Guiding Questions

In the ultimate goal of creating alignment, the first step is to look at what you are asking your students to do and consider the student learning outcomes that you will define. As you consider your student learning outcomes, think about the following questions as these will guide you in creating the alignment of outcomes and assessments/activities.

What specifically do you want your students to obtain in terms of knowledge and/or skills? This question is key to everything else in the course. This becomes the basis of alignment of outcomes, learning activities, and assessments throughout your course.
What assessments will effectively measure student learning? In this stage, think about how you are measuring your students' learning. For example, if your outcome states that students will be able to "design a model that describes the process of photosynthesis," and you measure student learning by using a traditional quiz, this measurement is not appropriately aligned because it does not give students the opportunity to actually design the model. We will learn more about this as we go through the remaining parts of this section.
What experiences, or activities, will help students meet these outcomes? Focus on planning and designing your activities to provide an experience that connects to the student learning outcomes.
How do the course learning outcomes and the weekly or modular learning outcomes align with (or support) the Program Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs)? Your Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) should be aligned with the Program Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs) that have already been established by the leadership within your discipline. Your program should also have a curriculum map, which will help you determine the level of mastery that is appropriate to your course in relation to the other courses within the program of study. If you cannot locate the latest curriculum map for your program, contact your Department Chair.

This two-minute video highlights a course that used the backward design model in developing student learning outcomes. Take a look!

Creating a Course using Backward Design