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(Re)define Learning Outcomes

Overview

Learning outcomes focus on ensuring clarity, explicitness, and transparency in expectations. Learning outcomes are specific statements that define what students will know, be able to do, or demonstrate by the end of an activity, lesson, module, course, or program.

For students, learning outcomes serve as clear indicators of the knowledge, skills, or attitudes they are expected to acquire. For instructors, they provide a roadmap for designing courses, guiding instruction, and creating assessments that align with educational goals.

Approach

Start with the End in Mind

When articulating learning outcomes, it is important to start with the end goal in mind, a process often referred to as “backward design” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). This approach helps ensure that learning activities and assessments are aligned with the intended outcomes.

Develop SMART Outcomes

Crafting clear and effective learning outcomes is both an art and a science. The most impactful learning outcomes are transparent, accessible, and measurable, making expectations clear while allowing for meaningful assessment. A structured approach, such as the SMART framework, can help ensure key elements are included. 

SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant Time-Bound

SMART Steps

  • Start with a time-bound statement: Define a specific timeframe in which students should achieve the outcome.
  • Ensure achievability: Clearly indicate the level of knowledge, skill, or attitude students are expected to develop.
  • Be specific: Explicitly state what is being measured, whether it is knowledge, a skill, or an attitude.

Apply the Learning Domains

To provide greater specificity, learning outcomes can be categorized into learning domains that help clarify the type of learning that each outcome aims to achieve, ensuring that the outcomes are well-defined and aligned with the desired knowledge, skills, or attitudes.

  • Cognitive domain: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create.
  • Psychomotor domain: Imitate, Manipulate, Be Precise, Articulate, Naturalize.
  • Affective domain: Receive, Respond, Value, Organize, Internalize.

Types of Learning Domains

6-column bar chart featuring six main categories of the cognitive learning domain in a sequence of rising complexity: Remember, Comprehend, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create.
5-column bar chart featuring five main categories of the psychomotor learning domain in a sequence of rising complexity: imitate, manipulate, be precise, articulate, naturalize.
5-column bar chart featuring five main categories of the affective learning domain in a sequence of rising complexity: receive, respond, value, organize, internalize.

Key Considerations

When defining or revising learning outcomes, consider the following:

Characteristics

  • Clear and specific, rather than broad, vague, or difficult to interpret.
  • Measurable and assessable, such that faculty can reasonably determine whether students achieved them.
  • Aligned with an appropriate learning domain and level, using language that reflects the intended knowledge, skill, or attitude.
  • Appropriately scoped, reflecting what students can realistically achieve within the relevant timeframe and at the intended level of learning.
  • Student-centered and transparent, clearly communicating what students are expected to know, do, or demonstrate.

Connections

  • Meaningful and relevant to the discipline, program, course, or educational experience.
  • Aligned with program goals, disciplinary expectations, accreditation standards, or institutional priorities, where applicable.

Engagement

  • Developed collaboratively, where appropriate, with evidence of faculty discussion, consensus-building, and shared ownership.
  • Reviewed and revised in response to evidence or changing needs, rather than simply carried forward unchanged.

Examples of Evidence

Evidence may take many forms. Courses and programs are not expected to provide every type of evidence listed below. Depending on the context, one or more of the following may be appropriate:

  • Newly developed or revised learning outcomes.
  • Documentation of faculty conversations, meetings, or retreats focused on learning outcomes.
  • Examples showing how broad or vague outcomes were transformed into specific and measurable outcomes.
  • Evidence of alignment between outcomes and the intended level or domain of learning.
  • Student, alumni, employer, advisory board, or other stakeholder feedback used to inform outcomes.

Resources and Tools

Questions About Learning Outcomes?

Whether you're defining learning goals for an activity, course, or program, let us support you in identifying meaningful and effective learning outcomes.