Why and How to Align SLOs to the Course Outline

As a general rule, a three unit course should have four to six SLOs; there, however, are always exceptions, so the best way to determine the correct number of SLOs for your particular course is to write a tentative set of SLOs that you believe identify what students should know or be able to do when they complete the course, and align those SLOs with the course outline.

The SLOs and Course Outline have a very close relationship; indeed, they are the flip sides of the same coin. In particular, the course objectives portion of the course outline identifies the specific knowledge and skills that are to be taught in the course, whereas the SLOs identify a broader set of concepts and/or skills students should know or be able to perform when they complete the course.

The Philosophy Department recently developed SLOs for Philosophy 103, “Critical Thinking” and aligned them to the course outline. Their experience provides an excellent case study for why and how to align SLOs to the course outline.

The process began with the Philosophy department developing a tentative set of SLOs:

  1. Students recognize the difference between arguments and non-arguments (explanations, descriptions, and reports);
  2. Students identify the conclusion of an argument;
  3. Students analyze and evaluate the support for the conclusion; and
  4. Students recognize the context and purpose of an argument.

The number of SLOs is certainly within the recommended range and the content of the SLOs seems to be comprehensive; nevertheless, the Philosophy faculty used the SLO-Course Outline Alignment Form to make sure that each course objective aligned with an SLO. They began by copying the four SLOs into the “Course SLOs” box at the top of the form:

 

 

Next, they reviewed the “Course Objectives” portion of the Course Outline:

 

And they copied each course objective into the “SLO-Course Outline Alignment Form”:

 

At last they began to check for the alignment of the course objectives with the SLOs. In doing so, they identified which course objectives aligned with which SLOs by placing an “X” in the corresponding box:

 

After working through the alignment process, the Philosophy department discovered that course objectives A through D and F and I aligned with at least one of the SLOs, but that course objectives E, G, and H did not. In reviewing the three unaligned course objectives, they discovered that they had a common thread and could be addressed by adding an additional SLO. 

They then recorded their findings in the “Analysis and If Necessary, Proposed Changes:” box at the bottom of the form.

 

Hence, after aligning SLOs with the Course Outline, the Philosophy Department discovered the Philosophy 103 needed not four SLOs, but five and those five are as follows:

  1. Students recognize the difference between and arguments and non-arguments (explanations, descriptions, and reports);
  2. Students identify the conclusion of an argument;
  3. Students identify and evaluate the support for the conclusion;
  4. Students recognize the context and purpose of an argument;
  5. Students produce written arguments that follow Standard English and documentation.

The number of SLOs that a course should have is not arbitrary. While the number generally ranges from four to six, the correct number of SLOs for a given course should be determined by aligning the proposed course SLOs to the Course Outline. In this way, the number of SLOs is not determined by an outside body but by the faculty who writes the course outlines and teaches the course.