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Administrator Documentation

Child Item

Create, manage, and import learning outcomes

Create outcome sets and learning outcomes

At the organization level, outcomes are organized into outcome sets, which can be reused across multiple courses. Create an outcome set by importing outcomes from the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), importing outcomes from a CSV file, or by manually creating custom outcomes. You can also create and assign an achievement scale to an outcome set. After you create an outcome set, you can import it into a course offering from the course-level Learning Outcomes tool.

You do not need to use organization-level outcome sets to use learning outcomes in your courses. If your organization chooses to use outcome sets, create them before creating org unit-level learning outcomes (My Learning Outcomes).

The Manage Content and Manage Outcome Sets permissions at the org level are required to create and manage outcome sets.

This is the paper note and pencil icon used for notes.

Note: The name of the Learning Outcomes tool and some menu items and links therein depend on the language term you have defined in the d2l.Languages.Terminology.LearningOutcomes configuration variable. Based on that setting, the Learning Outcomes link in Course Administration might be labeled Competencies, Expectations, Objectives, or Learning Standards In this topic, assume the configuration variable is set to Learning Outcomes.

To create an outcome set

Navigate to Admin Tools > Learning Outcomes.
From the Outcome Sets tab, click Create Outcome Set.
Enter the Outcome Set Name then click Save.
Do one of the following:
- Click Add Outcome to manually enter an outcome set level, then add a description for the outcome and click Save.
  - Optional: You can also add a Short Code to make identifying your outcome easier.
- Click Import > Import from Achievement Standards Network.
  - Select filters for Jurisdiction, Subject, Framework, and Education Level as appropriate.
  - Select a standard from the Available Outcomes list, then click Import Selected Outcomes.
- Click Import > Import from File.
  - Click Select a CSV file to import and browse to the location of your custom CSV.
  - Select the CSV file and click Open, then click Import.
    For more information about CSV standards files, refer to Create a custom CSV file to import.
If you want to add a sub-outcome, edit the learning outcome, or delete the learning outcome, click the More Actions icon beside the learning outcome.
Optional: Add an achievement scale to your outcome set.
1. Click Achievement Scale, and then Add Scale.
2. Do one of the following:
- Select Create New then configure your scale and click Create.
- Select Existing and choose the scale you want to use then click Add Selected.

If you need to make changes to the scale, click the More Actions icon beside its name and then select Edit, Replace, or Remove.

Note: Only one achievement scale can be added to an outcome set. Multiple outcome sets can be assigned to a course, allowing you to use more than one achievement scale within a course. For more information, refer to Set up an Achievement Scale.

Click Close or Back to Outcome Sets when you are finished.

Outcome sets created in the Learning Outcomes tool are available to import into a course. If a learning outcome has an achievement scale attached, the achievement scale is imported with the learning outcome. Instructors can also create child outcomes from existing ASN outcomes or previously created course-authored outcomes.

Create a custom CSV file to import

To facilitate the bulk creation of outcomes at the outcome set or course-level in Brightspace, use the downloadable CSV template to create an input file. Replace the example data in the template with your own standards or learning outcomes, and then import the CSV file into Brightspace. You can access the same template file from both the organization-level Learning Outcomes tool and the course-level Learning Outcomes tool.

To create a new CSV file using the downloadable template:

When you are done creating the custom CSV file, you can import it into Brightspace to use as org or course-level learning outcomes.

Use ASN outcomes

Achievement Standards Network (ASN) outcomes are part of an outcome set that appears in the Outcome Achievement Dashboard. They can be aligned to assessable activities and used to assess against.

To enable ASN outcomes

Add ASN outcomes to your course:
- Configure an outcome set with ASN outcomes.
- From within your course, import from outcome set, or import in My Learning Outcomes.
Align ASN outcomes to assessable activities.
- Link ASN outcomes to assessable activities such as assignments, quizzes, or discussions. Ensure these activities are set up for assessment.
Assess the aligned activities.
- Complete assessments for activities linked to ASN outcomes. This ensures the outcomes appear in the Outcome Achievement Dashboard.

When these steps are completed, review the results in the Outcome Achievement Dashboard. ASN outcomes are now visible, and results for assessments within the current outcome set are reported.

Manage learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are added to courses from two sources:

Outcome sets: imported from ASN, CSV, or created at the org level and imported into a course.
Outcomes (My Learning Outcomes): custom outcomes created directly within a course.

Outcomes and outcome sets are linked to their source by default when they are added to another course. The source remains the only editable version. Any changes made to the source are automatically reflected in all linked outcomes and outcome sets. After an outcome is unlinked, it becomes an independent version and no longer receives updates from the source.

Only course-authored outcomes (My Learning Outcomes) can be copied between course offerings and unlinked to break the connection with the source. Imported outcome sets remain linked to the org level and cannot be unlinked. Outcomes imported from the ASN cannot be edited.

Copy outcomes between courses

When a course-authored outcome is copied from one course offering to another, the copy remains linked to the source course by default and inherits future changes made to the source.

When you copy learning outcomes, all related aspects of the learning outcomes are also copied, including:

Assignments, discussions, quiz questions, and rubrics
Alignments to content topics
Locally authored outcomes
imported outcomes from programs or ASN

To edit a copied outcome in the target course, unlink it from the source. After the outcome is unlinked, it becomes an independent version and no longer receives updates from the source. Unlinking is useful when you are updating a master course shell or building a new course based on an existing one with similar but not identical outcomes.

To copy an outcome

From the course navbar, navigate to Course Admin > Import / Export / Copy Components.
Select Copy Components from another Org Unit then click Search for Offering and locate a course with existing learning outcomes.
Select the radio button next to the course name and click Add Selected.
Click Select Components.
Select the Learning Outcomes check box and click Continue.
Confirm the components to copy and click Finish.
When the import completes, click View Content.
Click Outcomes to view your learning outcomes and their alignment to content units.

