SLO's are the students abilities to show me that they have learned the material and that they can apply the skills learned into reality. When students do not do well with SLO's, then plan of actions need to be taken and followed through. Using assessments has helped me assess their knowledge and skills.
Eddy,
For me meeting student learning outcomes means I have met the goal of the course and students have mastered the material.
Barry Westling
By Eddy Mojena
That they can learn from the Professor one way then learn how to apply it in many ways, From assignments, hands-on, quizzes and tests.
Daniel,
I think more involvement the student has in their learning, the more memorable will be the experiences and retention of key information will be more likely.
Barry Westling
The outcome of student centered learning is to have the students construct the knowledge base while the instructor is more of a facilitator instead of a presenter of information. In order for this to work properly, however, the leader of the learning needs to be comfortable in the situation, and have a proper trust that the students will focus on learning.
Kyle,
Talking is not teaching, and teaching is not instructional if students don't learn. Developing strategies that connect with students, reinforce that material is understood, and that students leave with mastery of the subject matter should complement any structured learning program.
Barry Westling
It's not just about getting information across and hope something sticks! It means we develop a scaffolded teaching style by transitioning from one learning level to another. This will allow learning to stick with them and be beneficial for life.
Paul - I love the idea of case studies and have been trying to find more applicable to my students' subject matter so they can see it all is relavent to them. I think near the end of the course they tend to get bogged down with trying to attain a certain grade and forget the learning is the part that matters - applying it to a case study might help refocus their attention.
-CH Justice
Dionne,
Absolutely right. When we can cater to individual needes, the student retention and outcomes are going to be better.
Barry Westling
The outcome of student centered learning is often a specific skill set and higher student retention.
David,
You are correct. The independent execution of defined outcomes adequately defines meeting all SLO's.
Barry Westling
For me SLOs are successful when students can independantly execute the tasks they have been trained to perform. If the circumstances surrounding the task are not exactly as they were during training; they can navigate the resources at their disposal, determine the cause and develop a course of action that will bring them to a successful completion of the task. And finally, they are able to take the confidence and insight gained from their successes and apply them to future learning situations. That's my goal anyway...
Leon,
For me, meeting student learning outcomes (SLO's) mean achieving the purpose of the course. Anything less identifies my failure to completely meet some aspect of learning the student will need to effective apply their learning in the work setting.
Barry Westling
That they can apply knowledge to solving problems in various types of scenarios and also take responsibility for their actions.
Leon Guendoo
Robert,
"Knowledge without application produces little proficiency" - B.Westling.
Barry Westling
One of the more intangible SLO's is a measure of the student's confidense in applying their learning, not simply confidense of that they know the material, but rather that they can effectively apply what they have learned in a practical environment. I'll try to have the students feeling confident by keeping this as an objective, well beyond simply passing a written test.
Paul,
Super! This is a terrific way to approach instruction. Critical thinking skills are needed in situational testing, and for students to do well in these kind of tests, the instructor has to teach their students to really learn the material in order to answer appropriately.
Barry Westling
I think some faculty distroy the intent of learning outcomes. The tests that many give are based on how many facts a person memorizes. My preference is application style questions. Short case studies, questions that make students use a series of facts to come to a conclusion. Many students come to us from the world of the bubble test. When they get to their career, there are no bubble tests. As I instruct, I keep in mind what my learning objectives are and thus the student learning outcomes follow.
Chad,
Learning is what matters. I agree if process requires adaptation in the name of helping students learn, then we are better serving our students by meeting their need in lieu of preplanned processes.
Barry Westling
As a math teacher, I try to give students ample opportunity to demonstrate competency in the subject. I am faced with a variety of learners ranging from recent high school graduates to adults in their 40's who haven't had math in some time. If a student scores poorly on a test, I give him/her the chance to correct the errors for part credit, and encourage them to do etra work on an internet site provided with the text. The point is to get students to show they have learned the material. If someone fails a test, he/she can still demonstrate he/she has acheived the required competencies to pass the course.
