Alignment Of Learning Outcomes Research Articles

Transformative Curriculum Design through Open Educational Resource Creation

At their best, open educational resources (OER) are known to foster equity, accessibility, and flexibility for users and include multiple perspectives from a collaborative community for creators and contributors (Hylén, 2006). Therefore, when planning our university’s first offering of a week-long course (re)design workshop (based on Saroyan & Amundsen, 2004), recognizing we had been primarily using materials from other post-secondary institutions, we opted to create resources specific to our university through a one-day facilitated writing sprint. Moving beyond offering information simply for course design, we decided to create an OER that encompasses three main areas of curriculum planning and design: composition, mapping, and alignment of learning outcomes; choice and alignment of instructional strategies and learning activities; and alignment of outcomes assessment at all levels. During the OER content development stage, the group also recognized the opportunity to position the OER, named CRICKET, as a community building tool, focusing on learning re-design. The site not only hosts curriculum planning and design information, it also features an OER authoring tool that invites participants to share their work with their peers. Through our OER creation process, we determined that OER have the potential to transform not only how information is disseminated and used, but also how it is created.

Self-Regulated e-Learning in Pre-Service Teacher Training for Realities of 21st Century Classrooms

Educators and students were unprepared for the suspension of face-to-face (f2f) educational activities due to Covid-19, specifically those less experienced in online teaching and learning. Students and educators were traumatised by the sudden switch to online teaching and learning. As such the transition from f2f to exclusive online learning prompted adjusted pedagogical methods and assumed measures of self-regulated e-learning (SRL). During this period researchers embarked on a longitudinal project in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) called the 21st Century Project (21CP). The purpose of the study was to explore the SRL behaviours of pre-service teachers in online learning and to understand the extent to which a curriculum for technology integration alongside contextual factors influences SRL. As such our conceptualisation of the SRL framework adds two moderating constructs, these are, context and intervention to the core constructs of SRL. The sample of sixty six (66) students were drawn from a volunteer cohort of 166, 4th year pre-service students. Data were collected through interviews, surveys and online journal entries. The data was analysed qualitatively using narrative methods in which themes were identified and reported. The findings revealed that: the ICT integration curriculum represented a cornerstone for SRL development and shaped students’ SRL behaviours; there were differences in the SRL practices that could be attributed to students’ learning habits and attitudes to the ICT-based interventions. The findings of this study provide an understanding of interrelationships among SRL, context, and the design of an online curriculum. The study made three contributions to policy and practice. Firstly, SRL can be improved by providing activities that include clear guidelines for engagement through guided instructional methodologies. Secondly, the faculty curriculum developers should formulate guidelines to ensure that curricular iterations are developed as blended f2f/online modes to enable a quick and seamless transition for exclusive online use. Finally, course creators can improve student engagement by aligning learning outcomes and related activities with learning events.

Alignment of Learning Outcomes and Assessment

Alignment of Learning Outcomes and Assessment

Purpose, place, and people: How the pandemic helped foster open and inclusive course design

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.In the spring of 2020, many institutions of higher education rapidly adopted new models of course delivery to support the ongoing need for instructional flexibility in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This article discusses how the transition to a flexible instructional model at [name of institution] created space for faculty to consider the value of place-based learning design to meet students where they are both literally and figuratively. Reporting on a course planning framework focused on the alignment of learning outcomes, learning space and design, and considerations of student engagement and access, the article reviews data from a survey on instructor confidence and instructional technology use to highlight how the pandemic provided an opportunity to expand notions of educational architecture in course design efforts by reimagining how, where, and through which mediums teaching and learning occurs. The results presented underscore the need for sustained attention to open educational architecture as a part of course and curriculum development beyond the period of pandemic teaching and reveal important considerations for educational developers working to support inclusive pedagogy in the 21st century. 

