When we think about program outcomes and course outcomes, we think about the graduate versus the student. Program outcomes are what our graduate will do out in the field; course outcomes are what our students will demonstrate for us in class.

Course Learning Outcomes are written in the same format as the program vocational learning outcomes, but rather than focusing on the graduate of the program they are written to identify what a student in a specific course will be able to demonstrate. To write course learning outcomes we will reconnect with some concepts we discussed in previous modules

Bloom's Taxonomy

You learned a great deal about Bloom’s Taxonomy in Modules 1–3 when developing your program vocational learning outcomes. To create your course learning outcomes, we will also use the Bloom’s Taxonomy structure. If you feel the need to review, feel free to return to the material in the previous modules. Bloom’s taxonomy gives us a lens to understand the mastery of knowledge, skill, and attitude acquisition. Using the backward design approach, we can follow our graduate backwards semester by semester as they move through various courses, including work-integrated learning experiences, consolidating knowledge and skills they practice, gradually becoming more “expert” through the teaching and learning experiences, we create for them.

When using Bloom’s Taxonomy to assist in your course outcome development and sequence planning, choose upper-level Bloom’s categories and verbs for courses in the later semesters of the credential, and lower-level Bloom’s verbs for semesters where students are introduced to those skills, concepts, and attitudes for the first time.

Backward Design

Your course is a stepping stone for your students in achieving the Program Outcomes that will eventually lead them to success in their field of employment and it’s important that your course outcomes align with the Program Outcomes. There is no expectation that your individual course will align with all the Program Outcomes. The backward design process ensures we see the ‘big picture’ and alignment of all the courses to the Program Outcomes.

Outcomes-Based Learning

Well-crafted course outcomes are tangible evidence of outcome-based learning (OBL) at work, so they are worthy of your careful consideration and the time and effort you will put into developing them. You will craft your outcomes in meet-up series 2 in collaboration with other faculty and your Curriculum Specialist. It’s important to develop these as a team to ensure everyone is on the same page because the course description and course outcomes must not change from one section of a course to another––although your team can agree to update them from one academic year to another.

Course outcomes should clearly tell your students what they will be able to do as a result of the learning experience of this course. They are the major skills, knowledge, attitudes or abilities necessary to perform a task effectively. The following is a list of characteristics generally associated with high-quality course outcomes:

• They begin with a single action verb that requires the learner to do something (examples: “prepare, develop, write, install, design, solve, create, apply, etc.”)
  • The action verb for the CLO should align with the PVLO under which it belongs.

• They are measurable (i.e. the quality of the process or product can be assessed) and observable (i.e., you can see a product, process or both)
  • The action verb should align with the various ways in which you can/will assess your students' achievement of this outcome.

• They are clear, concise and precise statements describing the action by the learner (examples: “develop a project plan”; “design a logo”; “analyze the components of a financial statement”…)
  • Whenever possible the CLO should be free from any program or discipline related jargon the students have yet to be exposed.

• They describe the learner’s performance, not the delivery method or the teaching or learning strategies
  • There will be plenty of opportunities to explore the method you will use to teach and assess this CLO. Often you will find that a high-quality CLO allows for multiple means of delivery and evaluation.

• They are written to require student performance at a post-secondary level of complexity and they typically number approximately 4–7 outcomes for a 42-hour course.
  • It is important to review your career trajectory and graduate profile to make sure you are preparing students for the proper level of study.
  • Each course should give students time to explore the material and incorporate what they're learning into their current and emerging worldviews.  To make sure we give students the time it takes to do this work, we

Considering Language When Writing CLOs

When selecting operational verbs, keep in mind the following strategies consider consulting lists of verbs that correspond with the learning levels in taxonomies discussed in Bloom's Taxonomy in module 5. Aim for a diversity of verbs which reflect the depth and complexity of the learning in each course.
It is also important to consider your verb in context. Sometimes the context can change the level, complexity, and clarity of your learning outcome. Among the many things that make a high-quality learning outcome there are also things to avoid:

[INSERT verb-language_orig.png grphic here]

You can explore more about Course Learning Outcomes at heqco.ca/priorities/learning-outcomes/

There are three essential ingredients to a learning outcome:

1. An action word calls upon the learner to demonstrate or perform something
2. A learning statement that specifies what it is the learner is to demonstrate (a product or process that is observable)
3. The criteria for acceptable performance puts the skill within a context and gives the learners guidance on performance expectations (the criteria should be measurable)

Course outcomes should collectively reflect a balance between theory and practice as appropriate to the course (college-level outcomes should emphasize practical application), and support or align with one or more Program Outcomes. They should describe meaningful and significant skills that are relevant and transferable to real-world situations.

