Learning outcomes and program mapping: Tools for transparent assessment

Abstract

Program mapping (PM) provides a method to examine curriculum alignment, the assessment of learning outcomes, and to determine if program goals are aligned to learning activities and assessments. At a higher education institution in Western Canada, the Centre for Teaching and Educational Technologies (CTET) provides support to academic units using PM techniques to determine how learning outcomes are being implemented. The School of Education and Technology partnered with CTET to examine how to implement learning outcomes in a meaningful way for students and faculty and how to utilize program mapping as a means to evaluate success. To inform this work, a meta-synthesis research project was undertaken. Four main themes were identified in the literature: (1) faculty/student engagement; (2) organizational culture; (3) constraints, and (4) intentional process. Examples of a PM approach are shared and the implications for students and faculty of moving to outcomes-based learning approaches are discussed.