Learning and Teaching
A Best Practice Guide on Learning Outcomes
John Dallat
March 2013
The best kind of teacher is one who helps you do what you couldn’t do
„
yourself, but doesn’t do it for you (Child, Aged 8).
Department of Learning and Teaching, Dundalk Institute of Technology
Module Learning Outcomes
Module learning outcomes must be defined at a given level and mapped to the awards’ standards for
the discipline in which the programme fits. For this reason, the first step in writing a module begins
with the awards’ standards and the module author must consider how the module learning outcomes
can deliver to these appropriately.
For awards standards at levels 6, 7, 8 and 9 in Business Studies, Computing, Engineering, Science,
Nursing and Midwifery and Social Care, see: http://www.hetac.ie/publications_pol01.htm
Learning Outcomes and Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956)
Learning outcomes are statements of what one should be able to do as a result of a learning
activity. Usually, they are written within the framework of Benjamin Bloom’s ‘Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives’ (1956), which has three domains, the Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor.
The Cognitive, which is widely used in programme and module design, has six levels, as set out
below, with 1.0 (Knowledge) being at the lowest level and 6.0 (Evaluation) at the highest level of
cognition:
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
(See also Table A)
1.
Knowledge is concerned with memorising and remembering. A student should be able
to:
recall define identify label recognise repeat relate match describe
2.
Comprehension involves understanding the meaning of something. One is able,
among other things, to summarise, translate, restate or discuss.
3.
Application: knowledge is used to solve problems, experiment or classify, and also to:
Modify exemplify organise dramatise select sketch explain compute
4.
Analysis involves inferring, comparing and categorising, as well as:
recognising examining selecting differentiating concluding relating
5.
At the next level, Synthesis, one can:
synthesise modify create design generalise reconstruct
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compose manage
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Department of Learning and Teaching, Dundalk Institute of Technology
6.
Evaluation ‘… involves the use of criteria as well as standards for appraising the extent
to which particulars are accurate, effective, economical, or satisfying (Bloom, p. 185).
One should be able to:
evaluate support verify generalise assess argue compare contrast appraise
But note:
‘Verbs relating to knowledge outcomes – “know”, “understand”, “appreciate” – tend to be rather
vague, or to focus on the process students have gone through rather than the final outcome of that
process…. (Kennedy, 2007)
Table A: Bloom’s (1956) Cognitive Levels and examples of aligned action verbs used in the
writing of Learning Outcomes.
LEVEL
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
Appropriate Action Verbs (Examples)
List
Define
Label
Recognise
Identify
Repeat
Relate
Match
Memorise
Recall
Summarise
State
Translate
Restate
Discuss
Assimilate
Communicate
Interpret
Experiment
Extrapolate
Clarify
Modify
Sketch
Dramatise
Use
Operate
Practise
Find
Choose
Select
Explain How
Discuss
Analyse
Exemplify
Compare
Grasp
Contrast
Categorise
Infer
Test
Criticise
Distinguish
Recognise
Examine
Select
Conclude
Categorise
Differentiate
KNOWLEDGE
COMPREHENSION
APPLICATION
ANALYSIS
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Department of Learning and Teaching, Dundalk Institute of Technology
5.0
6.0
Evaluate
Support
Verify
Assess
Generalise
Argue
Compare
Contrast
Appraise
Judge
Synthesise
Modify
Create
Compare
Design
Generalise
Reconstruct
Organise
Manage
SYNTHESIS
EVALUATION
Writing Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes should be ‘SMART’, that is:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-bound
The process involved in writing learning outcomes has been greatly facilitated by Bloom’s Taxonomy,
a hierarchical framework consisting of the six graduated levels of cognition referred to earlier. Here
are some examples for each of Bloom’s levels, beginning with:
1.
Knowledge (The student should be able to):

Describe how and why laws change and the consequences of such changes for
society.

Identify key ethical issues associates with research involving vulnerable groups.
2.
Comprehension (The student should be able to):

Discuss the causes of World War 1 with specific reference to social and economic
factors.

Classify reactions as exothermic and endothermic.
3.
Application (The student should be able to):

Apply key principles of reflective practice to analysis of their teaching and student
learning.

Construct a timeline of significant events in the history of Ireland in the Nineteenth
Century.
4.
Analysis (The student should be able to):

Analyse the environmental and economic effects of energy conversion processes.

Compare and Contrast two models of entrepreneurship in the context of business
management effectiveness.
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Department of Learning and Teaching, Dundalk Institute of Technology
5.
Synthesis (The student should be able to):

Summarise the main causes and consequences of the French Revolution of 1789.

Create a business plan for (state context).

Organise a patient education programme for patients with (state focus/context).
6.
Evaluation (The student should be able to):

Assess the importance of ’Theory X’ in developing understanding of children’s
cognitive processes.

Re-design the learning outcomes and assessment strategy for ‘Module A’ using
Biggs’s principle of constructive alignment.

Evaluate marketing strategies for different electronic business models.
Acknowledgement: Presentation by Dr. Declan Kennedy on 21 September, 2012, DkIT and his
‘Writing and Using Learning Outcomes: A Practical Guide’ (2007).
Module writers may find it helpful to correlate (but not prescriptively) the six levels of the Cognitive
domain of Bloom’s Taxonomy with the programme award level as follows:
Level 6
Knowledge, Comprehension and Application
Level 7
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis
Level 8
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis and Synthesis
Level 9
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation
The module writer may also adopt the following guidelines for the application of Bloom’s Taxonomy to
the stages of the various awards as follows:
Level 6
All stages, Knowledge, Comprehension and Application
Level 7
Stage 1, Knowledge, Comprehension, Application and Analysis
Level 8
Stages 2/3, As above plus Synthesis and Evaluation
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Department of Learning and Teaching, Dundalk Institute of Technology
Constructive Alignment Template for the Design of Modules and Programmes
Constructive alignment is the strategic linking within modules and programmes of aims, learning
outcomes, content, assessment methods and learning and teaching methods, ‘…so that all aspects
of the system are in accord in supporting appropriate student learning’ (Biggs, 1999).
Learning Outcomes
(L. O.)
Aligned Content
Aligned Assessment
and Teaching
Method(s)
State the assessment
and teaching methods
here (see
Assessment and
Learning Guidelines
for assessment
examples).
Aligned to the
Awards’
Standards
State which
Awards’
Standards are
addressed.
Learning Outcome:
State the L.O. in this
space and in the next
column state the
aligned content.
State the aligned content
here and in the next
column, state both the
teaching methods that
will be used and how the
learning outcome will be
assessed.
Next Learning
Outcome: the above
process is repeated.
State the aligned
content here.
State assessment
and teaching
methods here.
As above
Next Learning
Outcome: as above.
As above
As above
As above
Note 1:
Learning outcomes may be assessed in combination (where appropriate).
Note 2:
If there are too many learning outcomes, it is probable that there will be both content
and assessment overload.
Note 3:
As a ‘rule of thumb’ there should be no more than 4-5 Learning Outcomes for a
standard 5 credit module.
Note 4:
Remember, your assessment methods can be summative and/or formative.
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