STEP 1: 

Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

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PLO Screen Shots

Program learning outcomes are statements that define what skillsets or knowledge sets your students will gain through your curriculum. 

Often the wordier a PLO gets, the less effective it is in that a PLO must be measurable. How will you know that the student gained this knowledge or skill and that they gained it to the degree you were hoping? 

Therefore, the key elements to these statements are both what students will do and how well they will do it.

STEP 2: 

Align with the University Learning Goals (ULGs)

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ULG Screen Shots

Whle we don't talk about the ULGs in a general sense every day, they are a part of everything we do. What our students know and can do, how they think and can solve problems, how well they communicate and connect with others, and how they navigate the difference around them and prepare for their life's work...is there anything in your curriculum that doesn't relate to these concepts?

We use our ULGs to take a university level look at program outcomes. For instance, are we meeting our benchmarks across disciplines for Critical Thinking PLOs? Are we making changes for improvement?

STEP 3: 

Educational Experiences (Courses)

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Ed Exp Screen Shots

Educational Experiences are a broad term that usually refers to courses that house assignment used to measure student progress on PLOs. Sometimes, however, a program uses a measure outside of coursework, a national test, for instance. 

To create a curriculum map, you start with PLOs, then courses, then map them together. Step 3 is where you identify the courses. You can throw them all in. When you map, you'll pick the specific courses you need.

STEP 4: 

Curriculum Maps

(for Assignment Linking)

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Curr Map Screen Shots 

Your Curriculum Map lays the groundwork first for offering evidence that  your PLOs are woven throughout your curriculum, first introduced, then reinforced, then emphasized or applied. This is last category is where your key measures reside.

But your curriculum map is also a functional piece within the software platform. It is here that courses are connected to the outcomes. When you go into Canvas to build the Course then, you are able to link an assignment in that course to the PLOs in HelioCampus.