I've had a quick rummage through but I cannot find anywere a user can view their progress with respect to the new outcomes across the site, or would this have to be a new 'report'?
Also, is there anywhere they can actually see the description of an outcome, at the moment I can only see the long or short names of the outcome.
Can someone enlighten me please?
Dave
I'm currently writing some user docs (they will be here: http://docs.moodle.org/en/Outcomes)
Basically what we've implemented is to connect "outcome statements" with scales, and to connect those to courses and activities so that you can grade activities using the scale against that outcome statement.
So for example a (site-wide) outcome statement might be:
and the scale might be:
and you might connect this to the final assignment for your course (along with other outcomes) so that you can grade everyone's assignment using that scale.
The current outcomes report shows average results across the course, so that you can determine weak areas among your students, or see outcomes that you forgot to address in your course!
We also have the concept of a "passing grade" for each item (column) in the gradebook. So a passing grade could be set for each item, but all this currently does is color the grades differently in that column. It's not yet linked to any concept of "completion" (that comes in 2.0).
What I think you are talking about is the notion of competency, which says that "yes, user X has proven they are competent in outcome Y". This is not yet implemented, though with 1.9 we have all the tools to make that final leap.
Yes, this could be done in a new report but we probably need some other stuff. Teachers/Admins would need to find some way to define exactly how to aggregate the multiple outcomes (because an outcome could be attached to several activities that are perhaps spread across multiple courses) into a final result. We also need to decide exactly how to connect outcomes to users (is that list just the sum of the outcomes used in the courses you are already enrolled in or is it something else?)
I was hoping that once 1.9 is settled down that you (the community) will help us come up with those sorts of things.
Basically what we've implemented is to connect "outcome statements" with scales, and to connect those to courses and activities so that you can grade activities using the scale against that outcome statement.
So for example a (site-wide) outcome statement might be:
"is able to correctly reference sources found on the web"
and the scale might be:
Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Usually, Always
and you might connect this to the final assignment for your course (along with other outcomes) so that you can grade everyone's assignment using that scale.
The current outcomes report shows average results across the course, so that you can determine weak areas among your students, or see outcomes that you forgot to address in your course!
We also have the concept of a "passing grade" for each item (column) in the gradebook. So a passing grade could be set for each item, but all this currently does is color the grades differently in that column. It's not yet linked to any concept of "completion" (that comes in 2.0).
What I think you are talking about is the notion of competency, which says that "yes, user X has proven they are competent in outcome Y". This is not yet implemented, though with 1.9 we have all the tools to make that final leap.
Yes, this could be done in a new report but we probably need some other stuff. Teachers/Admins would need to find some way to define exactly how to aggregate the multiple outcomes (because an outcome could be attached to several activities that are perhaps spread across multiple courses) into a final result. We also need to decide exactly how to connect outcomes to users (is that list just the sum of the outcomes used in the courses you are already enrolled in or is it something else?)
I was hoping that once 1.9 is settled down that you (the community) will help us come up with those sorts of things.
- Created Standard Outcome x
- Created Standard Scale y and attached y to x
- On course level created Custom Outcome z and attached to him Standard Scale y
- By editing y changed it to Custom Scale y .
- Standard Scale y doesn’t appear in Standard Scales list (site level) now and disappeared from the Standard Outcome x he was attached to, before changing y from Standard Scale to Custom Scale.
So the situation is, that from some course, now admin can delete Standard Scale (by changing him to Custom Scale and to damage Standard Outcomes that used this Scale) without getting any notification on it.
I will appreciate explanation how the Outcome intended to work ,it will easier us to test this featrure.
I have been spending some quality time with 1.9 today. Outcome support looks great. I am glad we can tag non-graded items with outcomes that will allow some really useful applications down the road and makes the implementation a lot more robust.
One thing I did notice that might be missing is we can't apply outcomes to individual quiz questions. This could be really handy for encouraging site wide sharing of test banks. For example, perhaps a quiz generation tool that lets an instructor pick a list of outcomes to cover and then gets an auto-generated quiz, perhaps with some input on # of questions per outcome, question types, etc.
