1. Introduction: why learning outcomes?
Raimonda Markeviciene

2. Why institutions resist change?
It is usually easier and less risky to do nothing than to attempt to change.
Universities exist in a culture of competition among institutions, programmes and faculty. Result - cooperation is often rarely rewarded.
Faculty and admin staff will rarely be willing to exchange what they already do, even if they are not happy with it, for the unknown.
Tradition is an extremely powerful force both within and outside of the academy.

3. Why institutions resist change?
Assessment and accountability are viewed by many as evils to be avoided rather than as tools for improving what they do or the quality of their institution.
Significant change will never occur until the forces for change are greater in combination than the forces preserving the status quo. 
Therefore

4. 5 good reasons for the constant change
Rapidly changing technology
Growing cooperation with professional world
Need for constant modernization of curricula
Mass education
Growing number of higher education providers

5. Student-centred learning
Opinion: student-centred learning is a ‘good thing’
it is an essential part of thinking in terms of Learning Outcomes
it is an important aspect of modernising our curricula
But what exactly is it?
if it is such a good thing, why haven’t we always been using it?
does this mean that what we were doing before was wrong?
Student-centred Learning – one definition. SCL is about:
helping students to discover their own learning styles, to understand their motivation and to acquire effective study skills that will be valuable throughout their lives.
teachers need to help students set achievable goals; encourage students to assess themselves and their peers; help them to work co-operatively in groups and ensure that they know how to exploit all the available resources for learning.
Learning is more a form of personal development than a linear progression that the teacher achieves by rewards and sanctions.’
For many dedicated lecturers, it feels as though they are being criticised for previously being ‘self-centred’
…and for not paying enough attention to their students
The argument for student-centred learning feels like a ‘moral crusade’ to get rid of old-fashioned, selfish teaching

6. Is it that we are moving from this…

7. ...to this?
Principles
The learner has full responsibility for her/his learning
Involvement and participation are necessary for learning
The relationship between learners is more equal, promoting growth, development
The teacher becomes a facilitator and resource person
The learner experiences confluence in his education
The learner sees himself/herself differently as a result of the learning experience.

8. Student-centred Learning – teaching & learning, knowledge & understanding

9. The teacher has already made an equivalent journey of his or her own
‘the student is supported in making sense of their ‘journey’ through knowledge construction’
The teacher has already made an equivalent journey of his or her own
Support is informed by this experience
Learning proceeds through discussion and interaction, but it is not symmetrical
The teacher’s conceptual knowledge enriches the student
Reflection on the interaction with the teacher leads the student to modify his actions
reflection on the student’s performance also leads to adaptation of the teacher’s construction of the world

10. Teaching and learning
The focus is not just on what is taught but on how effective learning should be promoted
Student learning becomes the main preoccupation of the teacher (not the facts to be fed into the students)
The student is supported in making sense of their ‘journey’ through knowledge construction
What is taught?
What is learned?
The unique character of each student and the abundance of information sources in the modern technological age

12. increased responsibility and accountability on the part of the student
Student-centred Learning – consequences for Competences and Learning Outcomes
HE learning must prepare students to ‘graduate’ beyond student status and to take on the responsibilities of their professional roles
A student-centred approach helps the process of transition because it requires:
increased responsibility and accountability on the part of the student
a ‘reflexive’ approach to the teaching and learning process on the part of both teacher and learner
Syllabi and curricula are organised not just around the facts the learner is supposed to acquire but around the processes through which learning is to be developed therefore promotes:
the concept of generic competences and a sense of competences as dynamic attributes owned by each student
learning outcomes as important thresholds in the development of these dynamic attributes, rather than checklists for factual knowledge

13. Benjamin Bloom (1913 – 1999) He looked on learning as a
process – we build upon our former
learning to develop more complex levels of
understanding
Carried out research in the development of classification of levels of thinking behaviours in the process of learning. PhD University of Chicago in 1942.
Worked on drawing up levels of these thinking behaviours from the simple recall of facts at the lowest level up to evaluation at the highest level.
Bloom’s taxonomy (1956). Bloom made a huge contribution in the field of education, had a very optimistic approach to education. Bachelors and Masters degree from Penn State University. PhD in Education from Chicago.
He was appointed professor at the University of Chicago in 1970.
Wrote a book called the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. (1956)
The taxonomy consists of a hierarchy of increasingly complex processes which we want students to acquire.
Provides the structure for writing learning outcomes
Bloom’s Taxonomy is frequently used by teachers in writing learning outcomes as it provides a structure and list of verbs.

