Edited by Christopher Douce, Wednesday 4 November 2026 at 20:34
On 17 December 2024 (yes, it is really that long since I started this blog post) I attended a continuing professional development (CPD) event that was hosted by the graduate school, facilitated by Dr Judith Taylor and Dr Helen Bowes-Catton. What follows are some notes that I have edited together after attending the session.
I wasn’t the intended audience. It was aimed at doctoral students to help them understand more about the higher education (HE) sector. I don’t think anyone minded me coming along, since it was also advertised to doctoral supervisors.
The session was all about what is distinctive about teaching in HE, how it is changing, what learning outcomes are, how learning outcomes are used in teaching and assessment, and what benchmark statements are (which is a topic that I have explored in a blog not so long ago). The session also had a practical element (which I didn’t take part in).
A bit about theory...
I must confess that I arrived a little late, missing a summary of Bloom's taxonomy (Armstrong, 2010). I’ve known about Bloom's taxonomy (along with another ‘triangle model’; Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) for quite some time. Bloom’s taxonomy is a useful tool to think about different types of knowledge and understanding. For educators, it helps us to think about how we might approach the development of student’s critical thinking skills.
Like any useful tool, it is pretty simple. Bloom’s Taxonomy is divided into levels. The lowest level is knowledge (recalling, locating and naming concepts), followed by comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (where students are able to compare theories and ideas). The higher up the level, the great the level of mastery.
Introducing learning outcomes
I’ve recently written about learning outcomes in a blog that introduces a set of useful ideas (which I wished someone had told me about when I first joined the university). Here’s a simple definition: a learning outcome is a simple statement of what students should know, or be able to do, by end of a session, module or course.
A learning outcome also specifies what we want students to achieve to gain a pass. We might break down big learning outcomes into smaller ones. We were given a tip about writing them. Avoid passive verbs. Instead, use action verbs; use words that are precise, level appropriate and relate to the development of concepts and skills. Some useful words might be demonstrate, construct, analyse, or explain. Learning outcomes should be measurable and observable.
Constructive alignment
Learning outcomes, or 'outcomes-based learning design' is also related to an idea called Constructive Alignment Theory, which has been defined by Biggs (2003). The simple point is that everything aspect of study should be aligned with every other aspect. Curriculum should be aligned with its learning outcomes, the teaching methods used, the resources used, and the assessment tasks and accompanying criteria used to evaluate whether learning has taken place.
I noted down a couple of useful bullet points:
Constructive alignment in the classroom: what do I want them to learn, what types of activities will help, how will I know they have achieved the LOs?
Constructive alignment for quality alignment: LOs are used between institutions, in your institution, and by you and your students.
Threshold concepts
We were then introduced to the idea of a threshold concept (Mayer & Land, 2006; Cousin, 2006); the one thing (or set of things) that your students really need to know to enable them to progress to higher levels of study.
Teachers, tutors or lecturers should aim to identify the threshold concepts that are important to their subject, and then attempt to devise techniques (pedagogy) that help students attain those tricky concepts.
Benchmark statements
We were all asked a question: how do we determine that the quality of a degree from one institution is the same as a degree from another institution?
The answer is: QAA plays a role in ensuring that the levels of attainment are equivalent. If you are teaching a subject, you have to agree to certain benchmark standards. All university degrees should meet a standardised criteria.
Reflections
When I started as a tutor, I didn’t know any of this stuff. I could have really benefited from a session like this, which introduced me to some of what I describe as ‘the really important simple stuff’. I first came across Biggs’ ideas when studying for a postgraduate teaching qualification. Sometimes it is simple ideas that can help us to understand more complicated ones.
One of the references I picked up was an edited book by Ketteridge et al., which is available through the university library, which looks really useful (except there isn’t a chapter on teaching computing, but there is a chapter on teaching dentistry). Parts 1 and 2 look helpful, with part 2 addressing the topic of research degrees.
Learning outcomes in the classroom
On 17 December 2024 (yes, it is really that long since I started this blog post) I attended a continuing professional development (CPD) event that was hosted by the graduate school, facilitated by Dr Judith Taylor and Dr Helen Bowes-Catton. What follows are some notes that I have edited together after attending the session.
