Curriculum: Intended Learning Outcomes

i.e. "By the end of this learning session, students will be able to..."

Ideally, each learning outcome should map to one of the aims of the learning session. Some learning outcomes may be required by the curriculum (="must"), while others are merely desirable (="should"), or useful (="could"). Alternatively, you may want to set different learning outcomes for students of differing abilities.

Here is a list of verbs to help you formulate the learning outcomes, partly based on Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives:

Cognitive
Knowledge	Draw, Find out/discover, List, Pronounce, Recall, Recite, Recognise, Reproduce, Select, Specify, State
Comprehension	Clarify, Describe reasons for, Explain, Identify, Identify causes of, Illustrate, Question, Understand
Application	Apply, Assemble, Calculate, Construct, Demonstrate, Hypothesise, Infer, Investigate, Produce, Select, Solve, Translate, Use, Write
Analysis	Analyse , Break down, Compare (and contrast), Critique , Differentiate between, Distinguish between, List component parts of, Predict, Select
Synthesis	Argue, Design, Explain the reasons for, Generalise, Organise, Summarise
Evaluation	Judge, Evaluate, Give arguments for and against, Criticise, Give feedback, Reflect
Affective	Appreciate, Show awareness of, Listen, Be responsive to
Aesthetic	Appreciation, Commitment, Ethical awareness, Moral awareness
Psychomotor (practical skills)	Draw, Exercise, Jump, Make, Perform, Play, Run, Swim, Throw

(From Falconer et al., 2006)

If you want to brush up on Bloom’s taxonomy, you might find these sites helpful:

• Krumme, G. (2005)  Major Categories in the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Bloom 1956)
• Atherton, J.S. (2005)  Learning and Teaching: Bloom's taxonomy. This also includes classifications of affective and psychomotor (practical) skills.

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