1. Learning Outcomes: A Fluid Approach to E-learning Course Design and Evaluation of Learner
Achievement
The International Hispanic Online University (IHOU), www.ihou.org
Collaborators: Carrie Main, M.A. (clmain@ihou.org) and Andrea Gomez, M.A. (acgomez@ihou.org)
Evaluation of Learner Achievement
The IHOU instructional design team outlines best practices in
mapping learning outcomes as a course design strategy utilized by
the International Hispanic Online University (IHOU) for the 23rd
Annual WCET Conference.
Mapping learning outcomes on a granular level drives the course
design process at IHOU. While working with numerous Subject
Matter Experts (SMEs) from multiple institutions, IHOU instructional
designers use objective mapping to ensure alignment of content to
assessments. We showcase how SMEs have successfully deployed this granular competency mapping process
within their online courses.
Why Map Learning Objectives?
 Ensure quality and consistency in design
 Foster active learning
 Track assessment to course content
 Use data to monitor student achievement
“In a world in which information, knowledge, and job specifications are changing ever more rapidly,
outcomes evaluations at the course and program levels are the only consistent means for
understanding the relationship between what someone has done and what he or she knows as a result
of doing it” (Smith, 2010, p. 142).
Smith, P. (2010). Harnessing America's wasted talent: A new ecology of learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.