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Definitions, Terms and FAQs

Definitions, Terms and FAQs

Learning Outcomes. Learning Outcomes are measurable (assessable) statements about what is essential that students know or be able to do at the end of a course or program. They are student-centered statements that focus on the essential evidence of knowledge, performance, products, or skills that students will develop as a result of learning rather than on instructional techniques or course content. Learning outcomes articulate what students should be able to know and/or do by the time they exit a program or course. 

 

DEFINITIONS

  1. General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs). General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs) are the common skills, knowledge, and abilities required in all associate degree programs at Skagit Valley College (SVC). SVC has a responsibility to the communities that it serves to guide our students toward becoming engaged, knowledgeable, and skilled community members and to prepare them for educational and professional success. We have developed our GELOs to support purposeful student learning with these goals in mind. We use these GELOs to guide our teaching practices, curriculum design, and program review process to build more equitable approaches to student access, student achievement, student learning, and student satisfaction. However, we recognize that these outcomes cannot be reduced solely to the measures that we use to evaluate them or contained to the classrooms where they are taught.  Learning happens both inside and outside of classrooms and beyond campus, in places like our libraries, student services, campus events, and local communities. SVC is accountable to students and the larger communities that we serve to support the achievement of these GELOs and the professional skills, curiosity, and sense of purpose that they cultivate. 
  2. Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs). Program learning outcomes (PLOs) are the measurable knowledge, skills, and abilities that students can expect to develop by the end of a program. They inform the content, design, and delivery of all courses within a program. Competency in program learning outcomes is essential to students’ success in their future academic and/or career endeavors.
  3. Course-Specific Learning Outcomes (CSLOs). Course-specific learning outcomes (CSLOs) are the measurable knowledge, skills, and abilities that students can expect to develop by the end of a course. They inform the content, design, and delivery of a course. If a general education outcome or program outcome is mapped to a course, that outcome is considered one of the course outcomes.
  4. Degree or Certificate Learning Outcomes (DLOs). Together, program learning outcomes, general education learning outcomes, and course-specific outcomes make up each degree or certificate’s learning outcomes (DLOs = GELOs + PLOs + CSLOs).


TERMS

  1. Indicators. These provide descriptions of each performance level to enable more reliable and unbiased scoring.  Indicators should:
    • be consistently assessed
    • be representative of student performance
    • be supported by evidence
    • have continuity between levels
    • speak directly to the outcome
  2. Performance Levels. These delineate students’ work along a continuum of standards mastery
  3. Program. An educational “program” is defined as a systematic, contextualized, (often) sequential grouping of courses that make up a considerable portion of a specific degree’s requirements.  
    Rubric. A guide to evaluate the quality of students' responses to assignments.  Rubrics typically feature criteria for evaluation, define the quality expected of each criteria at various levels of achievement, and a scoring strategy.
  4. Rubrics can be used by instructors to grade assignments and to evaluate learning outcomes. They can also be used by students to plan their work.

 

 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

SVC defines an instructional program as a systematic, contextualized, often sequential grouping of courses leading to a degree. Find SVC’s areas of study and related degree programs.

For the purpose of assessing learning outcomes in Canvas (a learning management system), outcomes are grouped based on academic areas and programs.

Skagit Valley College’s Program Review is a four-year process that includes three years of program data collection followed by a fourth year of data analysis and planning. The process collects, analyzes, and measures data annually on the following categories:

  • Student Access (data on enrollment and demographics)
  • Student Achievement (data on transition and completion)
  • Student satisfaction (data collected through surveys and course evaluations on perceptions of program learning, quality, resources, and equity)
  • Student Learning (Faculty collect data outcomes that are mapped to their courses)

The Annual Program Effectiveness Worksheet is part of a four-year Program Review process. Each year, program faculty will use this worksheet to analyze program data, set program goals, and identify strategies to reach those goals.

The purpose is to give faculty the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness and needs of their programs. It focuses on continual program improvement, but it is not related to program viability or faculty evaluation.

Learning outcomes are measurable (assessable) statements about what students are expected to know or will be able to do at the end of a course or program. They are student-centered statements that focus on the essential evidence of knowledge, performance, products or skills that students will develop as a result of learning.

General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs) are the common skills, knowledge, and abilities that are required in all associate degree programs at Skagit Valley College, regardless of the program. GELOs define the common skills, knowledge, and abilities students can expect to develop by the time they graduate. All degree-seeking students at SVC are expected to attain GELOs.

Program learning outcomes (PLOs) are the measurable knowledge, skills, and abilities that students can expect to develop by the end of a program. They inform the content, design, and delivery of all courses within a program. Competency in program learning outcomes is essential to students’ success in their future academic and/or career endeavors.

Course-specific learning outcomes (CSLOs) are the measurable knowledge, skills, and abilities that students can expect to develop by the end of a course. They inform the content, design, and delivery of a course. If a general education or program outcome is mapped to a course, that outcome becomes one of the course-specific outcomes.

Together, program learning outcomes, general education learning outcomes, and course specific outcomes make up each degree or certificate’s learning outcomes (DLOs = GELOs + PLOs + CSLOs).

Program Learning Outcomes Assessment is the process of collecting evidence of student achievement of program outcomes in mapped courses. Faculty use outcomes assessment rubrics to determine students’ level of outcome mastery based on evidence.

Each program wrote outcomes assessment rubrics (OARs) for all outcomes in their programs. Each OAR describes the indicators for 1) exceeds standard, 2) meets standard, 3) approaches standard, and 4) not assessed. Faculty use those rubric indicators to assess how well a student is achieving the outcome. The OARs are preloaded into Canvas. Note that OARs are a part of outcome descriptions in Canvas.

Skagit Valley College faculty collaborated within and across disciplines to write thoughtful, relevant, and measurable outcomes that articulate essential learning goals. This was a faculty-led effort that resulted in curriculum alignment, critical pedagogy discussions, and prioritization of instructional content. This is an ongoing process. Program learning outcomes can be updated annually as part of the Program Review process. If you wish to see changes to program learning outcomes, please contact your department chair.

Program learning outcomes can be updated annually as part of the Program Review process. If necessary, faculty, departments, or the Office of Instruction can initiate a request to update learning outcomes at any given time.

At the course level, faculty are expected to assess all outcomes mapped to their courses (GELO, PLO, CSLO), including program level outcomes.

Faculty assess learning outcomes as one of the indicators of student academic success. It is recommended that faculty list all outcomes (GELO, PLO, CSLO) mapped to their courses in the course syllabus. Faculty will assess these outcomes each time the course is offered. Outcome data will be used for program effectiveness and improvement.

Together, department chairs, instructional deans and faculty review the program data. They evaluate the structure, pedagogical effectiveness, curriculum, and needs of their program. The process focuses on continual program improvement, but it is not related to program viability or faculty evaluation.

Each program learning outcome is mapped to one or more specific courses within or across programs. “Mapping” means that faculty, within their departments, collaborated and identified the courses that are appropriate to assess specific program outcomes. Faculty also identified the schedule of when outcomes should be assessed (Year 1, Year 2, Year 3).

  • Year 1: Spring 2023 through Spring 2024
  • Year 2: Summer 2024 through Spring 2025
  • Year 3: Summer 2025 through Spring 2026

Note: Instructors are encouraged to continue to assess learning outcomes applicable to their courses even before or beyond the year the outcome is scheduled to be assessed. The more often faculty can assess an outcome within in a course and between quarters the better.