Learning Reconsidered - ACPA

CHAPTER 4
DEVELOPING LEARNING
OUTCOMES
Susan R. Komives
Sarah Schoper
INTRODUCTION
The story is told of the city slicker who gets
off the train in a small mountain town. He notices
a youth down the street who is taking pot shots
with a BB gun at various targets (the side of a
barn, a picket fence, and a stop sign). The youth
then walks up to the target and appears to study the
shot, and moves on. Approaching the first target,
the visitor is impressed to note that the shot is
dead center in the middle of a bull’s eye. The
same is true with each target! He catches up with
the youngster and says, “Young lady, I am very
impressed with your shooting. How did you learn
to shoot that well?” She pauses a moment and
says, “Aw, shucks, it ain’t nothing. I shoot first and
draw a circle around the hole later.”
That story leads us to ask what changes
would occur in our work—and, indeed, across our
institutions—if we were to identify the target first
(i.e., specify desired, intended outcomes), and
then design programs, strategies, and other college
experiences that would contribute to those outcomes.
This chapter will explore the context of the
outcomes movement, describe the kinds of learning
outcomes sought in higher education, and
suggest techniques to assist your department,
division, or entire campus focus on identifying
and designating outcomes.
THE STUDENT OUTCOMES MOVEMENT
IN CONTEXT
The growing and vibrant interest in student
outcomes (often called student learning outcomes)
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is the product of thought and action in several converging
themes over the past 20 years. Understanding
the convergence of these interconnected themes
illustrates the complexity of this new emphasis.
1. Reform movements. Reform movements
in higher education are closely linked to
antecedent movements toward reform in
K-12 education. After the publication of
A Nation at Risk (1983)—the report that
asked “Why can’t Johnny Read?”—the
1980’s were filled with a series of higher
education reform reports intended to
examine and exhort post-secondary education
to revisit its overall mission, examine
general education, reframe institutional
mission, reaffirm campus community,
respond to growing diversity, and identify
and assess outcomes. Reports such as
Involvement in Learning, the Carnegie
Commission’s report College (1987), and
Reclaiming a Legacy documented the
need for reform.
2. Student Learning Movement. In the
1980’s many reform reports admonished
higher education to return to a focus on
undergraduate education and the importance
of quality teaching. Although many
institutions had never deviated from that
commitment, and indeed many considered
it their primary purpose, large research
universities enrolling most of the nation’s
students were perceived as having strayed
away from it. Barr and Tagg’s widely read
Change magazine article, “From Teaching