Aligning Outcomes, Activities & Assessments

PDF of Video Slide Deck
Finks Resources

The first half of the video points primarily to the traditional cognitive alignment that we should strive for in our instructional design and curriculum development. If you are engaged in competency-based education that is part of a skills-based program, introductory to intermediate courses, instruction that is designed to prepare students for a credentialing exam, or other forms of standardized testing and evaluation then the cognitive alignment which we outline is the minimum alignment you should apply.

Alignment

If you are working at a higher level or are able to incorporate authentic learning opportunities through project-based learning and are using an outcome-based design then you will have the opportunity to expand your scope of alignment and incorporate more aspects of the affective and the psychomotor domains and better address the whole learner. If you are not familiar with the difference between competency-based education vs outcome-based education or need confirmation of how I am using these two concepts please refer to the post Why I Don’t Use Checklists, Progress Bars & Other Activity Monitors to explore these ideas further.

To explore alignment at a higher or more wholistic level you need to first change your focus:

When you create a significant learning environment (CSLE) in which you give your learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities (COVA). The CSLE+COVA framework shifts the focus from the curriculum, skills, and abilities to the authentic learning opportunity which ideally should be a real-world project that will have a significant impact on the learner and their learning community. The skills and abilities may still need to be developed or supported but the learner takes on the responsibility to become more of a self-directed learner who acquires or learns those skills and abilities in a just-in-time fashion as they work toward solving the challenge of the authentic learning opportunity. The instructor takes on more of the role of coach, guide, and facilitator and helps shift the learner from assessment of and for learning to assessment as learning

Alignment is one piece of the learning environment and we must warn against the notion of looking for a quick fix or simple application of a tool to help you find this alignment. This is part of a well-thought-out and planned instructional design or curriculum development process.

Additional resources to consider:

Collecting dots vs connecting dots
Assessment OF/FOR/AS Learning
Feedforward Vs. Feedback
We Need More Autodidacts
How to Change the World One Learner at a Time
3210 Curriculum Resources
COVA eBook
Dwayne’s Recommended Reading