Examples of Course Learning Outcomes

Design a 30-minute exercise program that accommodates the abilities and limitations of participants with musculoskeletal or neurological disorders.

• Design a 30-minute exercise program that accommodates the abilities and limitations of participants with musculoskeletal or neurological disorders.

Bake a cherry pie from scratch using a recipe provided.

• Bake a cherry pie from scratch using a recipe provided.

Demonstrate an appreciation of the impact of a counsellor’s personal values, attitudes and beliefs while working with clients.

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the impact of a counsellor’s personal values, attitudes and beliefs while working with clients.

Calculate the tax liability upon disposition of the following types of property: principal residence, personal use property, deemed dispositions and assets eligible for capital gains exemptions.

• Calculate the tax liability upon disposition of the following types of property: principal residence, personal use property, deemed dispositions and assets eligible for capital gains exemptions.

Produce a budget for a line of children’s casual clothing.

• Produce a budget for a line of children’s casual clothing.

As part of a residential renovation project, demonstrate framing and finishing techniques that comply with all relevant government regulations.

• As part of a residential renovation project, demonstrate framing and finishing techniques that comply with all relevant government regulations.

In these examples, you can see the various ways in which the essential ingredients are included in a high-quality course learning outcome. There's no one right way to write a course learning outcome, but as long as your outcome has these 3 features and is written with succinctness and clarity, your students will know exactly what is expected of them and their performance in the course.

Subsuming Lower-level Skillsets into Your Course Learning Outcomes

Imagine that your outcome is an umbrella beneath which there are numerous subskills and content that the students will need to learn in order to demonstrate the outcome.
Let's use “Produce financial records necessary for the daily operations of a small business” for our example.
The diagram below shows how many lower-level skills might be subsumed into the overall more complex course learning outcome.

[INSERT pvlo-clo-umbrella_orig.png here]

From this example, you can see that, in your course outline, you are only describing the 4–7 exit outcomes from your course, not all the steps (objectives) that lead to those outcomes. You’ll need those later as you develop your lesson plans and think about how you will evaluate your students’ progress toward achieving the outcomes.

Don’t forget, when you are thinking about what your students should achieve at the end of your course, and how you will measure their achievement, you need to consider at what level (action verb from Bloom’s Taxonomy) you expect them to demonstrate their learning, and in what domain (cognitive/knowledge, Affective/attitude, Pschomotor/skills).

The level of your course outcomes is also dependent on the level of the program outcome(s) to which they align, and the sequencing of the course in the program. For example, cognitive domain course outcomes for first-year courses may focus on application, whereas final semester courses may include more analysis and evaluation. Generally speaking, course outcomes should not exceed the level of the program outcomes to which they align.

These outcomes are the minimum expectation for every student to pass the course. So you see that in developing your course outcomes, you are really doing all the advance thinking about how you will evaluate student learning, and how and what learning experiences you will need to expose them to, to ensure that they will achieve these outcomes.

Developing Themes From Your PLOs to Create CLOs

​In meet-up series 1 you created or refined a set of Program Vocational Learning Outcomes. You will now use these outcomes to start to plan your courses, course sequence, and course learning outcomes. The first step in this process is to brainstorm the skills, knowledge and attitudes that are reflected in each of your PVLOs. This will help you to breakdown the Program Outcome into smaller pieces (or themes) and get a feel for how these pieces might group together to form courses.

From these themes, you can then start the process of building courses and creating associated course learning outcomes. For this module, you will simply complete the PVLO to CLO Themes worksheet found below.

