Virginia,
That's want teaching is all about. I also think that if we have been successful instilling a desire for lifelong learning, we can reflect periodically on the fact that we have actually changed lives for the better.
Barry Westling
I enjoy seeing our students apply their new skills on their patients. It is such a feeling of accomplishment when they can use these skills on a patient and see and learn how to adapt and improve as they work on a daily basis.
Tania,
True. Students enroll in courses because there's some nugget of promise that interests them. When the instructional cycle is complete, and that promise is fulfilled, the satisfaction of completion and starting a new chapter in their life is a wonderful event.
Barry Westling
That is so rewarding for me. When a student finally "gets" the idea. It also gives them some initiative to continue and it just flourishes from there.
Larry,
For me, I look at SLO's as the "what" that students need to learn. The course and daily objectives are the "how" that those SLO's will be met. The goal of every course is that all SWLO's will be met for every student.
Barry Westling
Knowing that the Students will be able to pass their knowledge onto others when course is completed, as well as knowing the students have pertained the knowledge Themselves.
Brenda,
Learning outcomes help define what it is to be learned at the end of a course. "The "what". We use daily objectives to attain these. The "How". I'm not surprised to see emergence of SLO's into allied-educational items, such as credentialing and licensing, as it really is a process that can be applied in many settings.
Barry Westling
Earlier this month I attended an education conference and was amazed to see one of the first topics addressed was about SLO's. What struck me as highly significant was the suggestion that nursing programs place the SLO's into the blueprint plans of respective nursing licensure examinations and make comparisons. While this seems a large task I would like to attempt structuring this plan in the future.
AnnaMarie,
Yes, modifiying how instruction is provided help students meet the SLO's for a class. For me, SLO's define what the student will know at course completion, whereas the daily learning objectives define how the student will achieve them. Safely giving an injection may be an SLO for a nursing class, and all the steps involved in providing that instruction would be the daily objectives.
Barry Westling
SLO have been very helpful for me and my instructors to recognize areas that improvement on instruction is needed. If we see that all students have done poorly in one area, then we can assess how we are teaching that area to better faciltiate this instruction to help with the learning process.
Rachael,
Glad you found some benefit from the lessons. A lot of terms are thrown around loosely, sometimes it's OK to generalize. But when using terms in educational circles, words have specific meanings, and specific purposes.
Barry Westling
It is always a confusing issue for many Instructors to know the difference between Objectives and Outcomes but I really like the way you clarify these as it makes sense rather then many wordy explanations I have witness in the past.Thank you I will share this with my fellow Instructors.
David,
Good instructors will always try to make their presentations and delivery pertinent and valuable to their student learners. Knowing what the course outcomes are, along with something about individual students interests make for a more profitable learning experience.
Barry Westling
In a lot of the classes that I teach, you have to account for what a particular student wants to do with a career AFTER college, so as to tailor the level of eeducation towards that particular topic. Talking to a class about say, scupture, doesn't play well with people who are math or science majors, for example, unless you make a effort to engage what they need to learn.
Tracie,
Right on. If SLO's are met, we've done our job. If we can be creative and make class interesting to where students feel satisfied and engaged, all the better, eh?
Barry Westling
SLO's provide students with a clear understanding of what they are expected to learn at the end of a course. SLO's need to be measurable and can be used as a tool by instructors to improve course curriculm, and also serve as an effective assessment tool. SLO's measure actual student learning and should discuss what the student will know, be able to, or demonstrate by the end of a course
Kelly,
For me, student centered learning allows me to focus more specifically to my students, understanding how they learn and how best I can reach them.
Barry Westling
Student centered learning helps the students to understand the "why" behind their new knowledge. It helps them stay focused on how this is pertinant to their future career.
Yes, exactly! I have the same experience and perspective, Paul. All too often I find myself distracted by the challenge of presenting instruction to a class full of people who have not learned how to learn.
Have you ever gotten so frustrated as to bring the problem to the attention of your administration, asking what might possibly be done to remedy some of the basic deficits?
Donna,
Great. When I am able to work with students on an individual basis, their performance just automatically improves. And I can also better understand what specific help a student needs.
Barry Westling
