Examples of Assessable Student Learning Outcomes or Objectives

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Student learning outcomes (or objectives) represent one way of referring to the more or less specific skills and knowledge that we expect our students to acquire in our courses and our curriculum. Learning outcomes are "assessable" or "measurable" to the degree that student mastery of these skills and knowledge can be gauged by careful review of student performances and student work, and the results of this review can be used to improve the course or the curriculum.

Course learning outcomes should refer to a range of skills, knowledge, and attitudes, all related to General Education outcomes and, as appropriate, the student learning goals of the department or college that is offering the course. The evidence that outcomes are being met, and the degree to which students are meeting these objectives, can be both quantitative and qualitative, examples include: response papers, reflection papers, exam essays, research papers, statistical analyses of data, creation of computer programs, proofs of theroms, and mathematical problem solving.

The university's General Education outcomes are broadly phrased and offer a flexible framework within which an individual instructor can define student learning outcomes consistent with his or her own expectations and those of the department or program within which the course is housed.

The following are examples of student learning outcomes. These examples also show how the outcomes align with GE outcomes. Your outcomes do no have to show this alignment on your syllabi (only on the application for GE certification). The examples also include sample assignments that conform to the criteria for GE classes.

 Political Science 101

GE Phase 1 GE Phase 2 GE Phase 3
Outcomes Outcomes Outcomes
By the end of the course, successful students will be able to:

•Discuss the theoretical and historical underpinnings of the US Constitution.

 3 6

•Describe the structure and function of the differing branches of American Government.

 1 6

•Trace the evolving history and character of civil rights and civil liberties in America.

 6

•Explain the influence socio-political movements, interest groups, corporations, political parties, campaigns and elections have on American politics.

 1 6

•Locate and utilize reliable scholarly information about American politics

2

•Identify and use fundamental concepts associated with American politics in writing.

3

•Think clearly, logically, and critically about the theory and practice of American politics and express such analysis effectively in written form.

1 3

•Explain as well as demonstrate how individuals can make a difference in their local community and the nation as a whole.

12
Assignments:
Three two-three page response papers that summarize, analyze, and criticize selected scholarly articles and book chapters about American politics.
Three exams and one final exam that include one or two essay questions about various aspects of American politics.
Students are required to participate in a political activity of their own choosing and to write a 3 page (typed) summary of what they did and learned.

 

Marine Science 171

GE Phase 1 GE Phase 2 GE Phase 3
Outcomes Outcomes Outcomes
1. define key marine biological terms, such as diversity, coelom, invertebrate, larva, plankton, polyp, sessile, radial symmetry, life cycle etc. 7
2. list distinguishing features of members of marine phyla and give examples of representative members 7
3. describe characteristic structures (and their functions) of organisms and give the phylum in which is each found 7
4.  describe the basic physiology, ecology and adaptationsofmarine organisms 7
5. analyze and explain pros and cons of marine biological issues using knowledge of basic biology and ecology of marine organisms 7
6. compose effective written materials that assimilate, synthesize and reflect on the diversity, classificationand natural history of marine organisms 3
7. locate, comprehend and utilizescientific information of various forms from reliable sources 2
8. present clear and logical information orally and in writing 1
Assignments:  
The Genus Project will allow you to work independently and develop your own interests and imagination, as well as work collaboratively with classmates.  The project will build throughout the semester, starting first with you choosing a genus, then determining its taxonomic classification and common name, learning about its basic biology and ecology, as well as its current resaerch and conservation status by turning in Genus Questions. The Genus Project culminates with each of you preparing and delivering a short oral presentation with a handout in which you discuss your semester-long study of your genus.  You’ll also be asked to turn in a written paper (5-8 pages) with references.   

Agriculture 230

GE Phase 1 GE Phase 2 GE Phase 3
Outcomes  Outcomes Outcomes
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
Clearly trace the development of world agriculture from the first farmers through to modern large (mega)-farms while critically viewing the development from the perspectives of resource flow, social justice, environmental quality, and food security. 1 6, 7
Provide illustrative examples of farming systems historically practiced by various civilizations and the degree to which nutrients were recycled. 2 6, 7
Describe how increasingly intensive modern-farming systems reach a point where they remove more nutrients from the land than natural processes can restore in the short term. 6, 7
Explain how the dilemma in number 3 above has been magnified by urbanized population growth where sanitation systems built to handle sewage and food waste delivered little of the nutrients they contained back to the farmlands. 6, 7
Outline the flows of some crucial resources: water, the soil and its organic content, nitrogen and phosphorus as impacted by population growth. 6, 7
Describe how the survival of today’s 6 billion people (well beyond the earth’s natural carrying capacity of 3.5 to 4 billion) is attributed to the remarkable Haber-Bosch industrial process for synthesizing nitrogen and hydrogen into ammoniacal fertilizers. 1 3 6, 7
Evaluate the sustainability of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use which demands prodigious amounts of costly energy and results in varying levels of aquatic and atomospheric pollution depending on agronomic management. 1 6, 7
Describe how phosphorus fertilizer and feed supplements derived primarily from expensively mined rock phosphate, is inexorably transformed into waste products many of which run into aquatic systems due to inefficient recycling, thereby leading to eutrophication  problems. 1 3 6, 7
Indicate how the worlds limited and very unequally distributed natural supplies of readily mined phosphorus may soon lead to the formation of a new OPEC where the P represents phosphorus instead of petroleum. 6, 7
Provide detailed descriptions of the main conditions and steps required to restore ecological sustainability while avoiding essential nutrient resource exhaustion, namely, create systems for human and animal waste management that feed essential nutrients back to the land; maintain biodiversity; end inefficient water management and grazing of drylands; limit population growth; and redistribute people away from mega-cities. 1 3
Describe the roles of biodiversity and  integrated pest management sustainable agriculture. 3
Explain in general the relationships among culture, economics, politics, science, and agricultural development.  A solid understanding of the cross-cultural interactions and exchange that linked the world’s people and facilitated agricultural development is also expected. 1 6, 7
Writing/quantitative assignments: problem sets; term paper   