On the flip side I can see how just being able to mark the outcomes in the quiz setup screen is simple and useful as well, it would be nice to also have the option in individual questions.
One thing I did notice that might be missing is we can't apply outcomes to individual quiz questions. This could be really handy for encouraging site wide sharing of test banks. For example, perhaps a quiz generation tool that lets an instructor pick a list of outcomes to cover and then gets an auto-generated quiz, perhaps with some input on # of questions per outcome, question types, etc.
On the flip side I can see how just being able to mark the outcomes in the quiz setup screen is simple and useful as well, it would be nice to also have the option in individual questions.
I (Moodle quiz maintainer) am aware that there are really cool possibilities in this area for things that could be done in the future. Unfortunately, I have lots of other things higher up my todo list at the moment. However, that does not prevent other people from experimenting with the possibilities.
Thanks for the follow up Tim. Good to know you are aware of it.
Am I correct in understanding that outcomes can only applied to activities, not resources?
It might be useful to also apply them to resources as well. Right now, it seems outcomes are only applied to the activities that measure whether the user achieved that outcome, but not the resources that helped them to attain that outcome. For example, a resource explaining how to correctly reference sources found on the web might be associated with that outcome.
It might be useful to also apply them to resources as well. Right now, it seems outcomes are only applied to the activities that measure whether the user achieved that outcome, but not the resources that helped them to attain that outcome. For example, a resource explaining how to correctly reference sources found on the web might be associated with that outcome.
I believe that whoever is in charge of assessment and evaluation at the institutional (academics) level would use the results (i.e. excellent, good, fair, poor, unsatisfactory) as evidence that the educational intervention (learning object aka resource) is effective or not.
If one associates a resource to an activity (e.g. learning from a book with reading materials : students respond by taking a quiz), raw quiz scores may be an indicator of the quality of the book (and its explanation(s)). If there is a book, and a forum, the outcomes can be a little more qualitative (a instructor creates the scale based upon a rubric, with or without point values) and 'grades' the student performance. When exported (I haven't had the chance to do this yet, but will soon), the outcomes data on the resource-learning assessment should provide some indicators of resource quality. [I hope that this is clear
]
Using outcomes will help a lot of instructors in assessing the quality of their instructional design. I am sure that accreditors will be happy abut this!
Tim
If one associates a resource to an activity (e.g. learning from a book with reading materials : students respond by taking a quiz), raw quiz scores may be an indicator of the quality of the book (and its explanation(s)). If there is a book, and a forum, the outcomes can be a little more qualitative (a instructor creates the scale based upon a rubric, with or without point values) and 'grades' the student performance. When exported (I haven't had the chance to do this yet, but will soon), the outcomes data on the resource-learning assessment should provide some indicators of resource quality. [I hope that this is clear
]Using outcomes will help a lot of instructors in assessing the quality of their instructional design. I am sure that accreditors will be happy abut this!
Tim
I agree. It would be helpful for planning to be able to search for resources in course repositories that are tagged with outcomes and rating scales re: how well did the resource support students with particular characteristics to achieve the outcomes.
I see where Outcomes can be useful to accreditors/administrators who are tracking competencies, etc. But from an individual faculty standpoint it would be very useful to be able to allocate either total points for a given item or total weight e.g., 100%, across assigned item outcomes to generate an aggregate total score.
This makes sense for situations like the one I viewed on YouTube where the outcomes were criteria for an English paper, e.g., grammar, spelling, mistakes, etc.
Applying separate, non-aggregatable scales (such as the 1 - 6 used in the example) are only anecdotally useful to the faculty member as they mentally apportion points for individual outcomes and calculate the final, total grade.
How much better/more useful it would be if the total score for an item could be pre-apportioned across associated outcomes, so that the final, total score would be automatically aggregated, e.g., grammar 25/30 + spelling 28/30 + mistakes 22/40 = total aggregated item score of 75 for an item worth 100 points.
