{"id":526,"date":"2016-03-11T14:00:08","date_gmt":"2016-03-11T17:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.delts.mun.ca\/idresources\/?page_id=526"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:29:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:59:48","slug":"learning-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/learning-outcomes\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Outcomes: Definition, Characteristics, Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are learning outcomes and how do they differ from learning objectives?<\/h2>\n<p>This resource is designed to help you write and use learning outcomes as you design and teach courses. It includes relevant definitions and the characteristics and benefits of learning outcomes.&nbsp;The resource will be useful for those who are creating&nbsp;a new course, re-developing a course, or teaching a course that was designed by someone else.<\/p>\n<p><section class='notebox'><aside><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Note<\/h3>\n<p>This resource introduces learning outcomes. See <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/designing-a-course-the-analysis-phase\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2895\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Planning a Course<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/learning-outcomes-construction\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"3707\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Constructing Outcomes,<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/learning-outcomes-alignment\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"3715\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alignment<\/a> for more information on those topics.<\/p>\n<p><\/aside><\/section><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Definitions<\/h2>\n<dl>\n<dt>Goals:<\/dt>\n<dd>Course goals or learning goals&nbsp;are the broad desired results of a course. Goals reflect the purpose of the course and may be derived from a program of study. They are what you want students to learn or get out of your course (Fink 2013).<\/dd>\n<dt>Outcomes:<\/dt>\n<dd>Learning outcomes describe what learners should know, be able to do, and value as a result of&nbsp;integrating knowledge, skills, and attitudes learned throughout the course. They are stated in measurable terms.<\/dd>\n<dt>Objectives:<\/dt>\n<dd>Learning objectives describe the intended result of a learning experience, from an instructor&#8217;s perspective &#8211; what they intend for students to do or know. They are stated in measurable terms. Learning objectives identify discrete aspects of a learning outcome or goal. Collectively, they roll up to meet learning outcomes or goals.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<p><section class='notebox'><aside><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Note<\/h3>\n<p>CITL recommends using outcomes at topic level. When students engage in the learning they can use the outcome statements to guide their learning, practicing and testing themselves against the outcomes.<\/p>\n<p><\/aside><\/section><\/p>\n<p>We provide definitions of goals, outcomes, and objectives not as a definitive list of terms that must be used in your course but as a way to help you in your approach to developing and teaching your course. The following structure shows a relationship between the terms:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table aligncenter\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Course Level<\/th>\n<th>Unit Level (instructional objective)<\/th>\n<th>Unit Level (student learning outcome)<\/th>\n<th>Topic Level (student learning outcome)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning goal A<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning objective 1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning outcome 1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning outcome 1.1<\/li>\n<p><br><\/p>\n<li>Learning outcome 1.2<\/li>\n<p><br><\/p>\n<li>Learning outcome 1.3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning outcome 2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning&nbsp;outcome 2.1<\/li>\n<p><br><\/p>\n<li>Learning&nbsp;outcome 2.2<\/li>\n<p><br><\/p>\n<li>Learning&nbsp;outcome 2.3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning goal B<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning objective 2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning outcome 1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning outcome 1.3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning outcome 3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning&nbsp;outcome 3.1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning outcome 4<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Learning&nbsp;outcome 4.4<\/li>\n<p><br><\/p>\n<li>Learning outcome 4.5<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Characteristics<\/h2>\n<p>Effective learning outcomes are:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Clear statements, containing a verb and an object of the verb, of what students are expected to know, do or value<\/li>\n<li>Action-oriented<\/li>\n<li>Free of ambiguous words and phrases<\/li>\n<li>Learner-centered\u2014written from the perspective of what the learner does<\/li>\n<li>Clearly aligned with the course goals: each learning outcome will support a course goal<\/li>\n<li>Aligned with the course content, including assessments<\/li>\n<li>Realistic and achievable: the audience must be able to achieve the learning outcome within the logistics of the course (time, environment etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Appropriate for the level of the learner (see taxonomies)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Benefits<\/h2>\n<p>Learning outcome statements clearly articulate what students are expected to be able to know, do, and value as a result of the learning. They guide the selection of teaching strategies, materials, learning activities, and assessments. They also help guide&nbsp;students in determining what and how to learn in the course.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Well written outcomes help instructors<\/th>\n<th>Well written outcomes help&nbsp;students<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that learners should develop through the course<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Guide their&nbsp;studies and choose how they will approach the learning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Select, create, and organize the content, activities, and instructional strategies that&nbsp;students will need in order to achieve the outcomes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Assess their own learning and gauge their progress<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Design assessments and feedback strategies that are aligned with the learning&nbsp;outcomes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Prepare for formal assessment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Map their curricular outcomes to a program or accreditation standard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Develop metacognitive skills<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list ref-list\">\n<li>Gronlund, N. E., &amp; Brookhart, S. M. (2009).<em>&nbsp;Writing Instructional Objectives (8<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;Edition).&nbsp;<\/em>Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.<\/li>\n<li>Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom\u2019s taxonomy, an overview.&nbsp;<em>Theory into Practice (41)<\/em>4, 212-219.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are learning outcomes and why do I need them in my course?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[365],"tags":[317,143],"collection":[],"class_list":["post-526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning-outcomes","tag-goals","tag-learning-outcomes"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"dcarew","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/author\/dcarew\/"},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7y0Lp-8u","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526"}],"version-history":[{"count":95,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22823,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions\/22823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.citl.mun.ca\/instructionalresources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}