At the course level, faculty create SLOs to explain to students and outside agencies what should be learned in a course. Faculty then use assessments to generate and collect information that can be used to evaluate their courses, with the overall goal of improving educational quality and student learning.

The SLOs for a course represent the learning expectations for the course. Knowing the learning outcomes can give students an idea as to what faculty believe is crucial for student learning in that course. As such, it is recommended that students find out what each course’s SLOs are and consider how best to approach the course.

Students can locate a course’s SLOs by reading the course syllabus, by asking their instructors, or by checking the course outline website.

The faculty who teach a course decide how to assess each SLO. Often faculty will use an assignment or a set of questions from quizzes or essays or exams that are already part of the course. SLO assessments are often given/taken on Canvas, and instructors will give students the necessary information to take the assessments at the right time.