FEM education in undergraduate studies: Industry‐informed research

AbstractRecent mechanical engineering graduates are expected to utilize Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in structural and machine design activities. However, after decades of implementation in engineering schools, the Finite Element Method (FEM) still challenges instructors and course designers. To align learning outcomes with industrial requirements, this article analyzes the opinions of Mexican industrial and academic experts about four important aspects of FEM education. The results suggest that specialists agree on the importance of including a mixture of theoretical and applied topics in the syllabus but prefer practical skills over fundamental concepts. Besides learning from defeaturing to postprocessing a model, engineering students must know how to plan, verify, and validate their finite element studies. Experts expect early design engineers to be proficient with Computer‐Aided Design (CAD) and have relevant mathematical and programming skills. Instead of using specialized software, students' first exposure to FEM may be based on FEA tools embedded in CAD systems. Also, academic and industrial respondents request the incorporation of modal, thermal and nonlinear analysis procedures in the course timetable. Finally, the statistical analysis shows that the two types of respondents share one common vision about the importance of the aspects under study. The findings from this work are useful for the design of FEM‐related coursework and can be used to guide course instructors about the right balance of theory and practice, overall course contents, and the selection of the software utilized for the practical part of the program.

Alignment of Learning Outcomes in Program Evaluation to Achieve a Practical Implementation of Outcomes-Based Education

Alignment of Learning Outcomes in Program Evaluation to Achieve a Practical Implementation of Outcomes-Based Education

Alignment of Learning Outcomes with Assessment Techniques

Alignment of Learning Outcomes with Assessment Techniques

Intercultural competence in marketing and sales recruitment advertising: Evidence from Austria and Sweden

The Background: The globalization of the business world and the ongoing internationalization of many organizations have profound consequences for societies and economies. National economies, the Austrian and Swedish being the examples in this study, are globally intertwined and export dependent. When businesses search for opportunities outside national borders, employees will engage with diverse groups of stakeholders while conducting daily business and pursuing organizational goals. Additionally, due to migrations, the available workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. Business schools have an obligation to educate graduates who are "ready for life." To stay relevant, business programs, specifically in marketing and sales, need to deliver not just subject-specific knowledge but also give students the chance to increase their intercultural competence. Purpose: This study contributes to the discussion on business schools' role in improving students' intercultural competences and the necessity to align learning outcomes with future market needs. Study design/methodology/approach: The content analysis of 240 qualified recruitment advertisements was conducted to investigate, in line with signalling theory, how employers' express their requirements and expectations in recruitment advertising. Findings/conclusions: The empirical study shows that ads frequently describe work environments as culturally diverse. Most reviewed advertisements contain references to interactions with partners and customers across national borders. However, there is a weak connection between the work situation described in the ads and the skills required to tackle diversity. While foreign language and communication skills are frequently listed as requirements in those ads, intercultural competence is seldom a requirement. Even if not vocalized, evidence suggests that future graduates will increasingly need intercultural competence. Limitations/future research: The study was conducted based on a limited number of recruitment advertisements. Future research could include a wider coverage of recruitment advertisements. The qualitative research would complement findings on the need for interculturally competent graduates.

The effect of constructive alignment on academic writing using a virtual flipped classroom: Student learning and higher thinking

ABSTRACT Constructive alignment, as a less examined issue in the English language learning context, is a technique to align learning outcomes, teaching activities, and assessment based on the competencies that learners need to achieve. This study examined whether teaching academic paragraph writing in a virtual flipped classroom according to the constructive alignment (CA) principles caused significant results in the student’s writing, learning approach and higher thinking. The course plan was presented to the constructively aligned flipped group (CAFG) in the form of a course outline organised according to CA principles. The findings revealed that the CAFG was more engaged with the course contents and significantly outperformed its counterparts in the Non-CAFG. Besides, most participants of the CAFG achieved a deep learning approach, and seventeen learners of CAFG achieved the Relational Level. Accordingly, this study offers that designing the flipped instruction based on CA principles is appropriate to improve EFL learners’ skills.

Ethics Education in The Philippines Moving Forward: Learnings from The Pandemic

Until before the COVID-19 pandemic came, the teaching of ethics as a required course for all undergraduate students in Philippine universities remain oral in tradition. Discussion and interaction, not to mention lectures inside the classroom, remain pivotal in approximating the intended learning outcomes and competencies of the course. With the uncertainty and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the past years, especially among developing countries, education as a whole, but ethics education, in particular, faced the enormous task of delivering its promise to its learners. While internet-mediated learning has been the buzzword for many and has been the learning modality since the pandemic started, the question of effectivity remains in ethics education until now, especially in a country dubbed as among the lowest ranked in internet speed and availability. This article examines the Philippine situation and the state’s response to the educational disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It shall then outline ethics education’s specific challenges that have been noted since the beginning of the pandemic like connectivity, availability of materials, alignment of learning outcomes with methods of delivery and evaluation, and then take up a possible road map with the solutions applied in maneuvering the terrain of an ethics education in the face of a pandemic and beyond. It is recommended that further research be undertaken toward the direction of hybrid instruction in ethics and philosophy and even MOOCs or massive open online courses in ethics. Keywords : Online Education; Ethics; General Education; Higher Education; Philosophy of Education