Best regards,
Lane Grann-Stahl
Charlotte, NC
Is there a way of reporting on coverage of outcomes in a particular course? That is to day that some activity or other actually includes all the outcomes for the course, at least once.
I'm a relatively new Moodle user, and I really like the Outcomes feature.
Another option I would love to see in future development would be the ability to set course category outcomes. That would allow for 1) institutional outcomes; 2) department or program outcomes; and 3) course outcomes. Ideally the teacher at the course level would be able to select from institutional and program outcomes, and could also create course-level outcomes.
If anyone knows of a way of accomplishing the same thing by other means, I would like to hear about it.
Thanks.
Another option I would love to see in future development would be the ability to set course category outcomes. That would allow for 1) institutional outcomes; 2) department or program outcomes; and 3) course outcomes. Ideally the teacher at the course level would be able to select from institutional and program outcomes, and could also create course-level outcomes.
If anyone knows of a way of accomplishing the same thing by other means, I would like to hear about it.
Thanks.
Ideally, we would to report individual outcome results to students in a separate table.
Currently, students can see their their outcomes in the grade report, but they appear in the same table--making it seem as if the outcome were not an outcome, but an assignment in itself. On the other hand, on the "assignment/view" page, the student does not see their results for the assignment outcomes at all, which is a bit more troubling since they are more likely to look at that page (this is the page that their assignment email alert links to).
Is there any way to change this?
Currently, students can see their their outcomes in the grade report, but they appear in the same table--making it seem as if the outcome were not an outcome, but an assignment in itself. On the other hand, on the "assignment/view" page, the student does not see their results for the assignment outcomes at all, which is a bit more troubling since they are more likely to look at that page (this is the page that their assignment email alert links to).
Is there any way to change this?
Hi Dave et al,
Sorry this is off tack but we're having a basic problems identifying how students view their outcomes for an assignment. They're just seeing the teacher comments and a dash where the grade would be, if we were using grades (which we're not). Seems pretty fundamental. Am I missing something? Please help!
Sorry this is off tack but we're having a basic problems identifying how students view their outcomes for an assignment. They're just seeing the teacher comments and a dash where the grade would be, if we were using grades (which we're not). Seems pretty fundamental. Am I missing something? Please help!
Hi Sam,
from what I have read I think a report has to be created (and I've not written or seen one yet) that will show the outcomes.
In the meantime have you seen Mark Tyers block which displays progress through outcomes at http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=101953 ?
from what I have read I think a report has to be created (and I've not written or seen one yet) that will show the outcomes.
In the meantime have you seen Mark Tyers block which displays progress through outcomes at http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=101953 ?
Thanks David,
Mark's block looks like exactly what we need but this is our first year of Moodle (shifted from Blackboard) so we're keeping it simple this year; we'll def look at it in time for for next yr.
It just seems strange students can't see their outcomes by default, on the page where they get their feedback/ grade.
We're looking at the latest update to see if they're included in that. If not, we'll have to customise methinks.
Since three years I am working on a module called 'referentiel' (that is 'repository' in english) which aims to give students competencies certification by the way of declarative activities and task.
http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=13&rid=2488&filter=1
Competencies are organised as a tree :
A pository is :
-> a List of Domains
-> a Domain is a list of Competencies
-> a Competency is a list of Items (that is Moodle Outcomes)
Students declare activities and point out competencies they want to be validated.
Teachers validate declarations an decern certificate based on that pository.
Recently I have integrated Outcomes in the Referentiel module...
If your site enables Outcomes (also known as Competencies, Goals, Standards or Criteria), you can now export a list of Outcomes from referentiel module, then grade things using that scale (forum, database, assigments, etc.) throughout the site. These grades will be automatically integrated in Referentiel module and contribute to certification.
Students can follow how near of the targeted certification they are at any moment..
It is a non standard module used mainly in French community moodlers, for graduates and undergraduates, in university, public school, colleges, K9 even.
