Creating Outcomes
To begin creating an outcome, a user would click the "Create Outcomes" link for that organization from the Organizational dashboard on their homepage. (Note: If outcomes already exist, this text will be replaced with the current number of outcomes, which would also be clicked in this step.)
Note: Administrators may not have this particular access point. In this case, enter the Organization Management module, and select the name of the required Organization.
This will present the Information tab of the Organization Profile, with the Outcomes category at center screen. To begin creating outcomes, click the Manage Outcomes button.
At the top of the following screen, there are two tabs that can be used to toggle between Learning Outcomes and Success Outcomes.
Learning Outcomes are those that are intended to articulate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions attained by students through learning and/or co-curricular activities. Success Outcomes articulate other indicators of student success that are not directly tied to mastery of learning.
*For more information on the differences between Learning Outcomes and Success Outcomes, please see the resource linked Learning Outcomes vs Success Outcomes.
To enter an outcome from this page, click the Create New Outcome button.
This will open the following window with fields to enter outcome information:
The fields are as follows:
- Outcome Title: Required; 70 character limit
- Outcome Description: Optional; 1000 character limit
- Tags: Optional; 30 character limit
The Outcome Title is intended to be a concise descriptor of the outcome, suitable for display in various reports and dashboards. Further elaboration can be provided via the Outcome Description panel. Tags are referenced in several Outcome reports, so that you can filter Outcome lists by all those that correspond to the "Create" tag, as an example.
Custom Tags can also be added for the organization to use. To do so, first type directly into the tags field and enter a title for your custom tag with a 30 character maximum, then click Add “[CUSTOM TAG TITLE]”
Up to 5 Tags can be added to a single outcome.
In this example, the pre-loaded Tag "Create" has already been selected, and the Custom Tag "Communication" is about to be added to the outcome.
When all Outcome content has been added, click the Create button to save changes.
Editing an Existing Outcome Set
To edit an organization’s existing outcome set from the home page, click the number next to Outcomes for that organization.
This will present the Information tab of the Organization Profile, with the Outcomes category at center screen. To begin editing outcomes, select the Manage Outcomes button.
At the top of the following screen, there are two tabs that can be used to toggle between Learning Outcomes and Success Outcomes.
Select the appropriate set to begin making necessary edits, as outlined below.
Editing the Outcome Set Title
By default, every set of outcomes has a pre-populated title that follows the convention of “ORGANIZATION NAME Learning Outcomes” or “ORGANIZATION NAME Success Outcomes”. This title may be renamed this title by clicking the pencil icon to the right of it.
This will open a window with a text field with a 210 maximum character count that can be used to edit the name of the outcome set. Click either Update to save your changes or Cancel to undo you any changes you made.
Moving Outcomes Up/Down
Outcomes can be rearranged on this list by clicking the Up and Down arrows to the right on an outcome name.
Edit an Outcome
Edits that are made to an outcome are processed in ALL areas where the outcome appears - including Plans from previous academic cycles.
Therefore, the Edit function should be used to make minor changes or those that would need to corrected in all areas, such as a typo.
To make such an edit to an existing outcome, locate that outcome in this list, click the menu button to the right of it, and select Edit.
This will open the outcome editing page, where you can update the Outcome Title, Outcome Description, and Tags. When finished, click Update to save.
Revising an Outcome
Revisions to an outcome are connected to an Effective Reporting Year. Therefore, Revisions do not affect how the outcomes appear in past Plans.
To make a Revision, click the menu button to the right of the outcome, and select Revise.
A new panel will open on the right side of your screen with fields to enter information about your revised outcome. The first field to fill out is Effective Academic Year, a drop-down menu to select the year when your revised outcome goes into effect.
The following fields allow revision to the Outcome Title, Outcome Description, and Tags. Text may also optionally be entered in the Notes field, to document any additional context. Select "Create Revision" at the bottom of the panel to save.
Once a Revision is made, previous versions are stored in the Outcome History.
This will open a panel on the right side of the screen which shows a full history of the outcome's versions. The most current revision of an outcome is labeled as such.
A previous version of an outcome can be restored by selecting that version, then clicking Restore Revision. On the following page that opens, identify an Effective Academic Year for the restored mission statement, add optional Notes to provide additional context, then click the Restore button.
Archiving an Outcome
To retire an outcome from future use, click the menu button to the right of that outcome and select the Archive option. When an outcome is archived, it will be removed from this outcome set and users will no longer be able to add it to any assessment Plans, but data associated with that outcome for previous Completed Plans will be preserved.
Once an outcome is archived, a new category for archived outcomes will be created. Archived outcomes can be referenced here, and can also be restored into use if needed.
To restore an outcome from the Archive, expand the Archive category, locate the intended outcome, and select the Restore icon to the right.
Instances of the outcome being archived and restored will be tracked in the outcome history.