briefly cited. You must keep in mind the class to
which a thing belongs and whatever differentiates the
particular object from all others in the class.
Describe:
In a descriptive answer you should recount,
characterize, sketch or relate in narrative form.

Diagram:
For a question which specifies a diagram you
should present a drawing, chart, plan, or graphic
representation in your answer. Generally you are
expected to label the diagram and in some
cases add a brief explanation or description.
Discuss:
The term discuss, which appears often in essay
questions, directs you to examine, analyze carefully, and
present considerations pro and con regarding the problems or
items involved. This type of question calls for a complete and
entailed answer.

Enumerate:
The word enumerate specifies a list or outline form of
reply. In such questions you should recount, one by
one, in concise form, the points required.
Evaluate:
In an evaluation question you are expected to
present a careful appraisal of the problem stressing both
advantages and limitations. Evaluation implies authoritative and,
to a lesser degree, personal appraisal of both contributions and
limitations.

Explain:
In explanatory answers it is imperative that you clarify
and interpret the material you present. In such an
answer it is best to state the "how or why," reconcile any
differences in opinion or experimental results, and,
where possible, state causes. The aim is to make plain
the conditions which give rise to whatever you are
examining.
Illustrate:
A question which asks you to illustrate usually
requires you to explain or clarify your answer to the
problem by presenting a figure, picture, diagram, or
concrete example.

Interpret:
An interpretation question is similar to one requiring
explanation. You are expected to translate, exemplify,
solve, or comment upon the subject and usually to give
your judgment or reaction to the problem.

Justify:
When you are instructed to justify your answer you must
prove or show grounds for decisions. In such an
answer, evidence should be presented in convincing
form.
List:
Listing is similar to enumeration. You are expected in such
questions to present an itemized series or tabulation. Such
answers should always be given in concise form.

Outline:
An outline answer is organized description. You should
give main points and essential supplementary materials,
omitting minor details, and present the information in a
systematic arrangement or classification.
Prove:
A question which requires proof is one which demands
confirmation or verification. In such discussions you
should establish something with certainty by evaluating
and citing experimental evidence or by logical
reasoning.

Relate:
In a question which asks you to show the
relationship or to relate, your answer should
emphasize connections and associations in
descriptive form.
Review:
A review specifies a critical examination. You should
analyze and comment briefly in organized sequence
upon the major points of the problem.

State:
In questions which direct you to specify, give,
state, or present, you are called upon to express
the high points in brief, clear narrative form.
Details, and usually illustrations or examples,
may be omitted.
Summarize:
When you are asked to summarize or present a
summarization, you should give in condensed form
the main points or facts. All details, illustrations and
elaboration are to be omitted.