My first microtweetorial! “Using learning outcomes to prepare your best presentation!” My audience is super smart people who just never happened to study education, but still must teach things. My knowledge comes from my @hgse graduate degree & years of college teaching.
Learning outcomes are important because they focus us humbly on the student and what they should walk away with after our interaction. It’s not about us or what we want to say, it’s about what they need to learn by the end of our time together.
They are simple, measurable, achievable in your time frame, easy to understand, and they should always fit with the overall desired goals, and/or values of the larger course, conference or program. You write outcomes first, before planning. I use Knowledge, Skills and Values.
Knowledge: What do you want your audience to know at the end of your presentation? Basic facts on your topic? Where to look for future resources is a common knowledge outcome. Fill in: Students should know ____. If they took a test at the end, they could answer this correctly!
Skills: What should students be able to do at the end of your presentation? Sometimes this is identifying, creating or finding something. Even in a short presentation, there is often a small skill you are hoping they learn. You could possibly observe them using this new skill.
Values: What do you hope students value, or what attitude do you hope they have at the end? A common one is that as teachers we hope students value the importance of the topic or we want them to be inspired in some way towards a future action. Don’t underestimate these!
Example: As a patient, I teach med students about ovarian cancer. 1.) Students should know the 4 primary symptoms of ovarian cancer. 2.) Students should be able to have effective dialogue with patients to determine best follow-up 3.) Students should see patients as partners.
Once you’ve drafted outcomes, you build your lesson around them. Build evaluation around them. They become your check and balances to ensure that you’re focused on the right things. Also, any readings, handouts, or other take-aways should reinforce your learning outcomes.
They are also helpful in making sure that your presentation has good flow and is interactive (which helps all of us learn). Often skills are best practiced through demos, creation, or discussion. Sometimes values are most effectively taught by specific people or roles.
Lastly, learning outcomes are cool because they help you as a teacher to stay organized and it makes future prep easier! Often I cut and paste different pieces of workshops together for new audiences. Always remember, it’s about what they need to learn, not what you want to say.
