Creating Richer, More Robust, Student-Centered Course Learning Outcomes
On Saturday, February 8, 2020, the Vice Dean of Academic Development and Quality, Dr. Abdulrahman Almosa, sponsored a training seminar for the Bachelor of Arts in English program, titled 'Creating and Assessing Learning Outcomes'. Co-sponsored by the Deanship of Academic Development and Quality, the event gathered approximately 50 course coordinators from various campuses, with representation from both male and female faculty members. The Saudi German Hospital graciously hosted this important event.
The seminar was initiated by Dr. Abdul Wahed Al-Zumor, who articulated the importance and process of developing course learning outcomes. Aligning the goals of education with the Kingdom's Vision 2030, he emphasized the need to transition from content-based to outcome-based education. In contrast to content-based learning, which primarily revolves around the mastery of course materials, outcome-based education promotes the student's independent knowledge and skill development with the guidance of instructors. In his words, "Outcome-based education is intimately connected to the SAQF Level 7 Descriptors and the three domains they encompass." Dr. Al-Zumor ended his presentation with a compelling call to action for aligning course and program learning outcomes with the SAQF framework.
Following Dr. Al-Zumor's insightful presentation, Dr. Eman Alzaanin, Supervisor of the Academic Development and Quality Unit, delved into the fundamentals of outcome-based education. She stressed the necessity of designing an aligned curriculum in which intended learning outcomes, learning activities, resources, assessment tasks, and criteria are interconnected to enhance students' achievement. To illustrate her point, Dr. Alzaanin led the participants through an exercise to identify the correlation between course intended learning outcomes and written assessment tasks. She also introduced a checklist to ensure the quality of assessment in three phases: design, marking and verification, and review and recommendations. Her session concluded with a lively discussion regarding potential modifications to the existing assessment structure.
In addition to the seminar's key contributors, the Faculty of Languages and Translation (clt) extends its gratitude to the Deanship of Academic Development and Quality for co-sponsoring the event, and Quality Consultant Dr. Ahmed Farid for his valuable explanation of benchmarking and measuring course learning outcomes and assessments.
In closing, Dr. Almosa addressed the participants, "Thank you all for dedicating part of your weekend to attend this critical event. We will soon embark on the process of revising course learning outcomes."
As part of its mission, the clt remains committed to fostering excellence in all facets of its educational offerings.
