David Steer Department of Geosciences The University of Akron Writing Learning Outcomes October 2013

Essential and enduring knowledge Abilities Skills Attitudes Learning Outcomes (Goals) Let other faculty and students know what the module or course is all about Provide a “big picture” view of the module or course

Good Learning Outcomes (Goals) Your overall learning outcomes must … Encompass the five overarching goals Be scaled appropriately Be measurable Clarify what you want students to accomplish Effectively communicate expectations to students Help you select methods, materials and assignments that are appropriate Help guide development of assessments that show what students have learned

How to Design Learning Outcomes Use a Reverse Planning Strategy What do we want students learn from this curriculum? Start Learning outcome statements End What content supports that learning? How do we measure what they learn?

Determine several things you want students to know and be able to do at completion of the course/module Select an appropriate upper- level Bloom's taxonomy action verb for each Specify performance criteria Write the goal Developing Good Outcomes Bloom’s Taxonomy modified by Anderson and Krathwohl, outcome/documents/Krathwohl.pdf Also see handout

Analyzing - Analyze, Distinguish, Examine, Compare, Contrast, Investigate, Identify, Explain, Deduce. Evaluating - Judge, Select, Choose, Decide, Justify, Debate, Verify, Argue, Recommend, Assess, Discuss, Rate, Prioritize, Determine, Critique, Evaluate, Criticize, Weigh, Estimate, Defend. Creating - Create, Invent, Compose, Predict, Plan, Construct, Design, Propose, Devise, Formulate, Combine, Hypothesize, Synthesize, Forecast. Good Module/Course Goal Verbs Note: It is best to avoid LOs that include verbs such as know, be aware, appreciate, learn, understand, comprehend or become familiar with because they are difficult to observe and measure. See

Explain how managing mineral resources depends also on non- geological factors such as population, consumption, economics, existing and new technologies, recycling, reuse, and adoption of alternative materials. Assess coastal vulnerability using an integrated social and physical approach Predict agricultural challenges that might result from climate change using systems thinking Design a standards-based interdisciplinary lesson for the secondary classroom that embeds geoscientific thinking and content as part of biology, chemistry, Earth science and physics instruction Some Good Examples Cognitive Level Low High

Course/module addresses one or more geoscience-related grand challenges facing society Course/module develops student ability to address interdisciplinary problems Course/module improves student understanding of the nature and methods of geoscience and developing geoscientific habits of mind Course/module makes use of authentic and credible geoscience data to learn central concepts in the context of geoscience methods of inquiry Course/module incorporates systems thinking Learning Outcomes What is required from the Materials Development Rubric? Must score 15/15 on this section

Outcomes specify learning that will occur That learning must be documented Graded assessments are the way we document that learning (can have multiple parts) You will be submitting that student work to us as part of the pilot Comprehensive Reasonable Assessment of Learning Outcomes Think about the assessments you will use to measure your outcomes before you finalize them

Climate Change Related Assessment The maps below illustrate the city of Providence, RI. Figure 1 shows the percentage of tree cover in different parts of the city. Figure 2 is a surface temperature map. (Data from Providence Urban Forest Report, 2008.) (1)Describe the general relationship illustrated by these maps. (2) Based on these data, provide a recommendation to the Providence City Council about climate change adaptation in their city.

Teacher Prep Assessment Preparing an Interdisciplinary Lesson Plan that Uses the Methods of Geoscience To cement their understanding of the methods of geoscience, pre-service teachers are given the assignment of constructing an interdisciplinary lesson plan. They will select one of the instructional resources that they evaluated in Activity 3 Part 1 and prepare an interdisciplinary lesson plan (including any student materials) that addresses at least one of the big ideas or supporting concepts from either the state's curriculum for Earth Science or from the Earth Science Literacy Principles (ESLI 2010) or the Next Generation Science Standards and at least one big idea or supporting concept from either biology, chemistry or physics. Lesson plans will be evaluated with the Rubric for Activity 3 Part 2: Lesson Plan and Student Handout

Learning Outcomes (Goals) What questions do you have about developing and writing course/module learning outcomes and their assessments?