The outcomes-based approach to teaching and learning is increasingly being used in higher education as the model for best practice in constructing courses and evaluating students' work. Learn more about this approach with this simple, practical guide to building your own outcomes-based programmes.
The outcomes-based approach to course design is intended to make the expectations of the designer/educator more transparent to both the student and any regulatory or accrediting body. Unlike the traditional model of course design in higher education, where the lecturer would decide what to include on a syllabus, based on his or her own judgement of what was important for students to know; or on personal research or other interests; the outcomes-based approach starts with a specification of what the student will be expected to achieve by the end of the unit.
These learning outcomes may be of knowledge acquisition, mastery of skills, or development of attitude or ability. All the different outcomes expected will be specified in publicly shared statements and these will be linked in a clear way to explicit assessment criteria by which they will be measured. The programme is then written; complete with assessments designed to test the criteria, in such a way as to enable students to work towards achieving the stated outcomes.
The outcomes-based approach has been developed in conjunction with credit-based modular frameworks in which each unit carries a specified number of credits, awarded on its successful completion. In order to achieve the desired qualification, the student must amass a given number of credits, usually in stated proportions from different levels.
Adapted from How to Use Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria (David Gosling and Jenny Moon, SEEC, 2002)
A programme can be described by a specification written in terms of programme outcomes similar to the learning outcomes specified for the individual units within it. These larger outcomes are more general and they may not be specifically assessed as part of the course of study but they act as guides in establishing the ethos and direction of the programme. Where the programme aims for validation or accreditation to some larger standard, the programme specification should reflect the requirements of that standard and make reference to available benchmarks.