Learning outcomes and core competencies – lessons from Ontario Fiona Deller Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) November 19, 2014 Informing the Future of Higher Education
What is HEQCO? System design How can Ontario provide a high-quality postsecondary education in a period of continued growth and diminishing resources? Learning Underrepresented outcomes groups Are Ontario students How can we improve graduating with the access to higher knowledge and skills education for groups they need to succeed that are in life and work? underrepresented? 2
Learning outcomes remarkably universal, despite geographical & discipline differences… 3 Informing the Future of Higher Education
Four domain types: • Numeracy • Literacy Basic Disciplinary Cognitive Content Skills Higher- Transferable Order Skills Cognitive Skills • Communication • Team-work • Critical • Grit Thinking • Determination 4 Informing the Future of Higher Education
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
Laying foundations for successful transitions: Basic cognitive outcomes
PISA scores and PSE outcomes are related: Completion of Higher secondary numeracy and school, PSE literacy scores enrollment 2x more likely to Lower experience prolonged numeracy unemployment vs. regular employment in scores a given year Sources : OECD (2010). PISA Pathways to Success: How Knowledge and Skills at Age 15 Shape Future Lives in Canada; Canadian Council on Learning (2006). 7 Canadian Post-Secondary Education: A Positive Record – An Uncertain Future.
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.php 8
Canada falls below the OECD average for numeracy Average numeracy scores for college graduates, (25-34) Average numeracy scores for university graduates (25-34) Canada, 276 Canada, 299 OECD average, 285 OECD average, 306 Source: Skills in Canada – First Results from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (2013)
Canada falls below the OECD average for literacy Average literacy scores for university graduates, (25-34) Average literacy scores for college graduates, (25-34) Canada, 284 Canada, 306 OECD average, 290 OECD average, 309 Source: Skills in Canada – First Results from the Programme for 10 the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (2013) Informing the Future of Higher Education
Measuring Literacy in Canada 11 Informing the Future of Higher Education
Do Ontario students have the literacy skills for PSE? 12 Informing the Future of Higher Education
Creating lifelines across the educational continuum: Transferrable outcomes
We know that employers have signaled they value transferable skills over other skills. (This is not to suggest that technical skills are not important). Source : Canadian Council of Chief Executives. (2014). Preliminary Survey Report: the Skills Needs of Major Canadian Employers . Retrieved from 14 http://www.ceocouncil.ca/skills Informing the Future of Higher Education
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. 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. 16 Informing the Future of Higher Education
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) 17 Informing the Future of Higher Education
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 18
There are many measurements that work in clinical or counselling settings… Wagnild & Resilience Young Factor Resilience Inventory Scale The Bar-On Duckworth’s Emotional Grit Scale Quotient Inventory …but there are, at present, virtually no assessments designed with education in mind. Wagnild & Young: https://www.resiliencescale.com/ ; Bar-On: http://www.eiconsortium.org/measures/eqi.html ; Duckworth’s Grit Scale: 19 https://sites.sas.upenn.edu/duckworth/pages/research ; Resilience Factor Inventory: 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: 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 20 http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/measuring-what-matters/the-domains/
Learning outcomes can transform skills into educational lifelines. • 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 21
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? 22 Informing the Future of Higher Education
Lessons learned and next steps 23 Informing the Future of Higher Education
Lessons learned thus far…... Assessment matters Focus on students Faculty Engagement Learning Management Systems Cross Discipline, cross sectorial , cross institutional Language matters 24
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 25
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 26 Informing the Future of Higher Education
Tha Thank nk yo you! u! http://www.heqco.ca/en-CA/Research/LearningOutcomes/Pages/home.aspx 27 Informing the Future of Higher Education
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