Note that you are simply developing themes or clusters that relate to your PVLOs at this time. We will discuss creating CLOs more specifically in module 6. You will bring this work to meet-up series 2 and work with your faculty team and Curriculum Specialist to finalize themes, identify courses and course structure, and develop course learning outcomes.

[INSERT themes_-_pvlos_to_clos.xlsx here]

Course descriptions may be used for a number of purposes: by students and academic advisors to choose courses; by other institutions to establish equivalency; or by prospective employers for information purposes.

There is no need to use this “Course Description” to go into detail about the topics and specific content covered. The “Topical Outline” at the end of the course outline fulfills that purpose. 

Unless you are the only person who has taught this course, is presently teaching it, or will teach it in the future, this work should be done in collaboration with colleagues who are teaching other sections of the same course, to ensure consistency. The course description must be the same for all sections of the course.

How to Develop a Course Description

Your course description should briefly explain and summarize the intended outcomes, the purpose of the course and content. It should mirror the description that appears in the course calendar and/or any online postings to ensure consistency and currency.

Your course description should be about 3–6 sentences or about 50–100 words.

There are many ways to create a course description and you will walk through this process with your Curriculum Specialist in meet-up series 2. Some working groups will find it easier to create a draft of the course description and use it as a guide to keeping the course learning outcomes in alignment. Others will want to develop the course learning outcomes and then construct the course description to ensure it represents the expected outcomes.

For those who follow the former approach you will want to make sure you go back and revise the course description once you have used the draft version to guide the construction of the course learning outcomes.

In the end, your Course Description should reflect the learning in the CLOs and:

• be ~100 words.
• be written from a student-centered perspective (the student will, not this course will)
• use present tense and active voice.
• use clear and simple sentence structure and language.
• use gender neutral language.
• use common terms that prospective students understand.
• use industry-approved technical terms and spells out acronyms when appropriate.
• use generic terms when referencing software or other fast-changing course aspects
• not include the intended course delivery mode (hybrid, online, in-class)
• not include specific assignment information, but can include reference to the pedagogical design of the course (i.e., project-based learning)

The Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities mandates that all college graduates possess skills in six Essential Employability Skills (EES) categories:

1. Communication
2. Numeracy
3. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
4. Information Management
5. Interpersonal
6. Personal

These six EES categories include specific skills that are critical for success in the workplace, in day-to-day living, and for lifelong learning regardless of a student’s program or discipline.
EES are anchored in a set of three fundamental assumptions: 

• These skills are important for every adult to function successfully in society today. 
• Colleges are well-equipped to prepare graduates with these skills. 
• These skills are equally valuable for all graduates, regardless of the level of their credential, whether they pursue a career path, or go on to further education.

EES are skills that students develop throughout their experience in the whole program and responsibility for learning, practicing and evaluating them is shared among courses.

What Are Essential Employability Skills?

[INSERT (CAROUSEL OF IMAGES) screenshot-2019-11-03-13-20-45_orig.png here]

Incorporating Essential Employability Skills

Students will have the opportunity to learn (L) specific skills, to practice (P) these skills, and/or be evaluated (E) on the EES outcomes in a variety of courses throughout their program.

On the Course Outline, you identify whether an EES is taught (i.e., learned, therefore indicated as L), practiced (P) and/or evaluated (E) in your courses. To do this, it is important to have a credential-wide understanding of how and when these skills will be incorporated.  You should be able to map these skills across the program to determine the most meaningful way to scaffold these outcomes into your courses.

When considering how to scaffold your EES opportunities throughout your credential, consider that each of the EES are what the student will be able to do upon graduation. You can build towards these end goals across the courses in your credential. Not every skill will be learned, practiced, and evaluated in each course and there may be some courses that don't tackle a particular EES at all.

• Teach the skills underlying each of the EES (providing students with the opportunity to LEARN the skill).
• Incorporate hands-on learning activities and formative feedback related to the underlying skills (providing students with the opportunity to PRACTICE the skill). Practice can mean that feedback is provided from you, the professor; from peers; or through thoughtful student self-critique.
• Assign marks for the reliable demonstration of the skill (and thus EVALUATE the skill).

