Part 2: Aligning Classroom Teaching and Learning to Outcomes

The Need to Know Information

Main Function

Every instructor should offer classroom activities that are directly aligned to learning outcomes so that students have opportunities to be introduced to related concepts and to practice or master related skills. This does not mean that all activities must be connected to a learning outcome, but it does mean there should be at least one activity aligned to every learning outcome.

Key Points to Know

• A classroom activity that is aligned to learning outcomes might be used to introduce students to content related to a given outcome, or the activity might be used to give students the opportunity to practice or master related skills.
• Students must be given opportunities to learn, practice, or master related content if there is an expectation for them to do so.

Benefits

Classroom activities that are aligned to learning outcomes

• help faculty members know where in the curriculum they will introduce related content to students or give students opportunities to practice or master related skills and abilities;
• provide opportunities for students to engage with related content, knowledge, skills, and abilities; and
• build in formative assessment opportunities which help faculty members know how well students are achieving a given outcome before it is time to formally assess.

Classroom Activities Self-Assessment

Take the self-assessment below related to classroom activities in one or more of the courses you teach. You should be able to answer each question affirmatively and in appropriate detail by the end of this section of the handbook.

Getting Started

You have good outcomes. Now what? Good outcomes mean nothing if several things do not happen. Students should know the outcomes. In fact, students should be explicitly told what the outcomes are, because it lets them know what they will be expected to demonstrate during or by the end of the course or program. Faculty should know where in the curriculum students have the opportunity to be introduced to related skills and when students can practice those skills. It should also be clear to the faculty member, students, and external evaluators what assessments allow students to demonstrate those skills.

Curriculum maps are excellent tools to articulate this information and should be considered before building classroom activities. Maps provide a “check and balance” for faculty members and the institution. Curriculum mapping is an exercise that can be done at all levels. Mapping allows faculty to document connections between program and institutional outcomes, between course and program outcomes, and between course activities, assignments, or assessments and outcomes at any level.

Mapping Learning Outcomes to the Curriculum

Begin by asking for any outcome, “In what program, course, or session will students be introduced to and master the necessary skills associated with this outcome?” How a map is created really depends on the level of outcomes being mapped, and specific terms used may vary among institutions that use curriculum mapping. Curriculum maps “front-load” a lot of work in planning a course or program, but once a curriculum map is complete, it provides clear direction for instruction and assessment.

Terminology of a Curriculum Map

Typically, a curriculum map includes three levels of activity related to outcomes. Many institutions use the terms “introduce” and “reinforce” to describe the first two levels. The highest degree may be described by what the faculty will do (emphasize, provide extra coverage) or what the students will do (master). In this section, the terms “introduced, reinforced,” and “emphasized” will be used to describe activity levels.

• Introduced – students likely see content or learn a skill for the first time.
• Reinforced – students are typically given an opportunity to practice related skills or apply related knowledge.
• Emphasized – students are typically expected to demonstrate mastery.

Curriculum Map: Descriptions and Samples

Table 10 describes curriculum maps at each level of the curriculum. Examples follow in Tables 11 through 13. Map templates are provided for program (Appendix L) and course learning outcomes (Appendix M).

Table 10. Curriculum Map Descriptions based on Outcome Levels

Table 11. Sample Curriculum Map for Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

Table 13. Sample Curriculum Map for Course Learning Outcomes

(Possibility for TRA1154 Supply Chain Management)

In each case, the curriculum map assures faculty and the College that all outcomes are covered within the curriculum and at various levels of depth. Maps also provide a foundation for developing appropriate assessment, which, ideally, is developed at the same time. Templates are provided online at www.palmbeachstate.edu/ire/CollegeEffectiveness (see also Appendices K and L).

Building Classroom Activities that Lead to Outcomes Achievement

After mapping the curriculum, a faculty member should be well acquainted with not only each learning outcome but also the extent to which related skills and knowledge are included in the course. Faculty should know at this point if students are simply introduced to the content in the course. Faculty should know if they will reinforce previously learned content, giving students the chance to practice related skills or if the student is expected to demonstrate mastery of related skills in the course.

It is important to consider a taxonomy, such as Bloom’s, in which levels of thinking are considered as activities are built into the classroom. When connecting thinking to a curriculum map, the Baltimore County school system considers this a “Three-Story Intellect”²⁴ and relates each “story” to both the level of thinking and of demonstration.

• Introducing knowledge and skills (knowledge and comprehension) is the “basement”.
• Practicing the use of knowledge or skills (application and analysis) is “the ground floor“.
• Demonstrating or mastering knowledge and skills (synthesis and evaluation) is “the penthouse”.

Refer back to Tables 3, 4, and 5 in the previous section for several verbs that are appropriate when creating activities and assignments in class to address the various levels of expectation.

Once a faculty member knows the level of expected learning for an outcome, there are many activities, either introduced by the instructor or completed by students, to accomplish the intended level. Linda Nilson (2010)²⁵ provides a crosswalk of methods and the most likely level of associated learning. She suggests that lectures alone tend to present knowledge but no higher-level thinking. If some type of interaction is included, students may understand the content better, and with intentional design, they may engage in higher-level thinking. According to Nilson, activities that lead to greater learning are those which require writing or speaking, providing feedback to others, case studies, high levels of inquiry, projects, reflections, service-learning, and clinical or on-site work (p. 107).

In other words, if a curriculum map verifies that only an introduction to knowledge or skills is necessary, a lecture may suffice, and instructors can often select activities that require only lower levels of thinking. However, if knowledge and skills are to be practiced by the student, instructors should seek activities that will require students to apply and analyze content. Finally, if students must demonstrate mastery of knowledge or skills, instructors should consider classroom activities that will promote the higher-level thinking skills of synthesis and evaluation.

Table 14 provides sample ideas to align instructional methods and classroom activities to learning outcomes. Lists are not intended to be comprehensive.

Table 14. Sample Classroom Activities Aligned to Learning Outcomes

²⁴A three-story intellect: Bloom’s taxonomy and Costa’s Levels of Questioning. Retrieved from https://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/researchcourse/documents/questioning_prompts.pdf

²⁵Nilson, L.B. (2010). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (3rd Ed). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass