Slides from a Workshop on the role of learning outcomes as one part of public information on higher education, delivered at a Bologna Seminar held at Heriot-Watt University in February 2008.

1. Learning Outcomes and Public
Information
Learning outcomes based higher education: the Scottish
experience
21February 2008
James Dunphy
Robert Gordon University

2. Public Information
• provides assurances about the quality and standards
of provision
• provides information to inform learner choice, and to
assist employers and other stakeholders clearly
understand the nature of Scottish HE
• provides information which helps current students to
understand, engage with and contextualise their
learning
• provide information which stimulates reflection on
academic practice and the sharing of good practice
within the institution and more widely

3. Public Information
• has multiple audiences:
– Prospective students (and their proxies)
– Students
– Teaching staff and other institutions
– Employers, their representatives and the labour market
– General public
– Government and funding bodies
• should be clear and accessible
• should promote understanding

4. Learning Outcomes
• Learning Outcomes at module, programme, level
provide the foundations of public information by:
– Setting out clear expectations
– Promoting understanding and transparency of curricula
– Helping students to understand and contextualise their
learning
– Supporting mobility and recognition
– Can play a role in promoting confidence

5. Workshop Questions
• What are your/our experiences of public
information?
• To what extent are learning outcomes
fundamental to useful public information?
• How can greater emphasis on public information
and learning outcomes enhance student
learning?

6. Workshop Questions
• What are your/our experiences of public
information?
• To what extent are learning outcomes
fundamental to useful public information?
• How can greater emphasis on public information
and learning outcomes enhance student
learning?