At this point in development, you will want to have an overall understanding of the EES's so you are thinking about them as you design your courses.  Determining exactly which of these skills will appear in which courses at what level is work you will do when you are developing the evaluation structure and content of your courses.

Do All Programs Require EESs?

The short answer is no, certificate, graduate certificate, and degree credentials do not require the incorporation of these skills into your program or measuring these outcomes for students. However, if you're developing one of these credentials, the EES template and structure can be a useful guide for making sure you are developing these skills in your students. 

Regardless of whether a student graduates from a certificate or a diploma or a degree, all employers are interested in graduates who have a diverse and robust skillset beyond the core competencies of a specific discipline or field. Paying attention to these skills in your program, in a structured and meaningful way, will help ensure your graduates are successful in securing and maintaining employment and that your program aligns with the Human Skills focus of GBC's strategy 2022/Vision 2030.  ​

The Human Skills Framework

GBC has created a framework for Human Skills in an effort to identify the future skills required from students and graduates. The group who developed this framework included membership from a range of departments across the college, both service areas and academic areas.

Through various engagement activities, stakeholders contributed a depth of knowledge of models of skills development, including Essential Employability Skills Framework, Student Life’s Soft Skills Framework and Coaching program, Alumni employer research, Academic Excellence program review data, Student Affairs Student Success work with Emotional Intelligence, Strengths Finder, Conflict Resolution, Team Building, and other soft skills curriculum and co-curricular programming and evaluation of programming.

Student Success Coordinators canvassed teaching faculty for their input. Also explored was human Resources’ leadership capabilities framework for synergies between skills development for students with employees’ development of skills.

The Three-cluster skills framework
Based on multiple consultations and discussions, GBC derived a three-cluster model of critical skills that enable:

• growth, development, and lifelong learning;
• effective collaboration with others, and
• the ability to continually adapt in a changing world.

These skill clusters encompass a wide range of sub-skills, with fluidity and interdependence between skill categories in practice. It should be emphasized that mastery in one skill or skill cluster will not necessarily position GBC students for future success. Instead, increasing a student’s capability to apply an interplay of skill clusters in experiential and applied learning contexts will allow students to future-proof themselves for career success. For example, customer service skills required interpersonal capabilities, flexibility, and problem-solving skills.

[INSERT human-skills-diagram_orig.jpg here]

Each of the clusters is composed of a sub-set of skills that, in combination with one another, will provide the student with a robust degree of capability that will help them be successful. The approach to these skills ought to be considered not only as the skills that will ‘get you the job’ but also as the capabilities that will allow you ‘to thrive in your job.’ This will also engender a sense of ongoing action and reflection that is best cultivated through practice and lifelong learning.

Interpersonal Capabilities

Self-awareness, self-regulation, stress management, resilience, interpersonal communication and relationships, empathy, social responsibility, openness and adaptability to cultural and other diversity, collaborative teamwork.

Entrepreneurial Mindset

Flexibility, adaptability, resilience, initiative, creativity, entrepreneurship, openness to continuous lifelong learning.

Complex Thinking

Analytical and critical thinking, complex problem-solving, insight, resourcefulness, novel and adaptive thinking, data, digital, and media literacy.

In the modern teaching and learning landscape, a default position of physical classroom delivery is no longer appropriate. Program delivery can happen across many different environments each of which will be more, less, or similarly appropriate for your program and course outcomes. It is frequently assumed that a well-designed course can be delivered in many ways and that the overall design is independent of how it can or should be delivered, however often the learning outcomes should be considered in relation to the delivery method and overall position in the scaffolding of the credential. An upfront and holistic approach to program delivery decisions will impact the quality of the students' experience in the program. 

It is important to consider all possible delivery methods before determining which are or are not appropriate. Moving these considerations to the design stage increases the chances that the most pedagogically appropriate strategies are implemented and woven throughout the credential in a way that is appropriate, considered, and meaningful.

What Are Common Delivery Methods?

