Writing SLOs

 In the new Accreditation Standards, a Student Learning Outcome describes the knowledge, skills, abilities or attitudes that students have attained by the end of any set of college experiences – classes, occupational programs, degrees, and certificates and even encounters with Student Services or the Library.  The stress is on what students can DO with what they have learned, resulting in some sort of product that can be evaluated.  In the classroom, the new Accreditation Standards require that SLOs become an integral part of every syllabus.  SLOs should also act as a guide for classroom activities and direct classroom assessment or evaluations.

SLOs and Course Objectives

When trying to define SLOs for a course, think of the big picture.  SLOs describe the broadest goals for the class, ones that require higher-level thinking abilities.  SLOs require students to synthesize many discreet skills or areas of content.  SLOs ask students to produce something – papers, projects, portfolios, demonstrations, performances, art work, exams etc. – that applies what they have learned.  SLOs require faculty to evaluate or assess the product to measure a student’s achievement or mastery of the outcomes.

Objectives                                         Outcomes

Objectives describe skills, tools or                    Outcomes describe over-arching goals
content that a student will master                       that a student will be able to demonstrate
by the end of the course.                                   by the end of the course.

 Objectives require the use of basic                    Outcomes require the use of higher level
thinking skills such as knowledge,                      thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis
comprehension and application.                         and evaluation.

 Objectives do not necessarily result                   Outcomes result in a product that can be
in a product.  Most often, objectives                 measured and assessed.
are synthesized or combined to
produce something that measures
an outcome.

Guide to Writing SLOs

1.  In one sentence, describe one major piece of knowledge, skill, ability, or attitude that a student will have gained by the end of your class.  Describe what a student will be able to DO – not content, activities, or hours.

2.  Use action verbs.

3.  Write it in language that a student will understand.

4.  Make sure that the outcome is something that can be assessed or tested. 

5.  Sometimes it is easier to start backwards by thinking about the major assessments of the course.  These would be the products or demonstrations of your outcomes.  Make a list of the major assignments in your course.  Then try to describe in one sentence what the students are being asked to demonstrate in those assignments.

6.  Be careful when describing attitudes in a learning outcome.  They are hard to assess.  Ask yourself if the attitude is crucial to success in your course.  If the student doesn’t have a certain attitude, but possesses the knowledge and skills being taught, is that satisfactory?

Some Dos and Don’ts

1.  Don’t use the word “understand” – go for higher level thinking skills.

2.  Don’t use the phrase “students will.”  Avoid any pronouns like “them” or “their.”

3.  Do distinguish the difference between A and B courses of the same number.

 4.  Keep the number of outcomes short – no more than four or five at most except if the outcomes of your courses are dictated by requirements of outside accrediting bodies (like in nursing or dental hygiene).  Use the outcomes to describe the major skills or knowledge students will take away from the course and what they will produce to show you that they have mastered these skills.

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