Expected data literacy knowledge and skills for early career teachers: Perspectives from school and district personnel

Using multiple and diverse academic and non-academic data sources is critical to accurately assess student learning. This requires teacher preparation programs and professional development offerings to integrate data literacy concepts. The present study gathered information through focus group interviews with school/district personnel about their expectations for pre-service and early career teachers in relation to assessment and data literacies. Participants endorsed the importance of aligning learning outcomes to appropriate assessments and teachers’ data use to inform instructional decisions. Findings also revealed the terms assessment literacy and data literacy are often viewed synonymously.

Improving project management curriculum by aligning course learning outcomes with Bloom’s taxonomy framework

Purpose This study aims to investigate how to improve the project management (PM) curriculum by evaluating the nature and alignment of learning outcomes in the PM course syllabi with Bloom’s Taxonomy framework. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology for this study is an integrative approach that uses document analysis and content analysis. The data set was selected based on a purposeful sampling method and came from PM course syllabi for classes that were taught during the 2016–2018 academic years. Findings Results revealed that most of the reviewed PM course syllabi contained learning outcomes although they were written and assessed at the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and knowledge dimensions. The study calls for the academy and industry to partner in improving the PM curriculum to lower the PM talent deficit and increase project success rates. Research limitations/implications The absence of PM learning outcomes or the presence of poorly written PM learning outcomes in a course implies that the academy should provide professional development programs to help professors learn how to formulate and write specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely learning outcomes. The professors should also ensure that the learning outcomes use a type of cognitive taxonomy that is aligned with the appropriate assessments to measure, monitor and guarantee assurance of learning. Practical implications Academy and industry partners can work collaboratively to provide students with opportunities that expose them to real-world experiential projects, internships and job opportunities while concurrently giving them hands-on practical applications of learned PM knowledge and skills. The society will be well served when the academy is able to produce well-qualified PM personnel capable of successfully carrying out PM activities and lowering the project’s failure rates. Social implications The society will be well served when the academy is able to produce well-qualified PM personnel capable of successfully carrying out PM activities and lowering the project’s failure rates. Originality/value To the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study to specifically investigate the presence and nature of PM learning outcomes in course syllabi. By evaluating the alignment between PM learning outcomes and Bloom’s Taxonomy action verbs and cognitive processes, the study provides some exemplars of well-written and measurable learning outcomes that professors can use to inform their PM curriculum through course design or redesign.

A broken triangle: Students’ perceptions regarding the learning of nursing administration in a low-resource setting

Background. Nursing education institutions (NEIs) must ensure that their graduates are competent in nursing administration. The adoption of nursing administration-related learning outcomes in pre-registration nursing programmes in Africa has created a platform for the teaching and assessment of nursing administration. Challenges aligned with low-resource NEIs, such as rigid content-based vocational programmes, limit the value and utility of the teaching of nursing administration, resulting in graduates who are not able to manage healthcare units effectively. Therefore, this study explored students’ experiences of a nursing administration module with the hope that alignment of the outcomes, content and assessments would be pivotal in the module review to improve nurses’ efficiency in managing health units. Objectives . To describe student nurses’ perceptions regarding the alignment of learning outcomes, content and assessment of a nursing administration module in an NEI in a low-resource setting. Methods. A sequential mixed methods design was executed in three phases. Data were collected through documents, self-administered questionnaires and focus group discussions with students enrolled in a 3-year pre-registration programme at an NEI in a low-resource setting. The gathered documents were enumerated and mapped against the specific elements of a curriculum as described by Harden and Dent. The quantitative data were analysed through descriptive statistics, focusing on frequencies. The data generated from the focus groups were transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis through an inductive reasoning approach was used. Results. The study revealed a non-alignment among learning outcomes, content and assessment of the administration module, causing students to struggle in meeting the expected learning outcomes of the module. In as much as the curriculum documents specified the learning outcomes, the classroom teaching seemed only to be aligned with the described curriculum. In addition to other challenges, the contextual characteristics of the related clinical environment did not support application of what was learnt in the classroom. The assessment practices mirrored the expectations of the curriculum, but were not aligned with contextual realities. Conclusion. Nursing students struggle to meet expected learning outcomes related to nursing administration due to the non-alignment among learning outcomes, content and assessment of the module. NEIs in low-resource settings must radically transform their pre-registration nursing curricula to incorporate contemporary issues and clinical contextual realities to enhance the utility of nursing administration learning outcomes.

