Training on teaching methodology Enhancement of HE Research Potential Contributing to Further Growth of the WB Region Re@WBC 18. 05.2018, Vlore, Albania Assoc. Prof. Frosina Londo (Qyrdeti), PhD, University of Vlora, Albania

Definitions of Learning outcomes Learning outcomes are statements of what is expected that the student will be able to do as a result of learning the activity. (Jenkins and Unwin, 2001) Learning outcomes are statements that specify what learners will know or be able to do as a result of a learning activity. Outcomes are usually expressed as knowledge, skills or attitudes. (American Association of Law Libraries) Learning outcomes are explicit statements of what we want our students to know, understand or be able to do as a result of completing our courses. (University of New South Wales).

Elements for defining learning outcome Knowledge is a system of facts and generalizations that an individual has deliberately adopted and permanently kept. Knowledge will be better in a situation where an individual has the NEED for it. Skills are automated or highly advanced skills to perform some actions and procedures. Permanently developed skills, which an individual have a need for, we call habits. Attitudes are mainly viewed as elements in which the value system is built. They describe the relationships of a person towards something: knowledge, learning, profession, colleagues ... They can be positive and negative. A common example of negative attitudes is stereotypes and prejudices.

Elements for defining LOs Competencies include a system of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values ... and relate to expertise in a particular field. We divide them on: general and professional. A common definition: Competences represent a dynamic combination of knowledge and its application, attitudes and responsibilities that describe the learning outcomes of an education program. Which of these elements (knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, competences) is the most important in our teaching? Why?

Domains of LOs Cognitive - knowledge of a various degree of complexity, from facts to theories, and knowledge at a different degree of usability - from the simple reproduction, to synthesis and evaluation. Affective - emotions, attitudes, values, willing elements. Psychomotor - learning specific actions or procedures that require the coordination of psychic and motor activity (e.g. in surgery, statuary, sports, music, engineering, etc.).

Cognitive domain Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy (1956). The basic version of taxonomy originate from Benjamin Bloom and associates. Six levels are distinguished: knowledge, understanding, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The version we previously presented comes from Bloom's associates David Krathwohl and Lorin Anderson. They replaced the places of evaluation and synthesis, with the synthesis in their version being given a new name – creation. Both versions (Bloom's and Revised) are valid and can be used.

Description The psychomotor domain primarily emphasizes the skills that involve the coordination of brain and muscle activity. Psychomotor domain is mostly used in areas such as laboratory research, health, art, music, engineering, acting and physical education.

Some rules for writing LOs Written learning outcomes will determine teaching methods, techniques and strategies of learning and teaching, as well as forms of assessment of students’ achievements. Outcomes should be written clearly so as to be understood by all interested parties (students, teachers, associates, employers, and external evaluators). Since learning outcomes ought to be measurable (verifiable), during the process of their definition one must think about forms of verification of their realisability.

Some rules for writing LOs The number of learning outcomes should not be too high. The existing literature does not exhibit a complete agreement as to the acceptable number of outcomes, but the variations in proposed numbers are not too great either. Most frequent suggestions refer to the number of 4-8 outcomes, 5–10, 6. The introduction of learning outcomes should begin with the following words: Upon the completion of this course (modul, subject, study programme…), the student will show the ability to… What follows is the list of learning outcomes which starts with active verbs.

The other elements of curriculum Teaching aims – we write them from the teacher’s angle, what do we want to achieve. Teaching objectives – we write them from the teacher's point of view describing intentions, i.e. what we want to achieve. With outcomes as a key word we use ‘action’ verb, and for writing aims we use gerund, e.g. describing, explaining, acquiring, projecting, planning, operating, etc.

Elements Teaching content is mainly written as a list of themes, i.e. lecture units. They can also be listed as a catalogue of key concepts that students should master. Each teaching content / theme should be related to learning outcomes. When writing content in the curriculum, it is important to take into account that one teaching subject cannot cover the whole scientific field, i.e. we must carefully choose the essence and what can be realistically achieved in teaching process.

Outcome vs Content Curriculum often has too much content, i.e. there is a discrepancy between the scope of the course (ECTS and number of classes) and themes. Discuss in small groups. In practice, it is happening that extensive or complex teaching content (lecture themes) is at the center of attention, so the teacher does not think enough about how students learn, how much and how do they understand, whether they can follow the lecture, etc. This is a serious problem because it happens that student cannot follow whole series of lectures, because the previous material is not clear or understandable to him. How to solve this problem?

Further elements of the curriculum The obligations and activities of students should be directly related to the learning outcomes. It is important to prepare diverse activities - this is a psychologically powerful motivator of the learning process. It's not good that students just - write, draw, read, solve tasks ... Besides, it is important to combine the organization of work (form of work), so that they sometimes work individually, sometimes in pairs, in a small or larger group, etc. These factors positively affect the communication and teamwork skills, students explain to each other parts of the content which is not clear or understandable, etc.

……………. We plan teaching and learning methods in relation to the previous elements. Teaching methods are teaching modes. Since teacher and students are involved in teaching process, each method has a double meaning, i.e. it refers to the ways of work of teachers and students. The literature includes methods of: dialogue, monologue, demonstration, illustration, work on text, experimental, laboratory, etc. The dominant method in traditional teaching is lecturer, i.e. monologic. In addition to the fact that some content has to be taught through lectures, other methods must also be used.