French and english language are supported (welcome to fluent english translators --
).
I would be very glad to have some non french users
http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=13&rid=2488&filter=1
Competencies are organised as a tree :
A pository is :
-> a List of Domains
-> a Domain is a list of Competencies
-> a Competency is a list of Items (that is Moodle Outcomes)
Students declare activities and point out competencies they want to be validated.
Teachers validate declarations an decern certificate based on that pository.
Recently I have integrated Outcomes in the Referentiel module...
If your site enables Outcomes (also known as Competencies, Goals, Standards or Criteria), you can now export a list of Outcomes from referentiel module, then grade things using that scale (forum, database, assigments, etc.) throughout the site. These grades will be automatically integrated in Referentiel module and contribute to certification.
Students can follow how near of the targeted certification they are at any moment..
It is a non standard module used mainly in French community moodlers, for graduates and undergraduates, in university, public school, colleges, K9 even.
French and english language are supported (welcome to fluent english translators --
I would be very glad to have some non french users
I've created several outcomes at a site level but need to change the scale used in one of them. It doesn't seem to allow this to be changed and I can't find where to delete the outcome so I can create a new one with the scale required ... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Chris, you probably already used that outcome in some course activity. Try find that activity and "un-assign" the outcome from it. Then you should be able to edit the outcome.
Thanks Elena, found it had been used in a 'sandpit' course, ok now
I too am having trouble changing the scale attached to an outcome.
I tried the fix suggested here (remove the outcomes from anything that used them) but it didn't solve the problem for me,
This may be because my outcomes are defined at a class level, not at the site level.
Or maybe I removed the outcomes from the relevant assignemnts wrongly? The only way I could find to do this was to go into the gradebook and disconnect the outcomes from the assignments. This worked - they no longer show up in the assignments, but they are still in the gradebook, and Moodle still won't let me edit or delete them.
Any suggestions?
I tried the fix suggested here (remove the outcomes from anything that used them) but it didn't solve the problem for me,
This may be because my outcomes are defined at a class level, not at the site level.
Or maybe I removed the outcomes from the relevant assignemnts wrongly? The only way I could find to do this was to go into the gradebook and disconnect the outcomes from the assignments. This worked - they no longer show up in the assignments, but they are still in the gradebook, and Moodle still won't let me edit or delete them.
Any suggestions?
I've figured this out myself.
You cannot initially remove an outcome from the gradebook - you can only disconnect it from the particular piece of assessment.
But once it is disconnected, it is then possible to delete it.
Only once this is done will you be able to edit the outcomes and scales.
You cannot initially remove an outcome from the gradebook - you can only disconnect it from the particular piece of assessment.
But once it is disconnected, it is then possible to delete it.
Only once this is done will you be able to edit the outcomes and scales.
Hello Paul,
I have the same problem that you experienced here.
How did you managed to delete the an outcome? I have managed to disconnect it but it still shows in the gradebook.
Many thanks.
I have the same problem that you experienced here.
How did you managed to delete the an outcome? I have managed to disconnect it but it still shows in the gradebook.
Many thanks.
I recently turned on the outcomes feature and many of our faculty have jumped right in and love the function. However, now that they are using it, I have been asked if they can aggregate outcomes over similar courses or full programs, and can they disaggregate the outcomes based on demographics (or other metadata). I have found several forums that start this discussion, but cannot find any that resolved it. Has anyone figured out how to aggregate or disaggregate outcomes data? Or written a module or plugin to add that capability?
Hello Terry,
Did you ever find a solution for this? We are looking to have a report run which scans all courses or courses in a category that shows us the:
Course / Student / Outcome / completion of Outcome / Avg Grade
We also want to be able to cron this and have it run and email via CSV to a few program directors, we are hosted by Moodlerooms and also run Joule 1.9, however we are look for a no-cost solution, if it exists.
Mike
Stevens Inst. of Tech.
I'm wondering if this is available in Moodle 2? I too would like access to an outcomes report on a system-wide level.