S L O home

This site provides information to departments and faculty on designing and using student learning outcomes (SLO's). Student learning outcomes are written statements that represent faculty and departmental learning goals for students. They can be written for individual courses or for academic majors and departments. Examples can be seen at UW Department Links.

Whether written at the departmental level or for individual courses, SLOs focus on what students learn, most often addressing two questions:

What do you want students to know by the time they finish a course or the major?
What do you want students to be able to do with what they know by the time they finish a course or the major?

Most commonly, faculty members design outcomes for their departments by discussing what they believe is essential to student learning in their disciplines. Usually those discussions are rooted in the skills and knowledge that faculty members teach in their own courses. Once faculty members have agreed on departmental outcomes for student learning, they can use those outcomes as guides for articulating new or revised learning goals for their own courses.
At UW, design of student learning outcomes will likely be a highly discipline-focussed and evolving process. There is no one right way to develop outcomes and no one correct set of outcomes. Any department needing assistance in developing learning outcomes can contact Cathy Beyer (6-6901) at the Office of Educational Assessment.

This page is sponsored by the UW Accountability Board . It was written primarily by Dr. Richard Roth (Department of Geography), Ms. Cathy Beyer and Dr. Gerald Gillmore (Office of Educational Assessment.)

Last Update: Sept 28, 2005
Maintained by tmorai@u.washington.edu