learning outcomes and core competencies lessons from...

Fiona Deller

Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO)

November 19, 2014

Learning outcomes and core competencies – lessons from Ontario

Informing the Future of Higher Education

What is HEQCO?

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System design

How can Ontario provide a high-quality

postsecondary education in a period of continued growth and diminishing

resources?

Underrepresented groups

How can we improve access to higher

education for groups that are

underrepresented?

Learning outcomes

Are Ontario students graduating with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed

in life and work?

Learning outcomes remarkably universal, despite geographical & discipline differences…

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Four domain types:

• Team-work

• Grit

• Determination

• Communication

• Critical Thinking

• Numeracy

• Literacy

Disciplinary Content

Basic Cognitive

Skills

Higher-Order

Cognitive Skills

Transferable Skills

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The four dimensions are the first steps in creating a common outcome language:

• We can classify and compare outcomes by dimension, even if institutions use different terms

• The four dimensions can guide and focus outcome mapping and assessment activities

Basic cognitive outcomes

Laying foundations for successful transitions:

PISA scores and PSE outcomes are related:

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Sources: OECD (2010). PISA Pathways to Success: How Knowledge and Skills at Age 15 Shape Future Lives in Canada; Canadian Council on Learning (2006). Canadian Post-Secondary Education: A Positive Record – An Uncertain Future.

Higher numeracy and literacy scores

Completion of secondary school, PSE enrollment

Lower numeracy

scores

2x more likely to experience prolonged

unemployment vs. regular employment in

a given year

Basic cognitive outcomes can be tapped to strengthen K-12-PSE alignment:

College Student Achievement Project

• Developing common math learning outcomes for pre-technology, pre-business, and business diploma programs at all 24 Ontario colleges

• Ensuring K-12-PSE alignment by using the same math terms and language as the provincial curriculum

• Improving the transferability of numeracy skills across institutions, creating a solid knowledge base

Byers, P. (2014). Bridging the Mathematics Gap through Learning Outcomes. College Student Achievement Project. Retrieved from http://csap.senecacollege.ca/en/publications.php8

http://csap.senecacollege.ca/en/publications.php

Average numeracy scores for university graduates (25-34)Average numeracy scores for college graduates, (25-34)

Source: Skills in Canada –First Results from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (2013)

Canada, 276OECD average, 285Canada, 299OECD average, 306

Canada falls below the OECD average for numeracy

Canada falls below the OECD average for literacy

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Average literacy scores for college graduates, (25-34)

Canada, 284OECD average, 290

Average literacy scores for university graduates, (25-34)

Canada, 306OECD average, 309

Source: Skills in Canada –First Results from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (2013)

Measuring Literacy in Canada

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Do Ontario students have the literacy skills for PSE?

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Transferrable outcomes

Creating lifelines across the educational continuum:

We know that employers have signaled they value transferable skills over other skills. (This is not to suggest that technical skills are not important).

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Source: Canadian Council of Chief Executives. (2014). Preliminary Survey Report: the Skills Needs of Major Canadian Employers. Retrieved from http://www.ceocouncil.ca/skills

http://www.ceocouncil.ca/skills

Factors besides intelligence impact whether a student decides to stay or leave.

Source: Mischel, Ebbesen, & Zeiss, 1972; Mischel & Metzner, 1962

One factor, grit, has been the source of great interest within the past few years.

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GRIT“perseverance and passion

for long-term goals”

Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D. & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92 (6),1087-1101.

We need to translate psychological research into educational strategies.

• Can grit be taught?

– Andrea Duckworth (UPenn) and the Grit Scale

• Can grit be measured?

– Paul Tough, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character (2012)

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We need to translate psychological research into educational strategies

• Can transferrable outcomes be taught and assessed in class?

• How do we account for developmental and environmental factors?

• Learning does not occur in a vacuum

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There are many measurements that work in clinical or counselling settings…

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…but there are, at present, virtually no assessments designed with education in mind.

Duckworth’s Grit Scale

Wagnild & Young

Resilience Scale

Resilience Factor

Inventory

The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory

Wagnild & Young: https://www.resiliencescale.com/ ; Bar-On: http://www.eiconsortium.org/measures/eqi.html ; Duckworth’s Grit Scale: https://sites.sas.upenn.edu/duckworth/pages/research ; Resilience Factor Inventory: http://www.adaptivlearning.com/assessment

https://www.resiliencescale.com/

http://www.eiconsortium.org/measures/eqi.html

https://sites.sas.upenn.edu/duckworth/pages/research

http://www.adaptivlearning.com/assessment

People for Education is developing measures and indicators for 5 different types of transferable outcomes in K-12, in partnership with HEQCO:

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Health

Creativity

Social-emotional skills

Citizenship

Quality learning environments

People for Education. (2014). Broader measures of success: Measuring what matters in education. Measuring what Matters. Retrieved from http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/measuring-what-matters/the-domains/

http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/measuring-what-matters/the-domains/

Learning outcomes can transform skills into educational lifelines.

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• Striking the balance between psychological development and teaching & learning

• Creating an educational continuum through learning outcomes

• Articulating and building on demonstrable skills and outcomes

• Working across curricula and disciplines

QUESTIONS:

1. What are the three big ideas that can be learned from the experiences of other jurisdictions regarding learning outcomes and alignment in K-12 and post-secondary?

2. What advantages do you see to aligning the goals of K-12 and post secondary education and what challenges, disadvantages or unintended consequences might arise?

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Lessons learned and next steps

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Lessons learned thus far…...

Assessment matters

Focus on students

Faculty Engagement

Learning Management Systems

Cross Discipline, cross sectorial , cross institutional

Language matters

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What’s Next for HEQCO.

Building Partnerships with k-12 sector

@Issue Paper on the Four Types of Learning Outcomes

Exploring the measurement of transferable skills

Learning Outcomes Assessment Consortium

Learning Outcomes Assessment Handbook

Online PIACC

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Bridging the gap between K-12 and PSE learning outcomes

“… a system in which the exit standards for

one sector align with the entrance

requirements of the next …one in which

students’ pathways are clearly defined and

reasonably straight…” –Jamie Merisotis,

President & CEO, Lumina Foundation

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http://www.heqco.ca/en-CA/Research/LearningOutcomes/Pages/home.aspx

Thank you!

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