Outside of the Classroom Instruction, GBC identifies other forms structured learning may take including lab, independent learning, 1-on-1, clinical placement, field/work, and small group.  Although much of the curriculum will likely fall within the classroom instruction designations, it is important to think about these other possibilities and whether they would enhance the learning experience and opportunities for students. The definitions for these alternate instructional designations are as follows:

Laboratories/workshops/fieldwork: scheduled hours of activities intended to give students hands-on experience; this instructional setting is characterized by activities in which students are provided with instruction and are directly supervised by college staff. Settings either inside college facilities (e.g., laboratories, workshops) or outside college facilities (e.g., fieldwork) in which individual students are required to use instructional equipment and/or supplies. These settings do not include situations in which microcomputer labs are used for instruction of standard word processing, spreadsheet, and database software packages or situations in which laboratories and workshops are used for convenience.

Independent (self-paced) learning: student-directed learning in which contact with college staff is limited to situations in which advice or solutions to specific problems is sought; usually online learning.  

One-on-one instruction: those exceptional situations in which college academic staff can provide instruction to only one student at a time, e.g., in a flight simulator or on top of an electrical tower.

Clinical placement:  scheduled hours of activities intended to give students hands-on experience in a hospital or health care setting; this instructional setting is characterized by activities that are an integral component of the curriculum of the program and necessary for the successful completion of the program. It includes those activities in which students are continually supervised directly by college staff or individuals working on behalf of the college.

Field placement/work placement:  scheduled hours of activities intended to give students hands-on experience in the workplace and for which the students do not typically receive a regular salary or wage from the employer; this instructional setting is characterized by activities that are an integral component of the curriculum of the program and are necessary for the completion of the program. Also included are activities in which college staff do not directly supervise students and for which college staff undertake one or more of the following activities: Make periodic site visits; Ensure that assignments given to students and the work being done by students are suitable for the program; Monitor the students’ progress in the field placement activity; Help address problems encountered by students in the field or work placement activity; Evaluate students’ performance in the field or work placement activity.

Small group tutorial: instructional activity that must occur in small group settings (usually 5–10 students) and in which individual students do not require access to equipment except in situations in which microcomputer labs are used for the instruction of standard word processing, spreadsheet, and database software packages or situations in which laboratories and workshops are used for convenience.
For the New Program Approval process documentation, you will need to complete the Program Delivery Information form. You will complete this alongside your Curriculum Specialist, program chair, and faculty team but in this module, we will use it as a way for you to record your thoughts about program delivery.

In the modern teaching and learning landscape, a default position of physical classroom delivery is no longer appropriate. Program delivery can happen across many different environments each of which will be more, less, or similarly appropriate for your program and course outcomes. It is frequently assumed that a well-designed course can be delivered in many ways and that the overall design is independent of how it can or should be delivered, however often the learning outcomes should be considered in relation to the delivery method and overall position in the scaffolding of the credential. An upfront and holistic approach to program delivery decisions will impact the quality of the students' experience in the program. 

It is important to consider all possible delivery methods before determining which are or are not appropriate. Moving these considerations to the design stage increases the chances that the most pedagogically appropriate strategies are implemented and woven throughout the credential in a way that is appropriate, considered, and meaningful.

Program Modality at GBC

Online Delivery Asynchronous

A fully online learning experience, with planned digital assets and interactions, designed for active student engagement and participation with course content, peers, and an instructor. All activities, assignments, and assessments occur in the digital environment. There are no scheduled real-time interactions required to complete this course (i.e., no on-campus or synchronous online meetings)

Online Delivery Synchronous

A fully online learning experience, with planned digital assets and interactions, designed for active student engagement and participation with course content, peers, and an instructor. All activities, assignments, and assessments occur in the digital environment. Some or all of the instructional hours will be delivered via synchronous sessions within a scheduled class time block.

Hybrid-Semester A

Hybrid delivery blends online learning and face-to-face delivery, such that substantial parts of the course learning experiences are accessed online. The planned and required online components equate to approximately 1/2 of the instructional time. This delivery requires the first 50% of the semester to be offered online and the second 50% offered F2F.

