how do students use learning outcomes.pdf
Pre-specified, prescribed or intended Learning Outcomes have been in use throughout
higher education programs for over two decades. There is an assumption amongst
quality assurance bodies and university program approval and review processes that
students engage with them. Yet, learning outcomes may constrain learning, they may
not always be understood by learners and their relevance to learning has been
questioned. There is anecdotal evidence from lecturers that some students do not understand them and do not use or refer to them. This paper reports on a small-scale
research project investigating how university student’s use prescribed learning outcomes in their everyday learning and when producing assessed work. No clear differences were found between higher and lower achieving students, yet there were differences between first- and third-year students. Surprisingly, some were able to achieve highly without referring to the outcomes against which they were assessed.
History
Advance HE Fellowship status
- Senior Fellowship
Author's role
- Academic staff
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