Developing Specialized Graduate Curricula for Health Information Professionals: Integrated Findings of a Scoping Review and an Employer Survey

With the aim of informing specialized graduate curriculum development, this two-phase study seeks to identify and bridge gaps in expectation and preparation between and among employers of health information professionals (HIPs), aspiring HIPs, and library and information science (LIS) graduate curricula. Building upon a scoping review of emerging HIP professional roles, an online survey further explored what professional competencies and qualifications employers in various health information organizations expected or desired of entry-level HIPs. The integrated findings of these two phases revealed that the training that HIPs receive in LIS graduate programs may not accurately reflect employers’ priorities and expectations: While research and professional associations identified the same general skill sets as important, employers also valued competencies such as instructional experience, web skills, “soft” and interpersonal skills, and particular subsets of discipline-specific knowledge as well as a foundation in the complex professional contexts that characterize health-sciences workplaces. These results indicate ways in which LIS programs might develop, adapt, and expand specialized graduate curricula and dynamic professionalization opportunities for students in order to better align learning outcomes with professional core competencies and employer expectations, and to better prepare students for both the technical and interpersonal demands of the job field.

Outcomes-Based Education: Teachers’ Attitude and Implementation

Assessing teachers’ attitudes in the implementation of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) is essential for the success of this new paradigm shift in the educational system. This study used a descriptive research design where the researcher gathered quantitative data utilizing a survey questionnaire to assess the attitude fostered by the teachers of the University of Bohol towards OBE. It further assessed the level of its implementation in the four major areas: formulation and alignment of learning outcomes, curriculum content and structure, teaching-learning process, and assessment. Findings of the study revealed that the respondents’ age, length of teaching experience, and highest educational attainment have no direct relationship to OBE implementation. However, the respondents’ age is directly related to the level of its implementation. Results also revealed that teachers who have a highly favorable attitude towards OBE are more motivated and willing to carry out the overall processes that necessitate OBE implementation. For a change in education to be effective and long-lasting, teachers need to view the entire OBE process as desirable and necessary. With a strong determination and purpose combined with a collaborative effort between the school administrators, teachers, students, and other stakeholders, indeed successful implementation of this newly adopted curriculum in higher education institutions will reach far beyond one could imagine.

Rational curriculum processes: revising learning outcomes is essential yet insufficient for a twenty-first century science curriculum

ABSTRACT In a competitive higher education sector, large-scale curriculum reviews are common, and increasingly require alignment with broader graduate attributes. Outcomes-based reviews can be difficult in practice, especially in generalist degrees such as science and mathematics, where students’ future career pathways are uncertain and varied. Working with academic leads, we revised learning outcomes across majors, streams and programmes within a diverse science faculty at a large Australian research-based university. We devised a novel measure to quantify the change and developed exemplars across the Faculty to further assist academics in aligning their curriculum to the University’s graduate qualities. Following revision, the language and alignment of learning outcomes was significantly improved. Although this study provides a model for others undergoing curriculum reform, caution is required as such large-scale, time-intensive revisions – although essential – are insufficient to create the required twenty-first century Science curricula.

