Library, Information, and Technology Services: Assessment: Student Learning Outcomes

What are SLOs?

Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)s describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation.
SLOs relate to the knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviors that students acquire as they progress through the program.

Each required course in a degree program needs to articulate 3 Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for assessment purposes:

– 2 SLOs in a Primary Degree Goal area
– 1 SLO in a Secondary Degree Goal area

Use Fink’s Taxonomy of Signiﬁcant Learning or Bloom’s Taxonomy

– SLOs complete the statement . . .

“By the end of this course (successful/passing) students will be able to _______.”

– Active verbs are eﬀective for SLOs

Speciﬁc

– Clear and deﬁnite terms describing abilities, knowledge, values, attitudes, and performance

Measurable

– It is feasible to get the data; data are accurate and reliable; it can be assessed in more than one way

Aggressive but Attainable

– Has potential to move the program forward

Results-oriented

– Describe what standards are expected from students or the program/service

Time-bound

– Describe where you would like to be within a speciﬁed time period

When creating SLOs, remember the taxonomy:

From L. Dee Fink “Creating Signiﬁcant Learning Experiences” (2003) San Francisco: Jossey Bass. (p. 30).

Taxonomy of Signiﬁcant Learning

• Foundational knowledge – understanding and remembering information and ideas

• Application – skills, thinking (critical, creative, and practical), managing projects

• Integration – connecting ideas, people and realms of life

• Human dimension – learning about oneself and others

• Caring – developing new feelings, interests and values

• Learning how to learn – becoming a better student,

inquiring about a subject, self-directed learners

(Fink, p. 30)