 

English 254

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: GE Phase 1 Outcomes  GE Phase 2 Outcomes GE Phase 3 Outcomes

•Demonstrate basic familiarity and comprehension of contemporary (post-1700) literature from a cross-section of writers and cultures from around the world.

 8

•Correctly distinguish key poetic/literary forms, techniques, schools/movements, texts, and writers, and when prompted, explain why these are important in analyzing literature.

 3 6

•Demonstrate and meaningfully articulate a cross-cultural appreciation of the global production of literature in open discussion and impromptu writing. 

 1, 2

•Practice and precisely demonstrate the fundamentals of “close-reading” in a coherent and logical sophomore level essay.

 1, 2 3

•Identify and precisely employ the fundamental ideas of literary theory from 8 different schools at an introductory level.

 1, 2 6

•Prepare and articulate coherent interpretations of literature in a logical and critically astute paper involving a close-reading of texts vis-à-vis forms, techniques, schools of theory, and/or socio-historical contexts.

 3
Writing Assignments:
Weekly free-write in class on literary techniques (vocabulary), key issues, and literary theory  
Weekly homework assignments (short essays)  
Longer sustained essays (3 per term) that include correct citation format and citations from primary and secondary sources (inluding theory)    

Management 300

 GE Phase 1 GE Phase 2 GE Phase 3
Outcomes Outcomes Outcomes
By the end of the course, a successful student will be able to:
1. Identify and describe the theories of management and behavior covered in class. 1 6
2. Apply your knowledge to extra-organizational issues that today’s managers face, such as globalization,workforce diversity, and the change in the corporate social contract.  1 6 9
3.Demonstrate the ability to communicate appropriate application of management theories with clarity and eloquence. This entails understanding and using the terminology and jargon of management correctly, and demonstrating understanding of the course material. 
1 6 9
4.Analyze social science research, including management and organizational research, to determine validity and generalizability. 2 6 9 10
Written/quantitative assignments:
Weekly essays; this is a WI course.   

 

Political Science 341/Women's Studies 341

 GE Phase 1 GE Phase 2 GE Phase 3
Outcomes Outcomes Outcomes
On completion of the course, students should be able to:

•identify broad developments in this history of warfare from the Neolithic period to the present

 6

•give examples of women’s activities in warfare throughout history

•trace women’s evolving roles in the U.S. Armed Forces

 6

•explain current policies regarding women in the U.S. Armed Forces in written form.

 3

•identify and interpret major U.S. court rulings regarding women in the U.S. Armed Forces

 1, 2

•utilize and critically evaluate scholarly information on military history and women and war

 1, 2 6

•identify and distinguish academic theories of gender roles in war

 2 6

•carefully scrutinize commonly accepted images of men, women and war.

 1 6
Assignments:
Students are required to write three response papers to selected scholarly readings on woman and war.  Each reading represents a distinct academic approach to understanding the subject.  Students will carefully read the articles and write a two to three-page, double-spaced paper which summarizes, analyzes and criticizes the information and argument presented in the assigned essays.
Four exams which require students to write a total of six essays (each essay should be one to two hand written pages).

 

English 345

 GE Phase 1 GE Phase 2 GE Phase 3
Outcomes Outcomes Outcomes
By the end of the course, successful students will be able to:
 

•In essays, exams, and discussion postings, use important literary terms and concepts cogently and precisely in writing about poems, novels, picture books, and folk tales.

 1 3 6

•On the asynchronous dicussion board, present their readings (interpretations), reflections, and knowledge clearly and courteously and respond appropriately  to their classmates' contributions.

 1 5

•Write concise, well-supported brief essays that respond cogently to prompts and that integrate information and ideas in the readings and lectures with their own reflections on these materials.

 1 3

•In all of the forms of writing used in the course, explain how and in what forms social contexts and social expectations shape and are shaped by literature.

 1 3 8, 9

•In essays, identify and comment on social and cultural assumptions that underlie our texts.

 1 3 9

•Use Laulima (as a model of web-based communication and meaning structure) and the internet competently and efficiently as learning tools, to receive and deliver documents, to share information, and to organize knowledge.

 10
Assignments:  

Writing tasks: ten 400-word essays on the four genres; three poetry explications, three novel inventories; two700-word integrative final exam essays essays; all graded using rubric; approx. total 6000 words