Designing Learning Outcomes for EC1102

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Designing Learning Outcomes for EC1102
Economic Accounting and Measurement Dr Noel
Woods Centre for Policy Studies, UCC.

Background Students choosing economics in year
one of the Bachelors of Art (BA1) in National
University of Ireland, Cork must study 15 credits
of Economics. Students must undertake EC1101
Principles of Economics (10 credits) and EC1102
Economic Accounting and Measurement (5 Credits).
Whilst EC1101 concentrates on Microeconomic and
Macroeconomic Principles in Economics, EC1102 has
a more practical focus, deliberating in
accounting and measurement issues in economics,
largely supporting the theories developed in
EC1101. EC1102 consists of 24 lectures of
one-hour duration and 10 tutorials. This paper
focuses on developing learning outcomes for
EC1102. In the design, delivery, and presentation
of EC1102 to approximately 200 first year
students I am delegated by the Department of
Economics to ensure that economics, as presented
in Year 1, is sold in way thats attractive,
understandable, and interesting to students, in
order to ensure that a maximum number choose
economics in Year 2. One must bear in mind that
with Year 1 modules within the BA, students can
drop two subjects from their initial four at the
end of Year 1, so competition for students
continues throughout the year. As Departments
within UCC are funded based on Full-Time Teaching
Equivalents (FTEs) an awareness competition for
students is important consideration in the
delivery of the course. I have taught EC1102 for
the past seven years, inheriting the course
content from a previous lecturer. Since then I
have modified the course content substantially,
deleting outdated material, and adding newer, and
what I considered, more relevant subject matter.
The material content of EC1102 provides the basis
for more focused economic modules in Years 2 and
3. Updating and modifying course material is
part of an ongoing reflective process. Many of
the modifications were in response to student
suggestions. However, the most significant
influence on the development of the course in the
past year has resulted from my exposure to new
ideas and methods of improving teaching by
enhancing learning following my participation in
the Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma Courses
in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in
UCC.

• Learning Outcomes
• DAndrea (1996) states that well written learning
  outcomes are generally written in the future
  tense, should identify important learning
  requirements. The learning outcomes should be
  achievable and assessable and relate to explicit
  statements of achievement. The learning outcomes
  for EC1102 follow Blooms six levels of the
  cognitive domain of learning from knowledge to
  evaluation.
• Following full participation at lectures,
  tutorials and assigned readings the learner will
  be able to
• Recognise the main indicators of stock market
  timing.
• Describe and distinguish between the main
  economic indicators.
• Interpret Irish National Income and Expenditure
  Accounts.
• Differentiate between monetary and fiscal policy.
• Perform economic calculations, which enable the
  learner to appreciate economic concepts with
  greater clarity.
• Criticise budgetary decisions using economic
  criteria.
• Construct and interpret company accounts and
  accounting ratios.
• Formulate appropriate budgetary policy in
  response to changes in the business cycle.
• Evaluate the main EU economies using the main
  economic indicators.
• Assess the stance of government fiscal policy.

What are Learning Outcomes Blooms taxonomy of
learning outcomes in 1956 is generally regarded
as the major work in this field of inquiry.
Blooms identified six levels of the cognitive
domain of learning. The levels of learning were
arranged hierarchically from the lowest level
which he termed factual knowledge to increasingly
more difficult cognitive tasks, through
comprehension, application, to analysis and
synthesis up to the more complex learning,
evaluation of information. Learning outcomes are
statements that specify what learners will know
or be able to do as a result of a learning
activity (Allan, 1996). The learning outcome is a
statement of what the learner is expected to
know, understand, and be able to do at the end of
the period of learning (Blooms Taxonomy, 1956).
Learning outcomes focus on learning rather than
on teaching and are not about what the teacher
can provide but what the learner can
demonstrate Donnelly and Fitzmaurice
(2005). Outcomes are usually expressed as
knowledge, skills, or attitudes (Hoyt and Lee,
2002). Learning outcomes provide direction in
the planning of a learning activity. They focus
on learner's behaviour that is to be changed
serving as a guideline for content, instruction,
and evaluation. The learning outcomes approach
involves rethinking the curriculum in terms of
both the mode of instruction and the type of
assessment. This approach helps
teachers/lectures more precisely to tell students
what is expected of them and to help students to
learn more effectively. The learner knows where
they stand and the curriculum is made more open
to them. Learning outcomes should make it clear
what students can hope to gain from following a
particular course or lecture. The learning
outcomes approach should help the educationalist
to design their materials more effectively by
acting as a template for them. Matching the
intended outcome to the teaching strategy should
assist with the selection of the appropriate
teaching strategy, for example lecture, seminar,
student self-paced, or laboratory class.
Learning outcomes should assist in setting
examinations based on the materials delivered and
ensure that appropriate assessment strategies are
employed.
Outcomes-Based Approach It is important to make
the teaching and learning process more explicit
and transparent to both teacher and students
alike, and more recently to other benefactors of
higher education (Gaymer, 1997). The earliest
discussions on making teaching and learning more
explicit centred on the development of learning
objectives (DAndrea, 1996). Defining learning
objectives requires teachers to make conscious
choices about a wide range of teaching and
learning considerations by defining what it is
the teacher wants the student to learn. With the
learning objectives approach the focus is on the
inputs to the learning experience and can be
described as teacher-centred. The systematic
approach to course/module planning is most
closely linked to the outcomes approach to
teaching and learning (DAndrea, 1996).
Specification of learning outcomes is the first
step in the systematic approach. Figure 1
illustrates each of the component parts of a
systematic approach to course/module design where
the emphasis is clearly on the outcomes to be
achieved by the student and not on the content to
be imparted. The integral part of this approach
is the interrelationship of the various steps
where each part links to and informs the others
in an iterative fashion. Figure 1 Systematic
Approach and Outcomes Based Planning Ad
apted from J.R. Davis, Teaching Strategies for
the College Classroom, 1976.
Conclusion Teaching begins with a vision of the
possible or an experience of the problematic
(Shulman). Vision leads to planning, the careful
design of the instructional program. The
introduction of the learning outcomes approach
will have a significant positive impact in
delivering on my teaching objectives. The move
from objectives to outcomes allows for a greater
degree of flexibility about what will be learned
and for the student to have a greater degree of
responsibility for it. The learning experience
may result in more unpredictable learning
outcomes. As the outcomes are expressed clearly
within the context of the module EC1102, students
should be better able to focus on what they need
to know and be able to do and on the criteria by
which they will be assessed.