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Guide to Generating
GER Learning Outcomes and Identifying Instruments for Assessing
these Outcomes
GER course
proposals should contain (1) the GER objectives for the category
in which the course is included, (2) course learning outcomes
designed to enable students to meet the GER objectives, and (3)
evaluation instruments that will be used to assess the extent
to which students have attained the learning outcomes and thus
the GER objectives. All three should also be included on the sample
syllabus attached to the course action form. They should also
be on syllabi for GER courses under formal university review.
The following steps will guide you in finding and creating these
materials.
Step
1
Find the appropriate GER objectives for your course.
Objectives for the GER categories may be found here.
Copy the objectives for your category and paste them into your
document. If your course is a new course and you don’t know
which GER category it belongs in, read over the objectives of
likely categories and determine which one (or ones) is most appropriate
for your course. If your course is an existing course and you
don’t know what category it is in, you can also find it listed
according to category here.
Step
2
For each objective, write a course learning outcome
that translates the objective into terms appropriate for your
course. (See Examples of GER Course
Learning Outcomes) Note that the course learning outcomes
must address all the GER objectives in a category, although
not all objectives must be addressed equally.
-
Study
the objective and note carefully what it is asking students
to be able to do. Look especially at the verbs in the statements,
such as analyze, apply, make inferences, use. These suggest
the form of doing in the objective.
-
Determine
what the ability indicated in the objective means in terms of
your own course. Basically, this is the answer to the question,
what can I ask students to do in my course that will allow them
to demonstrate that they can do in specific terms what they
are asked to do in general terms in the GER objective. Each
objective describes a general way of doing that points to a
specific way of doing in courses in the category. Look at the
Examples
of GER Course Learning Outcomes and notice how the
teachers of those courses have translated the language in the
objective so that it is specific to their courses.
-
Write
the course learning outcome in such a way that students and
other faculty can understand what it means.
Step
3
For
each course learning outcome, identify the assessment tool(s)
you will use to evaluate the extent to which students are able
to attain the outcome.
- Think about what
opportunities you (could) provide students to guide them in
learning the outcome. These opportunities for learning may point
to means of assessing the learning.
- Determine, based
on opportunities for learning, what tools of assessment you
could use to evaluate the outcome. The question you are answering
is, what specific occasions can you provide for students to
demonstrate that they have learned the outcomes. In other words,
identify assignment(s) or other activities can you point to
for assessment: a lab report, an essay question on a test, a
homework assignment, a class presentation, a group project,
etc.
- Write the assignment(s)
or other activities you intend to use for assessment. Notice
that in the Examples
of Evaluation Instruments for Assessing Course Learning Outcomes
the teachers have spelled out the details of what they expect
students to be able to do, what the teachers can look at to
determine the success of the class as a GER course.
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