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Lesson 2: Understanding Alignment and Assessment

Psychology 101: Example Course Alignment

Sample learning outcomes

By the end of this course students should be able to

  • Compare and contrast psychological, biological, social and cultural influences on human behaviour. 
  • Describe psychological principles that govern human behaviour. 
  • Apply psychological principles to everyday life to recognize true and false psychological claims. 
  • Design and evaluate a psychological research project using existing data. 

PSYC 101 Example Alignment Chart

The following is an example of how the alignment chart works with assessments in PSYC 101.

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Student Assessment Checklist

Use the following checklist to review your assessment and alignment plan. 

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Additional resources

Constructive alignment is a powerful principle for educational design. It helps to design courses, curricula, and helps to make decisions on course activities and materials. Further, it can be used to explain the relationship between the course activities and assessment. Thus, whenever your students ask: "do we get this in the exam?" you can give them the answer based on the alignment of your course. Constructive alignment is coined by Biggs and Tang (2011).

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We hear about alignment in many areas of our lives. Our bodies. Our tires. The stars. But what about our courses? Is your course in alignment? Read more in this blog article from author, Meredith Singleton.

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References:

Biggs, J (2015). Constructive alignment in university teaching. HERDSA Review of Higher Education, 1, 5 – 22. 

Blumberg, P. (2009). Maximizing Learning Through Course Alignment and Experience with Different Types of Knowledge. Innovative Higher Education, 34, 93–103. 

Lizzio, A., Wilson, K., & Simons, R. (2002). University students' perceptions of the learning environment and academic outcomes: implications for theory and practice. Studies in Higher education, 27(1), 27-52. 

McAlpine, L. (2004). Designing learning as well as teaching. A research-based model for instruction that emphasizes learner practice. Active Learning in Higher Education, 5(2), 119-134 

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Lesson checklist

  • Review and/or write learning outcomes for your course

  • Select appropriate assessment strategies that are aligned to the course learning outcomes

  • Create an assessment and alignment plan

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