
WRITING GOOD LEARNING OUTCOME STATEMENTS
Learning outcomes are statements that describe what students should be able to know and do at the end of a particular learning experience. These are not stand-alone statements. They are used at the lesson, course and program level and must align with assessment strategies and teaching activities. Writing a good learning outcome statement that effectively communicates what students are expected to do at each level can be tricky. The following tools were designed by our Learning Experience Design Team at Lethbridge College with inspiration from some of our greatest mentors Stiehl & Lewchuck (2012), Dee Fink (2003), Benjamin Bloom (1956) and Wiggens & McTighe (1998).
References
Bloom B S (ed.) (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the classification of educational goals – Handbook I: Cognitive Domain New York: McKay
Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Stiehl, R., Lewchuk, L. (2012). The Mapping Primer: Tools for reconstructing the college curriculum (2nd ed). The Learning Organization
Wiggens, J., McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Jaclyn Doherty
Dean, Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation
Share this
Comments are closed.