Learning Outcomes
Following is a brief overview of how to determine learning outcomes for a course and/or for assignments. Learning outcomes are measurable skills or attitudes students should gain from a course or an assignment. They might also be understood as levels of cognitive knowledge that we hope students will achieve.
The act of writing can, in itself, develop knowledge and skills.
Common, but by no means exclusive, goals for W or C courses would be to develop the ability to:
- communicate with various audiences (e.g., lay, expert, managerial, general public)
- think critically, or view ideas or events from different perspectives
- argue effectively for one side, or for a compromise position
- design documents for readability and usefulness
- learn to appreciate a subject aesthetically or ethically
- evaluate and compare events, texts, ideas, or objects
- express a personal or organizational stance
- critique a text, argument, object, or idea
Another way to view the knowledge/skills gained by communication is to consider what rhetoricians call “aims.” Any given document or speech, they claim, can be seen as having an underlying purpose, or “aim”:
- To explore (think from different perspectives, consider alternative views, create new perspectives)
- To explain (explore underlying principles, demonstrate, or teach)
- To persuade (argue for a position or stance, propose a course of action)
- To express (make clear a stance, emotion, or identity)
- To entertain
- To evaluate (provide a critique or assessment)
- To learn (rehearse information, synthesize information, or acquire new information)
A document or speech might have one of these aims (or a variation thereof) as primary; on the other hand, some have multiple aims. From this list, it is clear that by writing a document or planning a speech with one of these aims, students also practice skills such as argument, communication, or critical thinking.
Likewise, rhetoricians sometimes classify communication according to “modes,” which also provide a way of thinking about possible learning objectives. The modes include exposition and argument as primary categories:
- Exposition (Explanation)
Description - Narration
- Process (Steps or Stages)
- Comparison/Contrast (Likeness/Difference)
- Analysis
- Argument
- Definition (Categorical Proposition, or, x is y)
- Cause/Effect (Consequences)
- Analogy
- Evaluation
Again, several modes may be present in a given document or speech, but one may dominate.
One advantage of using the modes to develop learning objectives is that many rhetoric texts provide help in writing based on the modes. For example, the typical handbook will include sections on writing a “Comparison/Contrast” essay or an “Extended Definition”; some writing textbooks also provide samples of writing that primarily demonstrate one of these modes.
A proposal might define a problem (definition mode); assert the consequences of inaction (cause/effect); or explain how a similar problem has been solved (analogy). The document’s aim would primarily be to persuade, but it could also explain and perhaps evaluate.
Consider a possible series of assignments leading to a formal proposal:
- a one-page memo to instructor defining a problem (mode: definition; aim: to explore and/or explain), delivered in a three-minute oral presentation
- a one to three-page annotated bibliography investigating the current state of knowledge regarding the problem (mode: description; aim: to explain/learn)
- a two-page letter to a person of authority explaining the consequences of acting or not acting to correct a problem (mode: cause/effect; aim: to persuade)
- a seven to nine-page formal report to an audience capable of action, defining the problem and its current state, suggesting a solution, arguing for its feasibility and its necessity (modes: analogy or cause/effect; aim: to persuade).
Additional Resources
Walvoord, Barbara, and Virginia Johnson-Anderson, “Making Assignments Worth Grading” in Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment, pp. 17-26 (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998).
Angelo, Thomas A. and K. Patricia Cross. “The Teaching Goals Inventory” in Classroom Assessment Techniques. pp. 13-23 (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993). Available in Evans Library (link).
Also useful is a chart based on Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives, available at the University of Victoria’s Counseling Services.
