Adding and adjusting settings for outcomes
You add outcomes with a button in the Canvas course menu, where you enter name, description, criterion ratings, mastery and calculation method. You can also add outcomes through .csv files or by importing an account standard.
Setting up outcomes will take some initial work, but when you have added the outcomes for a course, you can re-use them within and between course offerings.
Setting up outcomes
From the Outcomes option in the Canvas course menu, select the "+ Outcome" button to add your intended learning outcome as a Canvas outcome.
The outcome will need
- a name
- a description
- criterion ratings
- mastery
- calculation method.
Name
Give the outcome a name. It is practical to have a short name, so it is quick to identify, for both you and your students.
The outcomes will appear alphabetically in the "Learning Mastery Gradebook". You can add a number at the start of the name if you have a preferred order.
Description
Use the description to clarify the levels of the outcome. Add, for example, the complete intended learning outcome, and the required competence for each level.
Criterion ratings
Criterion ratings are what can best be tied to each level of your outcomes-based grading criteria and are based on how well a student has mastered the outcome. At KTH it can mean that the student has mastered the outcome at the level of E, C or A. With "Insert", you can add more levels.
Edit the name of the different criterion ratings so that they align with your outcomes-based grading criteria and decide how many points each level is worth. You will need to set points for each level, but you can use the outcome without its point system when you align it to an assignment.
Mastery
Mastery means a mastered outcome, which can be compared to an intended learning outcome that has been met. This point is only used locally within the outcome, and can be set to the same point as the passing level in "Criterion ratings".
Calculation method
The calculation method is used to calculate the total level that a student has achieved for the outcome. With the option "Most recent score" for example, only the latest assessment of the outcome is taken into account. If, for example, the student has met the objectives of the outcome with an assignment early in the course, but has not met the objectives at a later point, the outcome will be seen as not mastered.
There are four available calculation methods:
- Decaying Average
- n Number of Times
- Most Recent Score
- Highest score.
The calculation method that works best for the structure at most KTH courses is "Highest score". Please read the explanation by each alternative to find the one that works best for you.
Save the outcome and add the rest of the outcomes for your course in the same way.
Other ways to add outcomes
You can also add outcomes by
- importing an outcome from a .csv file, see the guide How do I import outcomes for a course? (community.canvaslms.com)
- finding one from account standards that your school can set up, see the guide How do I create an outcome for an account? (community.canvaslms.com) .
Overview page for an outcome
When you have aligned your outcomes to assignments, you can see the assignments that are aligned to each outcome by clicking on the name of the outcome from the Outcome list. Here you can also see a summary of how different students have performed after you’ve used outcomes to assess assignments.