Meaningful
Relevant
Assessable
Valuable
Programme Outcome Principles – A competence-based approach to making outcomes MARVal-ous
The programme outcomes define what the curriculum is designed to achieve. In CBE the purpose of the curriculum should be constructively aligned to the knowledge, skills and attributes students need to develop so they can achieve their aspirational futures. This can be accomplished, through the collaborative development of programme outcomes that are Meaningful, Assessable, Relevant, and Valuable.
Articulating outcomes as competencies
To facilitate the construction of more effective programme outcomes, we suggest using a structural approach designed to articulate programme competencies that can be taught and assessed effectively (and are constructively aligned). As well as helping all stakeholders understand how they add value to the curriculum. This structure has been chosen to create a streamlined method of outlining the complex relationship of knowing, acting, and being in a way that they can be taught and assessed.
To facilitate the construction of more effective programme outcomes, we suggest using a structural approach designed to articulate programme competencies that can be taught and assessed effectively (and are constructively aligned). As well as helping all stakeholders understand how they add value to the curriculum. This structure has been chosen to create a streamlined method of outlining the complex relationship of knowing, acting, and being in a way that they can be taught and assessed.
1. Student Action
A verb that describes what the student can ‘do’
2. Disciplinary Knowledge
Disciplinary content, data, legislation, and practices as well as the appropriate sources of information that support them
3. Assessable Outcome
A clear statement of what has been evaluated to indicate the level of competence the student has evidenced
So, for example, a broad competence of ‘Information Literacy’ could become two separate competence statements:
1. Find, sort, and use appropriate sources of disciplinary knowledge to develop and communicate an appropriately detailed and correct understanding of a subject.
2. Critically analyse, evaluate, and synthesise appropriate sources of disciplinary knowledge to develop and communicate an evidence-informed position on complex topics that acknowledges relevant perspectives.
Additional concepts that underpin effective competencies (although they do not need to be expressed within each competence statement).
- Relevant Contexts – The context that explains how the competency is expressed within and outside of the discipline.
- Levels of competence – An understanding of how expectations of what students can do changes between levels of study and across grade boundaries.
Articulating outcomes as competencies
A key aspect of effective programme outcomes is that they actively help students take ownership of their futures. This requires active engagement with students and society as stakeholders in the programme.
Student stakeholders
How can we know what student aspirations and motivations are if we do not ask them? Engaging with future students helps with marketing and aligning curricula to their expectations. Alumni can help understand you how well your curriculum is aligned to preparing graduates for their futures.
For outcomes to be relevant and valuable to student futures, curriculum designers should:
1. Be aware of student aspirations and destinations of programme graduates.
2. Make space within the curriculum for students to develop their awareness of possible futures and provide guidance on how to work towards them.
3. Encourage students to take appropriate ownership of what, when, and how they learn to maximise progress to their chosen futures.
It is not possible for a course to cater to every student’s aspirations without putting some of the responsibility on the student to shape the course to their needs (for example through choice of modules, choice of topic for assessments and choice of study area for research projects such as a dissertation).
Internal stakeholders
There are multiple professional services that can ensure that programme outcomes are clearly articulated for different audiences and help you integrate the development and assessment of outcomes into the curriculum. For example, Careers Services are experts in career management and professionalism competencies, Study Skills and Learning Development teams can support information and digital literacies, and Mental Health teams can embed the development of individual resilience and self-efficacy into the curriculum from the outset. Engaging with third space professionals early on is preferential to last minute conversations and can help make the most efficient use of institution-level resources.
External stakeholders
Collaborating with relevant industries, professional bodies, and communities is necessary for understanding what knowledge, skills, and attributes are essential for graduate success. External stakeholders can help everyone understand how programme outcomes might be applied to the real-world and how they actually are applied. They can also identify how the outcomes are aligned to what they need now and in the future. Awareness of the landscape of opportunities relevant to the discipline is integral to aligning curricula to student aspirational futures.