The Key Parts

One way of approach­ing writ­ing a learn­ing out­come is to think of it as com­prised of three parts:

1. Action Verb (Performance)

Con­sid­er­ing what action might be involved in the learn­ing out­come helps with fig­ur­ing out what you want stu­dents ‘to do.’ An action verb is usu­al­ly both mea­sur­able and observ­able.

2. Learning Statement (Condition)

A learn­ing state­ment (con­di­tion) that describes the learn­ing to be demon­strat­ed (e.g., in a writ­ten report, evi­dence based)

3. Broad Criterion/Criteria

Broad cri­te­ri­on / cri­te­ria that give con­text / cri­te­ria for an accept­able per­for­mance (e.g., four dimen­sions of, the con­nec­tion between…)

Key Parts Example: By the end of the course, students should be able to develop a written seven-step plan for undertaking a small research project. Action verb is 'develop'. Criteria are 'written' and it will include seven steps. Learning Statement is 'framed around a research project'.
Handouts Icon

Hand­outs:

  • A Quick Guide to Cre­at­ing Learn­ing Out­comes: PDF Ver­sion
  • List of Action Verbs based on Bloom’s Tax­on­o­my of Learn­ing: PDF Ver­sion
Tip If you’re not sure where to start, think about how you would describe to a friend, what stu­dents learn in your course / pro­gram.