Learning outcome frameworks
In focusing on learning outcome frameworks, we urge you to think about the learning outcomes for a given subject/unit or module as being connected to, and guided by, the broader standards framework in your learning and teaching context. This includes national qualifications frameworks (such as the Australian Qualifications Framework), professional competency and accreditation requirements, and discipline-based course/program level learning outcomes. In recent times, mapping learning outcomes across a whole course/program has been promoted to ensure learners are supported to fully attain prescribed graduate outcomes and assure the integrity of the course/program. In open education at the scale of units/subjects, modules and micro courses, learning outcomes are more likely to be disaggregated; that is, not necessarily belonging to a discrete degree program, but potentially contributing to a range of different qualifications that are compatible in level and subject matter.
In the example of this micro course, the learning outcomes were written with reference to a range of units/subjects and courses/programs within which the micro course could comprise a future module. In this sense, the learning outcomes were written in anticipation of the micro course’s future reuse and redistribution. Arguably, the conceptual tools that have helped us to specify and align learning outcomes in the past, are just as relevant now as we try to anticipate how modular open courses might contribute to whole courses/programs.
Objectives
- Explore OER that assist with aligning learning outcomes at multiple scales in curriculum design i.e. module/unit/subject, through to whole of course/program
- Identify the frameworks – professional accreditation requirements, discipline standards etc. – that guide course learning outcomes (CLOs) in your context.