The fundamental document that describes course level assessment is the course syllabus. The syllabus conveys many policies, timelines, assignments, and instructor contact information, but also a well-written syllabus should set out the student learning outcomes with respect to the knowledge of course content or attainment of skills or attitudes with respect to the course.
LCOOCC uses the Master Syllabus System. Adjunct Instructors: Check with the Division Chair, Outreach Site Coordinator, or the Academic Dean to obtain the Master Syllabus for the course you have been contracted to teach.
For many survey courses (courses which cover a variety of topics in an introductory manner, such as biology, sociology, or psychology), a rule of thumb is at least one or more outcomes per chapter or week of the course. Often, learning objectives appear in textbooks, and by directing students to the most important objectives as expected outcomes, instructors have a ready made list of “what do we need to know for the exam” study guides for students. One caveat here is that some textbooks may not have well-written learning objectives. Avoid objectives that say "students will learn..." or "students will understand..." or the worst yet, "students will be exposed..."
There is no limit to the number of course-level learning outcomes. These outcomes can be stated in terms of topics, chapters, lessons, homework, concepts, problems, competencies, to mention a few. While students might appear to be overwhelmed with the list of outcomes, it is important to assure them that during the course, they will be learning these things. It is not expected that they already know these things, or else, why would they be in the course to begin with? In the past, some instructors have mentioned that having the course-level learning outcomes in their syllabi give the students a roadmap to the course and they arrive in class motivated to learn those outcomes.
Syllabi Having Course Level Assessment--Fall 2005 to Fall 2009