Across the world, there is a growing interest in holding higher education institutions accountable for the learning outcomes of their student body: definition of expected results and their achievement. This demand has become more necessary in recent years, with the emergence of new higher education providers – in many cases transnational: new educational structures – dual training, MOOCs, micro-credentials, etc.; and, especially as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the definitive consolidation of blended and online learning modalities. Learning outcomes have been one of the key elements of the so-called Bologna Process, appearing repeatedly in documents related to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and in various ministerial communiqués (Bologna Follow Up Group, «European Higher Education Area and Bologna Process», Minis terial Declarations and Communiqués).
Learning outcomes are statements of what the learner is expected to know, understand and/or be able to demonstrate at the end of a learning period.
They are usually defined in terms of a combination of knowledge, skills and competence. Learning outcomes should be specific about what is expected of the learner, and avoid generalities; must be observable and assessable; must be achievable by the students within the duration of the subject or degree programme and limited to its duration; and must be relevant and pertinent to the subject or qualification. In addition, they must be inclusive, so that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed, and they must be public and known to the student at the start of the course.
Learning outcomes are not only used to establish what the learner will know and be able to do at the end of a training period (subject or degree programme), they are also the building blocks of qualifications frameworks, disciplinary benchmarks and assessment criteria. In establishing the learning outcomes of the degree programme, the qualifications and disciplinary benchmarks must first be taken as a reference, as they define the level at which the degree programme should be placed. The learning outcomes of the degree should be in the range of 25, so that certification of all outcomes is feasible. Learning outcomes may then be established for the subjects and/or subjects that will make up the curriculum.
Explaining the learning outcomes of a degree programme and its component subjects has several advantages. It gives students a clear idea of what they will know and be able to do at the end of their studies, and can help them to choose subjects, to focus on what will be relevant in order to reduce stress and wasted time, to facilitate autonomous learning, etc. It helps teachers to plan subjects and training and assessment activities by selecting the most appropriate strategies for the subject, to assess the effectiveness of learning and the teaching method followed, etc. In degree programmes, it helps them to make explicit what their graduates will know and know how to do and, therefore, it helps them to pass assessment by quality agencies if there is evidence of the acquisition of the intended learning outcomes and the training objectives have been met, to be accountable to society for the effectiveness of their training and the type of students they have trained, etc.
The training objectives and the graduation profile are the other two components that accompany the learning outcomes in defining the training profile of university degree programmes.
Learning objectives are written in terms of the teaching intention and describe what the teaching staff intends to cover in their course or subject or what the degree programme intends to provide for the student's education.
The objectives are therefore written from the perspective of the teaching staff and/or the study programme, and describe the teaching process and learning management. Objectives are usually under the direct control of the teaching staff or the study programme, as they are set and developed by them.
Teachers are fully familiar with learning objectives and their wording, as this has been the common way of indicating learning goals in their courses, subjects and degree programmes. The challenge will therefore be not to develop the learning outcomes envisaged as learning objectives.
The graduation profile (understood as the award of a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree) is a statement of the general characteristics expected of a person obtaining a certain degree. They are usually descriptions, not lists, and are usually no longer than one paragraph.
The new configuration of the Catalan university system's degree programmes, through their training objectives, learning outcomes and graduation profile, is an opportunity for them to make the quality of their training and graduate characteristics even more evident to society. The change begins now with the verification of the degree programmes that will have to be implemented in the next academic year 2023-2024 and that will be extended to the whole system in the short term.