Depending on how seriously you take the above exercises, you could easily end up with a very long list of outcome statements. That's OK! Some of those items may be more appropriate as learning outcomes for an individual unit or module, rather than truly broad semester objectives. If ALL of your outcomes seem to be at the unit or module level, can you imagine grouping some together, perhaps to build up to an outcome at a higher level of development?

For example: In a course on British Politics, “explain the major factors that led to Cameron promising a referendum on EU membership,” might be best as the outcome for a week on Brexit while “assess major challenges facing the UK today” is really a broader theme of the course. EXPLAIN is also at a lower level of Bloom's taxonomy than ASSESS.

Even in an upper-division or graduate course, it may make sense to develop a mix of higher- and lower-level outcomes. Your students may have experience in college, but they may not have been exposed to the relevant foundational concepts in your area. Having a CLO where they should be able to “explain” or “summarize,” for example, may still be appropriate.

Scaffolding Learning Outcome Statements

To help ensure variation and appropriate scaffolding of your outcomes, fill in this grid identifying the domain and developmental level/type of learning for each of your learning outcomes. Make sure that you have a good mix of outcomes at different levels and that outcomes at higher levels of development are supported by outcomes at lower levels.

Scaffolding Learning Outcome Statements, Part II

Another way to think about scaffolding your outcomes is to get a copy of your department’s degree learning outcomes and determine how your CLOs align with them. If you are not sure what these are or where to find them, start by asking your department chair.

Then, to scaffold your outcomes across the course, fill in this grid with your Course Learning Outcomes and a) break up your CLOs into learning outcomes for smaller units and b) align CLOs with Degree Learning Outcomes and GE Area Goals.

* Recall that this icon refers to 'next level' activities. You may want to complete all the baseline activities (toolbox icon) first and then come back to these.