What is a learning outcome?

Learning outcomes are statements that indicate what is expected that the student will be able to do upon completion of an activity, course, program, or degree. Although relatively new to colleges accredited under the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the learning outcomes approach has been an integral part of accreditation standards in western states such as California, and in nations such as the United Kingdom.

The movement toward learning outcomes changes the way we think about curriculum and teaching. Education has either focused on teaching small, discrete skills which can be ‘mastered' or teaching abstract concepts without connecting or integrating them with how students actually use or apply those concepts in daily life.

This focuses what we do towards two very simple questions:

• What did the student learn? (Learning Outcome)
• How do we know it? (Assessment)