generalize create, solve unseen problems, extrapolate to unknown domains 22831.indb 124 6/15/11 2:11 PM Designing intended learning outcomes 125 • the verb at the appropriate level of understanding or of performance intended; • the topic content the verb is meant to address, the object of the verb in other words; • the context of the content discipline in which the verb is to be deployed. The ILOs for the course The Nature of Teaching and Learning illustrate these points: 1 Explain why a particular course topic is important to teaching. 2 Apply a course topic to your own teaching. 3 Refl ect on your teaching in terms of a working theory you have gained from the course. 4 Evaluate a situation that has gone wrong and apply a solution. The fi rst refers to declarative knowledge: the students have to reach a level of understanding that requires them to explain something, not just describe or list it: the latter only display multistructural levels of understanding, but explaining requires students to be able to relate the topic to the context of teaching and is at a relational level of understanding. The second is a functioning knowledge example also at the relational level as it requires a level of understanding that enables the student to apply the topic to teaching. The other two are also about functioning knowledge and should be at the relational to extended abstract level of understanding, depending on the originality of the student’s response. The content in (3) is the student’s own working theory and the context the student’s own teaching, and in (4), the content is the theory used in evaluating and the context the problematic situation in teaching. As a note on the number of ILOs per course, we stated earlier that there should be no more fi ve or six ILOs for any course, even though there may be up to ten topics that need addressing. The answer is to write integrating ILOs that address several topics, or, as in ILOs (1) and (2) above, the ILO allows the student to select just one topic for demonstrating ability to achieve the ILO. Another thing to watch out for are redundant ILOs, such as ‘Describe and explain . . .’. ‘Describe’ is redundant because if the student can explain the topic, he or she can certainly describe it. The other matter one should keep in mind at this stage is that desirable but unintended outcomes, or outcomes unforeseen by the teacher, may emerge. This is the nature of extended abstract responses by the student, and they will be accounted for in the normal assessment, but others may simply be things that the student sees as important and relevant learning. This matter becomes a practical issue during assessment, and we address it in Chapter 10. You should now be in a position to design and write your own ILOs for a course you are teaching (Task 7.1). 22831.indb 125 6/15/11 2:11 PM 126 Designing constructively aligned outcomes-based teaching and learning Task 7.1 Writing course ILOs Take a course that you are teaching. Consider the course aim and write the course ILOs by identifying: a the kind of knowledge to be learned (declarative or functioning). b the content or topic to be learned. c the level of understanding or performance to be achieved. d any particular context in which the outcome verb is to be enacted. The following grid may be a useful framework to help you think. Kind of knowledge Level of Content topic Context Declar/function understanding (outcome verb) ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Now go across the rows and write out the course ILOs by stating the intended level of understanding or performance (outcome verb), topic and the context in which the verb is to be enacted. There is no need to include the kind of knowledge in the ILO as that is defi ned by the verb(s) you use. To recap an example of a course ILO from our course The Nature of Teaching and Learning : Students should be able to: Refl ect (level of understanding and performance) on your teaching (context) in terms of a working theory you have gained from the course (content). Now write your course ILOs. Students should be able to: ILO1: _______________________________________________________ ILO2: _______________________________________________________ ILO3: _______________________________________________________ 22831.indb 126 6/15/11 2:11 PM Designing intended learning outcomes 127 Aligning ILOs at three levels: curriculum mapping Now that we have written the course ILOs, we have the task of checking to see that the three levels of intended outcomes, graduate, programme and course, are aligned. We can achieve this by curriculum mapping (Huet et al. 2009), which is a systematic means of ensuring alignment between programme ILOs and graduate outcomes, and course ILOs and programme ILOs. Graduate outcomes and programme ILOs Table 7.4 shows a simply way of checking the alignment between graduate outcomes and programme ILOs. The table is a device to ensure that the match between programme ILOs and graduate outcomes has at least been considered. Programme ILOs should not be forced to match graduate outcomes that don’t belong in the programme. Because of the different natures of different disciplines or professions, different programmes may have different emphases in addressing the graduate outcomes. It is not necessary that every programme should address all graduate outcomes to the same extent because some may not be relevant to the programme. Programme ILOs are simply the reasons that the programme is being taught, which is a matter of professional and academic judgment. However, university policy will prevail on this. Task 7.2 parallels Table 7.4: it asks you to align programme ILOs with the graduate outcomes of your university, if it has any. If the programme ILOs ILO4: _______________________________________________________ ILO5:_______________________________________________________ ILO6:_______________________________________________________ Review the ILOs to see whether: a the kind of knowledge, content and level of understanding or performance are relevant to achieve the course aim. b they cover all the main reasons for teaching the course. c they are clearly written, especially in identifying the level of understanding or performance to be achieved by the students, and the context (if appropriate). d the number is manageable for designing aligned teaching/learning activities and assessment tasks. How does this new set of course ILOs compare to your existing course ‘objectives’? Does the existing set need to be rewritten? 22831.indb 127 6/15/11 2:11 PM 128 Designing constructively aligned outcomes-based teaching and learning haven’t yet been articulated, discuss them with the programme coordinator and derive a set, then match them with the graduate outcomes. This should give you a clearer idea of how graduate outcomes can suitably be addressed in your teaching. How does your attempt gel with your university’s policy on this? Gelade and Fursenko (2007) also describe a tool for systematically mapping courses and programmes for graduate outcomes. Task 7.2 Aligning programme ILOs with graduate outcomes 1 Take a programme in which you are teaching and either list the programme ILOs if they are already articulated or, if they are not, sit down with the programme coordinator or programme committee chairperson and fi rst write the aims of the programme and a list of programme ILOs that meet those aims. 2 What are the graduate outcomes of your university? List them in the left-hand column in the grid below. 3 In the right-hand column list the programme ILOs that would address the graduate outcomes. Are all graduate outcomes addressed somewhere? Which are not? Does it matter?’ Graduate outcomes Programme ILO 1 2 etc. Table 7.4 An example of aligning programme ILOs with graduate outcomes Graduate outcomes Programme ILO Competent in professional Analyse and apply principles to real-life practice accounting situations Communicate effectively Communicate as a professional with clients and colleagues in real-life accounting situations Teamwork Operate effectively and ethically as a team member in real-life accounting situations Ethical professional As above 22831.indb 128 6/15/11 2:11 PM Designing intended learning outcomes 129 Programme ILOs and course ILOs The next level of alignment is between the programme and the course ILOs. As each programme is served by its constituent courses, it is important that, when aligning course ILOs to the programme ILOs, the course ILOs in total address all aspects of the programme ILOs. Often a programme ILO will be addressed by several courses, from different and increasingly more complex angles. You may attempt this in Task 7.3. Task 7.3 Aligning course ILOs with programme ILOs For individual teachers 1 List the programme ILOs of the programme. 2 List the course ILOs of the courses that you are teaching in a given programme. 3 Consider what programme ILO(s) each of the course ILOs addresses in the following table. Programme ILOs Course 1 ILOs Course 2 ILOs Course 3 ILOs