Hybrid-Semester B

Hybrid delivery blends online learning and face-to-face delivery, such that substantial parts of the course learning experiences are accessed online. The planned and required online components equate to approximately 1/2 of the instructional time. This delivery requires the first 50% of the semester to be offered F2F, and the second 50% is offered online.

Hybrid-Week A

Hybrid delivery blends online learning and face-to-face delivery, such that substantial parts of the course learning experiences are accessed online. The planned and required online components equate to approximately 1/2 of the instructional time. This delivery requires weekly delivery to be alternated between F2F and online.  Hybrid-Week A utilizes a classroom space on odd numbered instructional weeks.

Hybrid Week B

Hybrid delivery blends online learning and face-to-face delivery, such that substantial parts of the course learning experiences are accessed online. The planned and required online components equate to approximately 1/2 of the instructional time. This delivery requires weekly delivery to be alternated between F2F and online. Hybrid-Week A utilizes a classroom space on even numbered instructional weeks.

Hybrid-Day

Hybrid delivery blends online learning and face-to-face delivery, such that substantial parts of the course learning experiences are accessed online. The planned and required online components equate to approximately 1/2 of the instructional time. This delivery requires half of the designated hours EACH WEEK to be offered in F2F format and half of the weekly hours in the digital environment. Thus, whatever the weekly instructional hours are for the course, only half involve scheduled face-to-face interaction.

Face-to-Face (F2F)

F2F delivery occurs in person, with all instructional hours delivered on campus during scheduled class time blocks. Note: F2F classes can be supplemented with educational technology used for resource delivery, evaluation, or learning activities.

Hybrid-Flexibility (HyFlex)

HyFlex delivery provides the option for students to engage with instructional hours during scheduled class time blocks, either F2F or online and can make this decision week by week. Hyflex delivery supports various modalities within a single course section (not to be confused with choice where students can select a course section offered in a specific modality). Hyflex requires specially equipped rooms.

Choice of Modality

This isn’t a modality and seems unnecessary as each section of the course (CRN) would fit into one of the above modalities. The usefulness of this definition is simply to signal to students that there are options to take portions of this program online or face to face or for the RO to label a course on the back end as having multiple options. If it is necessary, the use original definition.

A given course is offered in multiple modalities across different sections. A student may select the modality via the selection of a course section (e.g., a learner could enroll in a fully-online section of a course or a face-to-face section of a course). The student learns within the selected modality for the duration of the course.

Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT)

This modality occurs in response to emergency situations that require courses of one modality to switch modalities quickly. This should be viewed as a contingency measure to support learning continuity in the event of unforeseen circumstances.​

Questions to Consider When Re-Thinking Modality

1. Based on the learning profiles of your students, are there portions of the program (semesters, years) that would lend themselves to greater success in a specific modality? For example, the program has a significant number of first-generation college students, direct entry students, etc.? who might benefit from a F2F or hybrid modality to better support community building.
2. Based on the course profile of your program, are there courses that lend themselves to specific modalities or multiple modalities? For example, is there a course that can only be taught successfully (from a pedagogical perspective) in a face-to-face modality? For example, the course content lends itself to a more self-directed or self-paced engagement and therefore would lend itself to an online modality.
3. Based on your student-retention portfolio, are there barriers to success that are impacting student retention related to delivery modality? For example, delivery modality isn’t clear to students, students don’t have the choices they need to put together a flexible learning journey.
   • Where in your program do you see the most potential for flexibility, choice, and personalization?
4. When thinking about authentic assessment in the program, are there courses that require hands-on evaluation or have evaluations that would not have an equivalent high-quality assessment in the digital space?
5. When thinking about the experiential learning components of your program, are there experiences that cannot be completed in the online space? Or new experiences that would become available as a result of the digital environment?
6. Are there industry or professional body requirements that limit your choices of modality for courses?  If so, where is there room for delivery modality discussions within the curriculum? For example, could some courses that require F2F be moved to a hybrid modality?
7. Based on your faculty profile, what professional development opportunities do you foresee as meaningful to support delivery across modalities? For example, would faculty benefit from discussions of online pedagogy, would they benefit from discussion of learning theories, do faculty require technology support,etc.?