Læringsutbyttebeskrivelser - Ansatt

Background and history

NOKUT is the national contact point for the National Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (NQF) and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). They offer information on the design and use of qualifications and learning outcome descriptions (nokut.no). See also regulations on NQF and EQF (lovdata.no).

Norway introduced the NQF in 2011 after a process involving several experts from the education sector and other relevant actors. The introduction of the NKR in Norway is a continuation of two important European processes in the field of education: the EQF process and the Bologna process. NOKUT has more information about the background and development of these processes:

The Bologna process
European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
Introduction and development of the qualification framework in Norway

What are learning outcomes and descriptions of competency?

A learning outcome is the knowledge, skills and ability to leverage those, as a result of a learning process.

Expected learning outcomes must be described on two levels:

Overall – for the entire education programme
Course level – for each part of the education that results in credits gained

Description of the learning outcome is the basis for assessment. Since assessments are linked to credits, measuring of achieved learning outcome will happen at the course level. The NQF defines generic learning outcomes for each level of education, in both Norwegian and English (nokut.no).

The categories

Expected learning outcomes for the study program must be described in the categories knowledge, skills and general competence. These are defined as follows:

Knowledge

understanding of facts, concepts, principles, procedures and theories within subjects, subject areas and/or professions.

Skills

ability to apply knowledge to solve problems and tasks. There are different types of skills – cognitive, practical, creative and communicative skills.

General competence

to be able to apply knowledge and skills independently in various situations by showing cooperation, responsibility, ability to reflect and critical thinking in studies and profession.

The connections between the various levels and generic competences are made visible in a table with the generic learning outcome descriptions for the different levels. Descriptions in Norwegian. Descriptions in English.

Why learning outcomes?

The qualifications framework is meant to help shift the focus from teaching to learning – from learning input to learning outcome.

Instead of describing learning activities and how the students learning will take place, the students' achieved competence should be put at the centre. It can be useful to imagine employers as the target group. They are often not concerned with which tasks or activities the students have completed in their education, but which problems and tasks they can apply their skills to solve.

Well defined levels and progression between levels

The introduction of the framework was not intended to change the relative competence levels of the educations and the students/candidates. The descriptions are tools geared at making the differences and connections between the levels clearer and easier to understand. The generic descriptions in the framework contain a number of word combinations, particularly verb constructions, which have specific meanings within the framework. An example of this is the first generic description of knowledge. In NKR, "broad knowledge", "advanced knowledge" and "at the forefront of knowledge" indicate specific levels, e.g. bachelor's, master's and PhD. Seen from the perspective of someone who teaches at university level, one would often think of the bachelor's level as basic. Within the framework, the concept of "basic knowledge" has a different definition, namely the level of knowledge expected of someone who has finished primary education. In bachelor's education, it might be advisable to instead formulate that the students gain "knowledge of basic [topic]".

Pedagogical tool

The learning outcome descriptions are part of the agreement between the institution, the lecturers and the students. The descriptions should clarify expectations for both the staff and the students. Clear descriptions, that students and lecturers know, combined with forms of assessment that are suitable for assessing whether the competence has been achieved, should help prevent unwanted surprises for the students during their education.

Using learning outcome descriptions actively in assignment texts, can be a tool for alignment. This can make the assignment description itself an opportunity to clarify to the students what the broader purpose of the assignment is. It is also an opportunity to activate student reflection on what, how and why they learn something. It can help the students to assess which parts of the learning outcome are relevant for the task in question, and to consider how they best demonstrate achieved competence through the task.

Rules of thumb for design and assessment

Write in plain language

Learning outcome descriptions that are written in clear and active language will communicate well. Good learning outcome descriptions are specific enough to make it possible for people outside the field to differentiate between educations, and to get insight into how the skills can be used in other fields. As the competence in courses should lead to the intended competence achieved through the programme, competence descriptions at the course level must be somewhat more specific than the descriptions that cover the entire education. The descriptions should balance being specific enough that they become useful tools and clearly stating what the students are to achieve, while not being so specific that it hinders updating the content and activities over time as subjects and teaching methods develops.

Structure

A description of learning outcomes should be clearly divided into knowledge, skills and general competence. Consider whether the competence descriptions are placed in the right category, using the category descriptions as a test. E.g. is a bullet point both about understanding theories and being able to collaborate with others? In that case, it may be useful to split the point up and place parts under knowledge and something under general competence.

Level

The description of acquired competence for a programme must be aligned with the intended level in NQF.

The learning outcome description should be "best fit", i.e. overall the learning outcome must be at level 6, 7 or 8. Parts of the description can come from a higher or lower level, depending on the profile of the education, the prior knowledge of the students and other considerations. The bulk of the programme description must be connected to the right level. There is an expectation that if a programme goes beyond the predefined levels, there should be some reasoning justifying how students can get to a higher level within the programme, or why it is necessary to give students competence that usually belongs at the level below.

Written as a competence description

Expected learning outcomes must be a description of what the candidate knows and is able to do as a result of a learning process.

The outcomes should not describe

competence that not all students in the programme are expected to achieve
required coursework
compulsory activities
competence acquired outside the framework of the education

Both at course and study programme level, the form must be quite similar - the students/candidates must have knowledge at a level within a subject area, they must be able to use knowledge to solve problems, and through knowledge and skills they must be able to convey knowledge and so on. It is not necessary to repeat competence that student's have achieved in previous levels of their education. Competence from activities that are not part of the education is not to be included in the description.

Academic content/profile

The learning outcome descriptions should communicate well with students, teachers, the professional field and other educational institutions. It is not a goal that someone who has no knowledge of the subject area should understand all parts of the learning outcome, but it is an advantage for the students if the description also helps to show how the competence they gain can be useful outside the specific subject area. It should be an aim for descriptions to be meaningful both for professionals in the subject area and with students who have not yet been socialized into the knowledge community.

They must provide insight into the academic content and profile of the education, and contribute to an understanding of what distinguishes study programmes both in terms of level and academic content.

The description should be specific and clearly connected to the subject. What is included should have a clear meaning and function. While it is important to have specific and clear descriptions, they must not be so specific and inflexible that any change in the study programme will cause a need for change in the learning outcome.

Distribution of competence descriptions between courses

In most subjects, there will be a varying distribution of knowledge, skills and general competence. Some courses are mostly intended to give students a knowledge base on which to build in other courses. Other courses are designed to provide skills and training in using methods and techniques. Some are designed to give students training and competence in interdisciplinary collaboration. Through the qualifications framework, the ministry expresses a number of expectations for what Norwegian education at various levels should contain. In order to create and offer well-rounded education, and thus meet these expectations, it is a prerequisite that courses are structured so that they in total lead to an overall learning outcome. It is however not required that each individual course contains all elements.

The composition of the subjects must together lead to the overall learning outcome. If it is described that a study program gives the students a specific competence, the competence must also be found among the subjects in the programme.

Competence descriptions, learning and assessment

The competence descriptions at course level should be suited for assessing acquired competence, and the learning and assessment forms should have a clear connection with the competence descriptions.

It is therefore necessary to ensure that the course descriptions clearly convey the essentials of the course, and that the learning methods are suitable for providing this competence. During and at the end of a course, the assessment forms must make it possible to assess whether students have achieved the expected competence. The choice of teaching method is important for what the students perceive as important in the subject, and the form of assessment must be relevant and in alignment with how the students have learned.