Teaching For Quality Learning At University

Aim. To produce a revised two-factor version of the Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) suitable for use by teachers in evaluating the learning approaches of their students. The revised instrument assesses deep and surface approaches only, using fewer items. Method. A set of 43 items was drawn up for the initial tests. These were derived from: the original version of the SPQ, modified items from the SPQ, and new items. A process of testing and refinement eventuated in deep and surface motive and strategy scales each with 5 items, 10 items per approach score. The final version was tested using reliability procedures and confirmatory factor analysis. Sample. The sample for the testing and refinement process consisted of 229 students from the health sciences faculty of a university in Hong Kong. A fresh sample of 495 undergraduate students from a variety of departments of the same university was used for the test of the final version. Results. The final version of the questionnaire had acceptable Cronbach alpha values for scale reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit to the intended two-factor structure. Both deep and surface approach scales had well identified motive and strategy subscales. Conclusion. The revision process has resulted in a simple questionnaire which teachers can use to evaluate their own teaching and the learning approaches of their students.

/pdf/the-revised-two-factor-study-process-questionnaire-r-spq-2f-3jju173esw.pdf

The revised two-factor study process questionnaire : R-SPQ-2F

There are many theories that explain how adults learn and each has its own merits. This Guide explains and explores the more commonly used ones and how they can be used to enhance student and faculty learning. The Guide presents a model that combines many of the theories into a flow diagram which can be followed by anyone planning learning. The schema can be used at curriculum planning level, or at the level of individual learning. At each stage of the model, the Guide identifies the responsibilities of both learner and educator. The role of the institution is to ensure that the time and resources are available to allow effective learning to happen. The Guide is designed for those new to education, in the hope that it can unravel the difficulties in understanding and applying the common learning theories, whilst also creating opportunities for debate as to the best way they should be used.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/0142159X.2013.828153

Adult learning theories: Implications for learning and teaching in medical education: AMEE Guide No. 83

Recent research in the areas of cognitive psychology and student learning involves changed conceptions of the natures of learning and of teaching, with promising implications for the enhancement of tertiary teaching. A model of learning is presented, proposing that the teaching context, students' approaches to learning, and the outcomes of learning, form a system in a state of equilibrium. Three approaches to enhancing teaching follow from the model: additive, interactive, and contextual. Additive approaches ignore both students' approaches to learning and the institutional context, and are relatively ineffective. Genuine improvements in student learning involve interactive and contextual approaches to teaching, which can be activated through appropriate staff development.