I wasn’t the intended audience. It was aimed at doctoral students to help them understand more about the higher education (HE) sector. I don’t think anyone minded me coming along, since it was also advertised to doctoral supervisors.
The session was all about what is distinctive about teaching in HE, how it is changing, what learning outcomes are, how learning outcomes are used in teaching and assessment, and what benchmark statements are (which is a topic that I have explored in a blog not so long ago). The session also had a practical element (which I didn’t take part in).
A bit about theory...
I must confess that I arrived a little late, missing a summary of Bloom's taxonomy (Armstrong, 2010). I’ve known about Bloom's taxonomy (along with another ‘triangle model’; Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) for quite some time. Bloom’s taxonomy is a useful tool to think about different types of knowledge and understanding. For educators, it helps us to think about how we might approach the development of student’s critical thinking skills.
Like any useful tool, it is pretty simple. Bloom’s Taxonomy is divided into levels. The lowest level is knowledge (recalling, locating and naming concepts), followed by comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (where students are able to compare theories and ideas). The higher up the level, the great the level of mastery.
Introducing learning outcomes
I’ve recently written about learning outcomes in a blog that introduces a set of useful ideas (which I wished someone had told me about when I first joined the university). Here’s a simple definition: a learning outcome is a simple statement of what students should know, or be able to do, by end of a session, module or course.
A learning outcome also specifies what we want students to achieve to gain a pass. We might break down big learning outcomes into smaller ones. We were given a tip about writing them. Avoid passive verbs. Instead, use action verbs; use words that are precise, level appropriate and relate to the development of concepts and skills. Some useful words might be demonstrate, construct, analyse, or explain. Learning outcomes should be measurable and observable.
Constructive alignment
Learning outcomes, or 'outcomes-based learning design' is also related to an idea called Constructive Alignment Theory, which has been defined by Biggs (2003). The simple point is that everything aspect of study should be aligned with every other aspect. Curriculum should be aligned with its learning outcomes, the teaching methods used, the resources used, and the assessment tasks and accompanying criteria used to evaluate whether learning has taken place.
I noted down a couple of useful bullet points:
Threshold concepts
We were then introduced to the idea of a threshold concept (Mayer & Land, 2006; Cousin, 2006); the one thing (or set of things) that your students really need to know to enable them to progress to higher levels of study.
Teachers, tutors or lecturers should aim to identify the threshold concepts that are important to their subject, and then attempt to devise techniques (pedagogy) that help students attain those tricky concepts.
Benchmark statements
We were all asked a question: how do we determine that the quality of a degree from one institution is the same as a degree from another institution?
The answer is: QAA plays a role in ensuring that the levels of attainment are equivalent. If you are teaching a subject, you have to agree to certain benchmark standards. All university degrees should meet a standardised criteria.
Reflections
When I started as a tutor, I didn’t know any of this stuff. I could have really benefited from a session like this, which introduced me to some of what I describe as ‘the really important simple stuff’. I first came across Biggs’ ideas when studying for a postgraduate teaching qualification. Sometimes it is simple ideas that can help us to understand more complicated ones.
One of the references I picked up was an edited book by Ketteridge et al., which is available through the university library, which looks really useful (except there isn’t a chapter on teaching computing, but there is a chapter on teaching dentistry). Parts 1 and 2 look helpful, with part 2 addressing the topic of research degrees.
References
Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Available at: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/.
Biggs, J. (2003) Aligning teaching for constructive learning. Higher Education Academy.
Cousin, G. (2006) ‘An introduction to threshold concepts’, Planet (17). Available at: https://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/mflanaga/Cousin%20Planet%2017.pdf
Ketteridge, S. et al. (2014) A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Enhancing Academic Practice, Taylor & Francis. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docID=1770537.
Meyer, J. and Land, R. (2006) Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge. Routledge. Available at: https://doi-org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/10.4324/9780203966273
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Judith and Helen for this session.