Writing Clear and Appropriate SLOs
A Student Learning Outcome (SLO) states what students will know, understand, and be able to do as a result of an educational experience. Follow these guidelines to create SLOs for educational experiences, in programs, courses, and co-curricular activities.
An SLO:
- Is appropriate for the level of performance expected from the educational experience, which may draw from Bloom's taxonomy.
- Specifies the behavior the student will do using an action verb, such as the examples that align with Bloom's taxonomy.
- Provides some detail regarding the context of the behavior, such as information related to the educational experience.
- Identifies the quality or condition of performance expected as appropriate for the context (e.g., "clearly," "accurately," or "appropriately").
- Is measurable and consistent with the assessments used.
- Maintains simplicity by focusing on one action verb.
- Avoids wording such as "know...," "understand...," "be familiar with...," "have increased knowledge of...," and "learn..."
UMD Program SLO examples:
Communication Sciences and Disorders: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the basic human communication process, including the biological, neurological, acoustic, psychological, developmental, and linguistic and cultural basis.
Liberal Education: Students will demonstrate knowledge of how cultural, social, and/or structural factors influence human social behavior.
Physics: Students will apply the laws of physics to new situations, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Masters of Business Administration: Students will use appropriate quantitative tools and techniques to analyze business problems.
Masters of Music: Students will make stylistic and artistic choices in performance that reflect careful study and scrutiny of relevant historical and cultural practices.
KAML Supplemental Course Instruction: Students will evaluate sources based on information need and the context in which the information will be used.