Program Learning Outcomes
Program learning outcomes are the CORE component of any academic program. These must be defined first and set the expected and anticipated outcomes for any academic program. Each learning outcome must have an unambiguous description and target a component of learning that is directly measurable.
Each Program Learning Outcome must also have specific courses in the core curriculum and have component assessment tools that can be traced, through the course learning objectives, as evidence of skill, knowledge, or hands-on experiences.
Incomplete or missing links within this 3-level mapping suggest discongruence with outcomes, objectives, and expectations.
Course assessments that do not map onto course learning objectives suggest that students are being evaluated for some content that is not the specified domain of this course. This may be evidence of busy work or incomplete coverage of what the course is intended to provide.
Courses learning objectives that do not map onto programmatic level expected outcomes raise questions such as, “Is this course really CORE to our program?” and “Do we need to re-evaluate what our learning outcomes should really be since these courses are developing learning that we are not saying is CORE?”