To unlink a copied outcome

Navigate to the target course and do one of the following:
- Click Course Admin > Learning Outcomes.
- Click Content > Outcomes, and then click Manage Outcomes.
Locate the outcome you want to unlink.
Open the More Actions menu for the outcome, and then select Unlink from source.

Course Outcomes page with Unlink From Source menu option highlighted for a learning outcome

Outcome status icons

Icons in the Learning Outcomes tool indicate the following:

Copy icon : the outcome is linked to another via copy.
Lock icon : the outcome or outcome set cannot be edited.

If you hover over an icon, the tool tip will describe the linkage. Downstream linked copies cannot be edited until they have been unlinked from their source. If you edit a source outcome, a warning is displayed to remind you that any changes will affect all copies.

Delete outcomes

To delete an outcome set

Navigate to Admin tools > Learning Outcomes.
Locate the outcome you want to delete and click the more actions (...) icon and then select Delete.
On the confirm dialog, click Delete.
Note: You cannot delete an outcome set if its outcomes are being used in courses. Remove the outcomes from all courses before you delete the outcome set.

To remove an outcome

Navigate to your course and do one of the following:
- Click Course Admin > Learning Outcomes.
- Click Content > Outcomes, and then click Manage Outcomes.
Locate the outcome you want to delete and click the more actions (...) icon and then select Remove.
One of the following messages may appear:
- If the outcome is linked to a deleted activity: A warning indicates that the outcome is associated with a deleted assignment, discussion, or quiz. Click Close and remove the associations before you remove the outcome.
- If the outcome has no linked assessments: a message appears to confirm the deletion. Click Remove to proceed.

Copy behavior and considerations

Learning outcomes can be copied using Copy Course Bulk (CCB), to copy into multiple course offerings in a batch process. CCB can copy from a master course into a large set of course offerings.
Copying activity-to-outcome alignments only requires the Manage Content permission.
Alignments copy automatically when activities are copied into new courses if both the aligned outcomes and the activities are copied at the same time.
Achievement Scales and Mastery View settings are included when using the Outcomes component to copy content to single courses with the Import/Export/Copy functionality.
- These settings are included when using CCB batch copy scripts to bulk copy outcomes.
- When copying to existing courses, these settings do not overwrite any non-default options that have been set.
Copying outcomes into a course overwrites any existing required outcomes in that course.

Importing and exporting learning outcomes

If you export a course containing outcomes from ASN to a Brightspace format course package, then those ASN outcomes and their respective outcome alignments are exported with the course package and imported into another Brightspace instance. Non-aligned outcomes are not imported; the import rules apply only to aligned activities. ASN outcomes automatically appear in the course intent list of the destination course; however, you must manually re-add any desired course-authored outcomes to the course intent list.

Note: Currently, course-authored outcomes are not available for export or import with a course package. These features are scheduled for a future release.

Summary of copy, import, and export expected behaviors

The following table describes the behavior when outcome objects are copied, imported, or exported.

Item	Copy between courses in the same Brightspace environment	Export in a Brightspace course package	Import from a Brightspace course package
Outcome objects imported from ASN	Fully copied and visible in the target course	Exported	Supported, automatically available in the intent list for the target course.
Outcome objects imported from Outcome sets	Fully copied and visible in the target course	Exported	Must be manually re-imported (re-selected) in the target course.
Outcome objects locally created in the course	Fully copied and visible in the target course	Not yet supported	Not yet supported

The following table describes the behavior when outcome objects aligned to specific tools function are copied, imported, or exported

Tool the outcome object is aligned to	Copy between courses in the same Brightspace environment	Export in a Brightspace course package	Import from a Brightspace course package
Assignments	Fully copied and visible in the target course	Exported	Imported and visible after the outcomes have been added to the course
Discussions	Fully copied and visible in the target course	Exported	Imported and visible after the outcomes have been added to the course
Quiz questions	Fully copied and visible in the target course	ASN Outcome alignments are only exported. No user-authored outcomes are exported	Imported and visible after the ASN outcomes have been added to the course.
Rubrics	Fully copied and visible in the target course	Exported	Imported and visible after the outcomes have been added to the course
Content topics	Fully copied and visible in the target course	Exported	Imported and visible after the outcomes have been added to the course

Import outcome alignments using Bulk Course Create (BCC)

If the Learning Outcomes tool is enabled in Brightspace, and the LOReS microservice is available in your region, the BCC process can create courses that contain outcome alignments. The template course being used must include outcome alignments for this to occur. If you want to edit the outcome alignments in the target course, the outcomes must be unlinked, either individually, or in bulk.

Note: Bulk Course Create functionality is available to copy ASN imported outcomes, Program-level outcome alignments, and course-level outcome alignments.

Export outcome alignments using Bulk Course Export (BCE)

If the Learning Outcomes tool is enabled in Brightspace, and the LOReS microservice is available in your region, the BCE process can include outcome alignments metadata in course packages for ASN outcomes only. If curriculum outcomes metadata exists in the course being exported, there is no option to exclude the information from the export package.

Note: Bulk Course Export functionality is available to export outcomes imported from the Achievement Standard Network (ASN).

Use learning outcomes in your course

Before you can use learning outcomes in quizzes, assignments, and discussions, ensure that the following prerequisites are met:

Learning outcomes are enabled in the course where the quiz resides.
At least one learning outcome has been added using the ASN or manually created in the course.
An achievement scale has been created in the organization and set as the default scale.

For more information about associating learning outcomes with activities, refer to: Align learning outcomes to course content and activities and Associate course content with learning outcomes.