Approaches to the Enhancement of Tertiary Teaching

Theories of learning and teaching have tended in the past to have been derived top‐down, from existing theory. It is increasingly recognised today that such a strategy oversimplifies a complex reality, in which there is a great deal of mutual interaction. One way of handling the situation is to derive contextualised theories, such as phenomenography. Such theories are however part of a more general model based on systems theory, in which all parts of the teaching‐learning context are seen as seeking equilibrium. A “system” may exist at several levels: The student, the classroom, the institution, the community. The task of teacher and of staff developer is to achieve those good teaching practices that are viable within the existing matrix of systems and subsystems. Implications in such areas as improving teaching and assessment, using questionnaires for assessing teaching, training in study skills, and conducting research, are discussed.

From Theory to Practice: A Cognitive Systems Approach

The way in which students approach their learning is dependent on a variety of factors including the characteristics of the departments and teaching to which they are exposed. These factors appear to influence whether the students adopt a surface, deep or strategic approach. In order to explore further the relationship between educational context and approach to learning, a comparison was made between students attending a traditional medical school and those attending a problem-based medical school. The results showed marked differences, with the problem-based school being higher on deep approach and lower on surface approach than the traditional school. This study provides one of the first pieces of evidence of a difference between students in the two types of medical school which can be directly attributed to the educational environment. Students in the problem-based school appear to have an approach to learning which more closely approximates the aims of most medical schools. The results provide support for the philosophies and strategies of the problem-based schools.

The approaches to learning of students in a traditional and in an innovative problem‐based medical school

Summary

Growing concern over the stresses imposed on medical students by their undergraduate educational programme has led to a proliferation of surveys designed to measure students' global perceptions of the medical school as a learning environment. The present study aimed at a comprehensive analysis of the psychometric features of a recently-introduced questionnaire.



Students at four Australian medical schools completed the Medical School Learning Environment Survey (Marshall, 1978). Data on the retest reliability, internal consistency and factorial validity of the MSLES are presented. Its potential usefulness for future evaluations within and between medical schools is discussed.

Review of psychometric features of the Medical School Learning Environment Survey

Summary

Students' perceptions of their learning environment in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Newcastle were tested in 1979, in the second year of the school's existence, when the first two cohorts of students were surveyed. It was thought important to re-test those same cohorts in 1982, when they were in the later years of the curriculum, to see whether their perceptions had changed, and also to test the perceptions of subsequent cohorts of students (still in the earlier years of the course) to examine whether the favourable perceptions of the earlier cohorts were being maintained. Accordingly, this paper reports the results of a cross-sectional study undertaken on all five years of Newcastle medical students in 1982, and it compares their perceptions with those obtained 3 years earlier.

Student perceptions of the learning environment in a new medical school

Dear Sir We wish to present, briefly, further longitudinal data which address student perceptions of the learning environment in the medical school in Newcastle, N e w South Wales, Australia. Clarke et a l . (1984) administered a survey questionnaire to students in 1979 and 1982, and this report describes the results of a survey undertaken in 1985. Briefly, the same S6-item questionnaire was administered to all 5 years of students in the undergraduate programme. The overall response rate was 7g0/0, after follow-up; response rates for individual years of students are given in Fig. I . Figure I summarizes the scores for students in each year, as recorded in 1979 (when there were only two cohorts in the school), 1982 and 1985. There are substantial and significant declines in scores for all years except the final year. More detailed analyses of the scores for subscales within the questionnaire show that the declines are greatest in the aspects apparently under teachers’ control (e.g. degree of flexibility of the programme, organizational coherence of different educational experiences) and least in such aspects as the degree of interaction between students. The results are disappointing in that years I 62

Student perceptions of the learning environment.

Summary

This paper describes a strategy for helping students to learn about laboratory and radiological investigations in diagnosis and management, and to make decisions about the use of investigations, taking into account such features as safety, patient comfort and cost. Learning takes place through the use of a programmed text, in which students commit decisions to paper, and then receive feedback on the results of their decisions. Acceptability to students and teaching staff has been evaluated, and future developments of the strategy are outlined.

R. M. Clarke

Papers

The approaches to learning of students in a traditional and in an innovative problem‐based medical school

Review of psychometric features of the Medical School Learning Environment Survey

Student perceptions of the learning environment in a new medical school

Student perceptions of the learning environment.

Undergraduate education in the cost-effective use of laboratory and radiological investigations in clinical decision-making.