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Student Learning Outcome

Student Learning Outcome

Assessment starts with explicit student learning outcome statements. These statements outline what the faculty expects students to know and be able to do upon degree completion. Bloom’s revised taxonomy for categorizing levels of cognitive development commonly occurring in educational settings is a useful model in which to structure educational goals. A summary of the taxonomy is below.

Competence	Skills Demonstrated
Knowledge	observation and recall of information knowledge of dates, events, places knowledge of major ideas mastery of subject matter Question/Activity Cues: list, define, tell, describe, identify, show, label, collect, examine, tabulate, quote, name, who, when, where, etc.
Comprehension	understanding information grasp meaning translate knowledge into new context interpret facts, compare, contrast order, group, infer causes predict consequences Question/Activity Cues: summarize, describe, interpret, contrast, predict, associate, distinguish, estimate, differentiate, discuss, extend
Application	use information use methods, concepts, theories in new situations solve problems using required skills or knowledge Question/Activity Cues: apply, demonstrate, calculate, complete, illustrate, show, solve, examine, modify, relate, change, classify, experiment, discover
Analysis	seeing patterns organization of parts recognition of hidden meanings identification of components Question/Activity Cues: analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, divide, compare, select, explain, infer
Synthesis	use old ideas to create new ones generalize from given facts relate knowledge from several areas predict, draw conclusions Question/Activity Cues: combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan, create, design, invent, what if?, compose, formulate, prepare, generalize, rewrite
Evaluation	compare and discriminate between ideas assess value of theories, presentations make choices based on reasoned argument verify value of evidence recognize subjectivity Question/Activity Cues assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend, convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude, compare, summarize

In addition to student learning goal statements, assessment criteria must be determined. These criteria explain where the knowledge or skill is taught, how it is demonstrated and at what level students are expected to achieve. Samples of student learning outcomes and assessment criteria are listed below. A sample of a student learning goal planning sheet using Bloom’s Taxonomy is provided at the end of this manual.