From Hours to Outcomes:Contact hours, credit hours

and student learningMartha C. Merrill, Ph.D.Kent State University

Kent, OH USAmmerril@kent.edu

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching initiated it in 1906 (http://www.carnegiefoundation.org)

At that time, it was a measure of professors’ workload

It determined who could receive a pension (Berrett, 2012)

But its use has become much more widespread.

What is a credit hour?

“The unit is traditionally defined as one hour of faculty-student contact per week and two hours of outside work over a 15-week semester.” (Berrett, 2012)

This ratio usually is applied to first and second-year students.

Third and fourth year students are expected to do more work outside of class for every hour in class – and graduate students even more.

The traditional time-based definition

Students are learning in many different ways: in class, through distance learning, via internships, etc.

Students are mobile – how do you know a credit from France is the same as a credit here?

Students are learning throughout their lives: the “knowledge society” means constant updating. How do employers and others know what adults are learning?

But the traditional definition is being rethought …

The Tuning Project is an attempt to get agreement by educators in a particular discipline, across institutions.

Original project: http://www.unideusto.org/tuning/

Tuning Project in Kyrgyzstan: http://www.bolognakg.net

Educators are thinking about the outcomes of learning

Professors in the US usually list the learning objectives for their courses on their syllabi

These objectives name the outcomes students should achieve by the end of the course.

But outcomes are used in individual classes, too

The learning outcomes often are based on the thinking skills identified by Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues. (Bloom et al, 1956)

The thinking skills have been updated since then, but the idea of a hierarchy and moving students toward more complex levels of thinking remains the same.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Remembering: can the student recall or remember the information?define, duplicate, list, memorize, recall, repeat, reproduce state

Understanding: can the student explain ideas or concepts? classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize, report, select, translate, paraphrase

Verbs used in learning outcomes:recalling and understanding

Applying: can the student use the information in a new way? choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write.

Analyzing: can the student distinguish between the different parts? appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test.

Higher order skills

Evaluating: can the student justify a stand or decision? appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate

Creating: can the student create new product or point of view? assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write

(Overbaugh and Schultz, n.d.)

Highest-level skills

Then you evaluate students on whether or not they achieve the outcomes.

This means that the outcomes have to be phrased so that you know whether or not the student has achieved the outcome, and how well.

If you use learning outcomes …

If you care about learning outcomes … And you assess whether or not students

are achieving them … Then you are using criterion –referenced

grading You are grading students on the basis of

whether they meet a particular criterion

Criterion-referenced grading

Because everyone can meet the criteria of the class

In norm-referenced grading, you care about the distribution of grades across the class

You care if Nazgul does better than Gulnara Only a certain number can receive 5’s But that means only a certain number can

learn

Everyone can get a 5

With learning outcomes and criterion-referenced grading, it’s possible that everyone in the class can meet the criteria … everyone can learn.

From competition to …

Many American Studies programs in the US have learning outcomes at the course level and at the program level.

Often having stated learning outcomes is required for accreditation.

But what does this have to do with American Studies?

Pitzer College http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/field_groups/americanstudies/slo.asp

American Studies Intercollegiate ProgramStudent Learning Outcomes 1. Students gain knowledge of the histories

and cultures of the United States. 2. Students gain an understanding of a wide

range of methods across the disciplines.

Some examplesProgram-level learning outcomes

3. Students learn how to analyze a wide range of evidence—e.g. written texts, films, paintings, musical compositions, etc.

4. Students learn how to carry on research in American Studies effectively.

5. Students learn how to communicate effectively about the histories and cultures of the United States in both written and oral forms.

6. Students attain the skills and knowledge to pursue further education in American Studies or related fields—e.g. History, English, Music, Museum Studies, Journalism, etc.

Pitzer, continued

http://www.usm.edu/undergraduate/american-studies-ba

About this Bachelor's DegreeThe American Studies program offers an interdisciplinary major or minor for students interested in a broad liberal arts education. Through courses from many fields, the student acquires an understanding of the development of American heritage. By course selection and during the American Studies Seminar, students may pursue their special interests.

University of Southern Mississippi

Learning Outcomes/Objectives Students will demonstrate an ability to

communicate complex ideas about the American social, economic, cultural, political system in a formal paper substantiated by evidence.

Students will demonstrate an ability to identify, read, comprehend, and analyze appropriate popular and scholarly materials in the American Studies field.

U of Southern Mississippi,continued

Students will demonstrate an ability to define and explain American Studies concepts.

Students will be able to provide evidence of the social, political, economic and/or other forces that are significant in shaping American culture.

Students will be able to demonstrate the interconnectedness of those forces.

Mississippi

American Studies - B.A., B.S. Students demonstrate ability to use problem-

solving approaches to address significant issues in U.S. society.

Students demonstrate awareness of the complexities and legacies of the U.S. abroad.

And at the University of Idaho:

Students demonstrate critical understanding of enduring cultural themes and institutions in U.S. society, such as democracy, civil rights, and Constitutional law.

Students gain an understanding of the centrality of diversity in U.S. society and of the multi-faceted nature of American identities.

Students learn to synthesize and interpret American experience using diverse primary and secondary sources, including cultural productions in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Idaho, continued …

If this, from Idaho, is an outcome you want, what do you need to get there? Students gain an understanding of the

centrality of diversity in U.S. society and of the multi-faceted nature of American identities.

Learning outcomes mean you work backwards in planning

the curriculum

What materials do you need? What experiences would produce that

learning? How would students learn what diversity is

in the US? How would they learn that it is important?

From the outcome to the plan

Students are different Different classes can use different

strategies to reach the same results The main issue: What will help students

learn?

Different strategies can lead to the same outcome

Berrett, D. (2012, Dec. 5) Carnegie, Founder of the Credit Hour, Seeks Its Makeover. Chronicle of Higher Education http://chronicle.com/article/Carnegie-the-Founder-of-the/136137/

Bloom, B. S. et al (eds.) (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Vol. 1: Cognitive Domain. New York: McKay

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.carnegiefoundation.org

Overbaugh, R. C., and Schultz, L., Old Dominion University. Retrieved from http://ww2.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm

Pitzer College (n.d.). American Studies. Retrieved from http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/field_groups/americanstudies/slo.asp

References

Tuning Project. (n.d.). Original project, Retrieved from http://www.unideusto.org/tuning/

Tuning Project in Kyrgyzstan. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bolognakg.net

University of Idaho.(n.d.). American Studies. Retrieved from http://www.uidaho.edu/class/interdisciplinary/americanstudies

University of Southern Mississippi. (n.d.). American Studies. Retrieved from http://www.usm.edu/undergraduate/american-studies-ba

References