14. Bloom (1956) - knowing is composed of six successive levels arranged in a hierarchy.
This area is the cognitive (“knowing” or “thinking”) domain
Bloom suggested certain characteristic werbs verbs
These verbs are the key to writing learning outcomes.
A very useful practical tool to describe the levels of mental processes.
He was interested in what students were thinking when they were interacting with what we were teaching or had taught them.

15. 1. Knowledge: ability to recall or remember facts without necessarily understanding them
Active verbs like:
Arrange, collect, define, describe, duplicate, enumerate, examine, find, identify, label, list, memorise, name, order, outline, present, quote, recall, recognise, recollect, record, recount, relate, repeat, reproduce, show, state, tabulate, tell.
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge

16. 2. Comprehension - ability to understand and interpret learned information
Active verbs:
Associate, change, clarify, classify, construct, contrast, convert, decode, defend, describe, differentiate, discriminate, discuss, distinguish, estimate, explain, express, extend, generalise, identify, illustrate, indicate, infer, interpret, locate, predict, recognise, report, restate, review, select, solve, translate.
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
How can we check that they have understood the knowledge – ask them to do things.
Expanded from Bloom’s original list.

17. 3. Application: ability to use learned material in new situations, put ideas and concepts to work in solving problems
Active verbs:
Apply, assess, calculate, change, choose, complete, compute, construct, demonstrate, develop, discover, dramatise, employ, examine, experiment, find, illustrate, interpret, manipulate, modify, operate, organise, practice, predict, prepare, produce, relate, schedule, select, show, sketch, solve, transfer, use.
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge

18. 4. Analysis: ability to break down information into its components (understanding of organisational structure)
Active verbs:
Analyse, appraise, arrange, break down, calculate, categorise, classify, compare, connect, contrast, criticise, debate, deduce, determine, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, divide, examine, experiment, identify, illustrate, infer, inspect, investigate, order, outline, point out, question, relate, separate, sub-divide, test.
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
Note that some terms (e.g. calculate) not mutually exclusive e.g. you could have a calculation that simply involves an application or you could have a calculation that involves analysis as well.

19. 5. Synthesis - ability to put parts together
Active verbs:
Argue, arrange, assemble, categorise, collect, combine, compile, compose, construct, create, design, develop, devise, establish, explain, formulate, generalise, generate, integrate, invent, make, manage, modify, organise, originate, plan, prepare, propose, rearrange, reconstruct, relate, reorganise, revise, rewrite, set up, summarise.
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge

20. 6. Evaluation: Ability to judge value of material for a given purpose
Active verbs:
Appraise, ascertain, argue, assess, attach, choose, compare, conclude, contrast, convince, criticise, decide, defend, discriminate, explain, evaluate, interpret, judge, justify, measure, predict, rate, recommend, relate, resolve, revise, score, summarise, support, validate, value.
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge

21. 2nd - AFFECTIVE DOMAIN (“Feeling”) concerned with value issues : involves attitudes.
Active verbs:
Appreciate, accept, assist, attempt, challenge, combine, complete, defend, demonstrate (a belief in), discuss, dispute, embrace, follow, hold, integrate, order, organise, join, share, judge, praise, question, relate, share, support, synthesise, value.
Characterisation
Organisation
Valuing
Responding
Receiving
Integration of beliefs, ideas and attitudes
Comparing, relating, synthesising values
Commitment to a value
This could be used in the area of keeping attendance records to judge the commitment of students in attending lectures.
Active participation in own learning
Willingness to receive information

22. 3rd - PSYCHOMOTOR (“Doing”) DOMAIN
*Work not completed by Bloom.
*Involves co-ordination of brain and muscular activity.
*Active verbs for this domain:
bend, grasp, handle, operate, perform, reach, relax, shorten, stretch, differentiate (by touch), perform (skilfully).
Used in Feasibility Study on Practical Assessment

23. Laboratory skills Operate the range of instrumentation specified in the module safely and efficiently in the chemistry laboratory. Perform titrations accurately and safely in the laboratory. Construct simple scientific sketches of geological features in the field. Clinical Skills Perform a comprehensive history and physical examination of patients in the outpatient setting and the general medical wards, excluding critical care settings. Perform venipuncture and basic CPR. Presentation skills Deliver an effective presentation. Demonstrate a range of graphic and CAD communication techniques. Perform basic voice and movement tasks (theatre studies).

