How to Write Strong Learning Outcomes for Your #OpenEd21 Proposal

Written by Katie Pierce, a member of the #OpenEd21 Communications Committee

With the clock ticking down to the June 21st deadline for the 2021 Open Education Conference call for proposals, we know many community members will be hard at work. We wanted to build on our initial recommendations for prospective presenters with additional tips for a key component: crafting learning outcomes. Since #OpenEd21 is all about learning, each session is required to identify learning outcomes that participants can expect to gain from the session. For many among us, that might beg the question—what exactly is a learning outcome, and how do I write a good one?   

Learning outcomes are short statements that describe what attendees will learn by participating in the session. Proposals should identify between one and five outcomes, and it’s best to make them SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound to the session. For example, a learning outcome of this blog post is that readers will be able to construct their own learning outcomes for their conference proposal.  

To create your learning outcomes, think about the main points of your proposal and what you hope attendees will be able to do at the end of your session. Generally learning outcomes start with an action verb and finish the sentence “After participating in this session, attendees will be able to…” Bloom’s taxonomy provides categories of action verbs that can help you get started. 

Here’s a great learning outcome example from the “Building Local Organizations to Support and Sustain Open Education” session in 2020: “Attendees will have a sample bylaws, website, and governance structure that they can implement in their own local communities.” This session talked about the creation of Houston Area OER Consortium and how educators built local networks to increase diversity and inclusion in OER and sustain promotion efforts. The learning outcome highlighted specific things attendees would be able to do after attending the session. 

Another example is from the session “#HonouringIndigenousWriters: Engaging Communities in Transforming Wikipedia” from #OpenEd20: “Find and apply resources for planning an #HonouringIndigenousWriters Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at your own institution.” This provides a clear and achievable goal of the session that attendees can take to their communities and enact. 

Make sure to carefully consider what learning outcomes are realistic within your session type. For example, one outcomes from last year's lightning talk “Introducing the Open Pipeline” was simply being able to “name the five stages of the open pipeline”— a specific, measurable, and realistic outcome to achieve within a 10 minute session. 

Ready to get started on your learning outcomes? Remember to keep in mind what attendees will take away from your session and actions they can apply to their own work. Don’t forget to submit your proposals to the 2021 Open Education Conference by Monday June 21st at 11:59pm PDT.