Competent with patients and populations: integrating public health into a medical program

BackgroundAs the global burden of chronic disease grows, and infectious disease threats loom large, the need for medical graduates with expertise in public health medicine (PHM) is growing. A recurrent challenge is integrating this broad knowledge into crowded medical curricula and making PHM relevant. This study describes the process of integrating public health content into an Australian graduate entry medical course.MethodsA redesign of the PHM curriculum at Deakin University School of Medicine was conducted in 2014 to make the curriculum practice-based and solution-oriented. Central to the redesign was the development of a curriculum map.ResultsPublic health is now taught from a practice-based framework adapted from the World Health Organization emphasizing skills aligned with the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine domains that prepare students for specialisation. Learning outcomes are structured to build depth and application in student knowledge. Mapping the curriculum provided the ability to measure alignment of learning outcomes with course, university and accrediting body outcomes. Regular feedback from students indicates engagement has improved along with perceived relevance to future careers.ConclusionsDoctors with public health skills are increasingly sought after in Australia, particularly in rural areas. Deakin graduates are well placed to meet this demand.

Digital Academic Writing Support

At the University of Bergen (UiB), Norway, the library is given the coordinator responsibility for a project involving faculties, first-year-support, Department of Education and student administrative support. The project aims at making it easy to embed information literacy and academic writing into the curriculum.
 
 Develop a digital tool box where academics will find and share teaching activities
 Harvest experiences and suggest models for physic and digital writing support
 Suggest competence building measures for teachers and guides of academic writing
 
 Academic writing and critical dealing with sources are central skills that students are expected to master after graduating from university. At the same time these are generic skills which need practice, discussion and reflection. However, we know that this part of students' learning is easily neglected in competition with subject teaching.
 What we have done: The library has established the project in collaboration with two pilot subjects (biology and geography), emphasising digital writing support according to the UiB’s strategic aims and action plans. The two pilot subjects recognise the importance of writing for critical thinking and development of subject knowledge. They will redesign courses in their BA programmes to better align learning outcomes and assessment with learning activities, e.g. writing including peer and teacher feedback.
 By the time of the conference in June, we will have drafted a framework for typical writing support in the pilots to use for their teaching in the autumn semester.
 In our presentation we will address these key questions:
 
 How does our institution support academic writing?
 How do we train the trainers?
 How do we provide integrated teaching of academic writing and IL?

POTENTIAL AND OPPORTUNITY FOR BEEF CATTLE PRODUCTION OF THE PROTOTYPE FARMERS: THE CASE STUDY OF MAE CHAEM DISTRICT, CHIANG MAI PROVINCE

This article explores the alignment of learning outcomes to assessments in science classrooms; and also what high school teachers do to incorporate higher order thinking skills in teaching science. I argue that science teachers do not always align learning outcomes to what they assess in science classrooms. My argument is that if HODs and science teachers do not incorporate HOT skills in science teaching, South Africa isfar away from improving Physical Science matric results. Data was collected through document analysis and semi structured interviews with 12 Science heads of departments (HODs) and senior teachers, who are experienced in teaching high school Physical Sciences. They are the curriculum leaders and experts in schools. The mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) approach was used. This study adopts interpretive research paradigm. Data analysis revealed that while HODs and science teachers understand what HOT and CT skills are, they do not incorporate them in science teaching. Another finding is that learning outcomes were not aligned to assessments, which caused problems when learners write National Senior Examinations (NSE). This paper suggests that HOD s incorporate and model HOT skills to science teachers and science teachers need to further model HOT skills to grade 12 science learners. This might help in improving Physical Sciences National NSE results. This paper further suggests models that can be used to effectively teach HOT skills across disciplines.

Promoting Nursing Students’ Chemistry Success in a Collegiate Active Learning Environment: “If I Have Hope, I Will Try Harder”

The challenge in chemistry courses for nonscience majors (such as nursing majors) is not that the students cannot learn chemistry but that they think they cannot learn chemistry. With this in mind, the authors’ goal was to create a learning environment in which students would feel motivated to learn and would gain confidence in their ability to learn chemistry. In the one-semester chemistry courses for nursing majors described here, health-related scenarios (such as IV therapy, diabetes, blood chemistry, and brachytherapy) provide context, and POGIL activities provide process and content in a cooperative learning environment. In addition, strategic organization and alignment of learning outcomes helps students to focus on the concepts, principles, and theories that they are expected to learn in a meaningful way. Also essential for the success of this course is a caring yet rigorous instructor who effectively communicates that learning chemistry is difficult but doable. This combination of health-related s...