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Insight From Biology Program Learning Outcomes: Implications For Teaching, Learning, And Assessment, Noelle Clark, Jeremy L. Hsu

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Learning goals and objectives are a key part of instruction, informing curricular design, assessment, and learning. These goals and objectives are also applied at the programmatic level, with program learning outcomes (PLOs) providing insight into the skills that undergraduate biology programs intend for their students to master. PLOs are mandated by all major higher education accreditation agencies and play integral roles in programmatic assessment. Despite their importance, however, there have not been any prior attempts to characterize PLOs across undergraduate biology programs in the United States. Our study reveals that many programs may not be using PLOs to communicate learning …