Learning Outcomes and their Assessment: Putting Open University Pedagogical Practices under the Microscope Conclusions

For the Open University - with over 200,000 students, around 10,000 full-time and part-time academic staff, and with embedded central and regional pedagogical practices focused on distance education and supported open learning - the move to an outcomes-based approach continues to be a major challenge. However, in placing the OU's pedagogical strategy under close scrutiny, first to address the requirements of the QAA and then to look closely at the ongoing enhancement of teaching and learning, the LOTA project has been highly influential in motivating and supporting large-scale institutional change.

Perhaps not unexpectedly change at this scale takes time. There is no quick fix. Academic staff no less than students need time to assimilate new ideas, take ownership of them, adapt them so that they become meaningful in new contexts, and try them out to see what works and what doesn't. As the case studies indicate, the shift to an outcomes-based approach implies more than simply identifying learning outcomes and devising new assessment.

The LOTA project work has emphasized the need not just for alignment between learning, teaching and assessment within the curriculum but fundamentally in connecting those changes to staff development. In practice this means that all academic staff need to build and share a common understanding of how learning outcomes and assessment practices are used to enhance student learning.

The outcomes - assessment - teaching triad in Figure 1 in From quality assurance to quality enhancement, emphasizes that assessment is not a separate activity but is intimately connected with the learning process. The principles of transparency, transformation and transferability underlie the triad. Building clear links between teaching, assessment and learning outcomes is key to student development. Feeding forward on assessment activities, by using the outcomes as hooks for guidance on how to improve performance, supports student progression through courses and levels. For the student, understanding how outcomes, assessment, feedback and learning are intimately linked together is part of becoming an independent learner. Explicit outcomes inform self-assessment and support personal development planning. Being able to use an outcomes language to recognize and articulate skills and knowledge, and being able to draw on a portfolio of completed assessment tasks (for example, reports, critiques, designs) as supporting evidence, is an increasingly important aspect of employability.

The LOTA approach has enabled staff to explore the implications of outcomes-based assessment, to discuss, consult and recommend procedures and systems, and to manage the issues involved in the design of assessment strategies in ways that enhance student learning. The results of the project work are now being embedded into practice and disseminated widely across the Open University.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

متحف الكفيل يباشر صيانة منسوجات تراثية تابعة للعتبة العسكرية المقدسة

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تستذكر مظلومية الإمام الكاظم (عليه السلام) عبر مجلس عزاء

قسم العلاقات العامة يناقش مع منتدى شباب الإسكان إقامة مهرجان تكريم طالبات المدارس المرتديات العباءة في القادسية

سماحة السيد الصافي يدعو إلى توحيد الجهود في تحقيق التراث لضمان الرصانة والدقة وخدمة الساحة العلمية

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

6 فواكة تساعدك على الشعور بتحسّن عند المرض

حفاظا على صحة العين.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول فيتامين أ

الاستخدام اليومي لسماعات الأذن.. أخطر مما تتصور !

هل توقيت نشاطك اليومي يؤثر على صحة دماغك؟.. العلماء يجيبون

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

ابتكار ألماني قد يغيّر مستقبل صناعة البلاستيك

تحديثات وأرباح عبر المشاهدات.. ما الذي تخطط له "لينكد إن"؟

"الكوكايين الوردي".. مخدر جديد يثير قلق السلطات الأميركية

دراسة: تغيّرات في أسلوب القيادة قد تكشف مبكرا عن الخرف !

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Parents with Learning Disabilities CONCLUSION

PROVISION OF SUPPORT

CARING FOR CHILDREN

EUGENICS AND ETHICAL ISSUES

PARENTING

DISCRIMINATION AND DIVERSITY

THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Parents with Learning Disabilities

Legislation and Learning Disabilities CONCLUSION

LEGAL SAFEGUARDS

MENTAL CAPACITY ACT 2005

THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998