24. Bologna Process and Tuning
TUNING EUROPE
USA AUSTRALIA
TUNING LATIN AMERICA
Russia
Georgia
2009
2007
2006
LEUVEN
2005
LONDON
2004
BERGEN
2003
2002
BERLIN
2001
2000
PRAGUE
Bologna Process and Tuning
1999
BOLOGNA 24

25. Tuning Academy – Deusto-Groningen: the initial structure
Five Units:
Unit 1: study, research and innovation
Unit 2: experimentation, training of trainers
Unit 3: policy & analysis, education- employment
Unit 4: implementation, dissemination & projects
Unit 5: organisational development 25

26. Tuning project/process that created tools:
Competences and LO

27. Tuning vs traditional programme design: difference in approaches
Teacher in the centre of the learning activity;
Content based programme;
Individual teacher decides on content and aims of the material;
Passive material presentation methods dominate teaching;
Passive role of the student;
Tuning:
Student in the centre opf learning activity;
Study programme oriented to result (learning outcomes) expressed through competences;
“Reverse” (top-down) approach;
Active role of the student.

28. From Project to Process
Tuning model
Degree programme according to the Tuning methodology:
Programme based on profile, sets of competences to be obtained, desired learning outcomes to be achieved, ECTS credits to be awarded
Programme design is team work, based on consultation, discussion, cooperation
Learning outcomes / competences to be developed are the basis for credit allocation
Teaching, learning and assessment approaches respect credit allocation: feasibility is key factor
60 ECTS
FIRST CYCLE PROGRAMME
COURSE UNIT
Top-down

29. THE TUNING DYNAMIC QUALITY DEVELOPMENT CIRCLE
Definition of academic and professional profiles
Identification of resources
Programme design: definition of learning outcomes / competences
construction of curricula: content and structure + balanced ECTS credit allocation
Evaluation and improvement (on the basis of feed back and feed forward)
Selection of types of assessment
Selection of teaching and learning approaches

30. Application of ECTS at micro level - a study programme perspective
Indication of the time students need to complete all learning activities
Student workload
Learning outcomes
Transparency and Quality assurance
Statements of what a learner is expected to know , understand and be able to do after the process of learning
Expressed through competences

31. EQF for Higher Education 47 countries)
EQF for Lifelong Learning (an EC initiative)
(27 countries)
Dublin descriptors
National Qualification Frameworks
Sectoral Qualification Frameworks
TUNING reference points for Higher Education programmes 31

32. Types of learning outcomes
Tuning reference points for
subject area
NQF and Sectoral QF
Meta frameworks
General cycle
Ba, Ma, PhD descriptors
LO for degree programme
Programme
Module/course unit LO
Module

33. Dublin descriptors as benchmarks for LO
Five aspects:
Knowledge and understanding
Applying knowledge and understanding
Making judgement
Communication skills
Learning skills

34. Place of the study programme in the context of HE legislation, Lithuania
Module LO
European Qualification Framework
National Qualification framework 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
III cycle
II cycle
I cycle
III pakopa
II pakopa
I pakopa
Dublin descriptors
Lietuvos aukštojo mokslo pakopos
European qualification framework for Higher education
Study programme competences and LO
Lithuanian HE levels
Employment area research consultations with employers, visionaries of profession and/or researchers in the area 34

35. What is a degree profile?
A description of the character of a degree programme or qualification explaining:
the main features of the programme which are based on the specific aims of the programme,
how it fits into the academic map of disciplines or thematic studies and
how it relates to the professional world
Each profile has an own identity based on specific elements developed by the institute:
mission, strengths, particular constraints and opportunities derived from the local and regional economy
student
society
A good profile takes into account different users’ perspectives & interests
Profile
professional
academics

36. Guidelines for degree profile description
Sections:
General information
A – Purpose
B - Characteristics
C - Employability and Further Education
D - Education Style
E - Programme Competences
F – Complete list of Learning outcomes
Overall guidelines
Be readable in 5 minutes
Maximum two pages
Coherent impression of the degree
Succinct and to point, yet detailed and informative

37. Key elements academic-professional profile
IDENTITY
gathers the essence of what is - “should be” - the degree holder.
detects the occupations and tasks which can be carried out by the graduate.
focuses on the environment in which the gaduate is able to function successfully.
defines the main expected learning outcomes in terms of competences –generic and specific.
IDENTITY
FUNCTION
CONTEXTS
EDUCATION

41. 10 steps for designing a programme – Tuning approach
External reference points NQF, subject benchmarks,
Programme specifications
Determine need and potential
Define the profile and the key competences
Formulate programme LO
Decide whether to “modularize” or not
Identify competences and LO for each module
Determine the approaches to teaching, learning and assessment
Check whether the key generic and subject specific competences are covered
Describe the programme and the course units
Check balance and feasibility
Implement, monitor, improve