How to write LO for your syllabus

Worksheet to write Learning Outcomes
for course purposes when you already have a well set course with an existent syllabus.


Start from the existent syllabus and follow the steps below:

1. List all the assessment methods you use in the course (quiz, test, project, team work, homework assignments, etc.)

2. Think about the goals and reasons you choose that particular assessment method in what concerns the measurement of student learning

3. Derive from the above and write sentences describing what type of student learning will the assessment measure. That is what it is that the students actually do to receive the grade. In the sentence the subject will be the student, and the verb will be the descriptor of the knowledge, ability, skill, behavior, etc. that the student will demonstrate through the respective assessment. (e.g., Students will be able to compare and contrast in writing the theory of X with theory Y; Students will understand and be able to write about important questions in XYZ; Students will be able to think critically and create solutions to problems based on learned content. Students will recall the content and make inferences on key important points. Students will be able to select correct interpretations and solutions to conceptual problems.)

4. These sentences are the learning outcomes which should be listed in the syllabus under the heading “Learning Outcomes.” The learning outcomes and the assessments used in each course should always match.

If, after having gone through this procedure, you are not happy with the list, the chances are good that you are not testing the students on the things you want them to know.


Some guidelines for writing Learning Outcomes are below:


When writing the learning outcomes:

• A good start is to use Bloom’s Taxonomy to guide you in planning the teaching and assessment so that is at all levels of thinking and knowledge
• Use action verbs that show measureable performance
• 4 to 8 sentences are reasonable for a course or program, since the Learning Outcomes must be listed in the syllabus
• Write the sentences in a language that students (and those outside the field) are able to understand
• Usually Learning Outcomes are not content specific (that means they do not describe the topics/content the students will learn in the course)
• The outcomes should focus on the overarching concepts, skills, abilities, behaviors, or attitudes that students will present at the end of the course
• Most important the Learning Outcomes must be measurable, assessable and should imply an assessment (they must match the assessment used in that course to measure student learning), however it should not be too specific to give flexibility in case different instructors teach sections of the same course (the learning outcomes should be the same but the teaching methods and assessment possibly differs from one instructor to the other; in the end students must have the same skills once they complete the course not matter who is the instructor)
• A good rule of thumb is to NOT use in the sentence verbs such as “remember”, “understand”, “learn”, “know”, “have an idea about…” etc. because these verbs indicate internal mental processes --- unless the assessment measures only that --- and on Bloom’s Taxonomy they are represented as lower levels of thinking. Instead use verbs that describe what students will be able to do, produce, or demonstrate. Be sure that you can measure what outcomes you set.