Not all outcomes are desirable ones (3 of 4)

December 6, 2012

Frank Furedi is correct. Learning outcomes should be got rid of. For a start, the name is ambiguous: is "learning" a verb or an adjective? Should students merely learn the outcomes? Any course or module to which one is attached is thereby announcing that it is not pursuing education but training. A corollary of this is that the hosting institution is not a university but a further education college. I would allow an exception if the teacher produced it only under duress and did his best to ignore it when teaching.

When I was an undergraduate, learning outcomes had not been invented. Even module descriptions were wonderfully vague: third-year quantum mechanics might include "topics in superconductivity". This left the teacher free to change things according to topicality or his own interests. Much better.

Dave Kimber, St Neots

Register to continue

Why register?

  • Registration is free and only takes a moment
  • Once registered, you can read 3 articles a month
  • Sign up for our newsletter
Register
Please Login or Register to read this article.

Sponsored