Alignment keeps reappearing in all sections of this site, because it is such a key element of learning design. The resources in this sections offer ideas about aligning activities with learning outcomes and assessments:
The table below shows a matrix developed at Open University in the UK; it examines the types of activities that can be used in learning environments, and their alignment to learning outcome verbs. Rienties, Toetenel, and Bryan (2015) note that “[m]odules with a relatively high proportion of assimilative learning activities had significantly lower completion and pass rates than other modules. Furthermore, positive correlations were found between productive and assessment activities and pass rates, although these were not statistically significant.” (p. 318).
|
Type of activity |
Example | |
|
Assimilative |
Attending to information |
Read, watch, listen, think about, access |
|
Finding and handling information |
Search for a processing information |
List, analyze, collate, plot, find, discover, access, use, gather |
|
Communicative |
Engage with others |
Communicate, debate, discuss, argue, share, report, collaborate, present, describe |
|
Productive |
Create an artefact |
Create, Build, Make, Design, Construct, Contribute, Complete |
|
Experiential |
Apply learning in a real-world setting |
Practice, Apply, Mimic, Experience, Explore, Investigate |
| Interactive | Apply learning in a simulated setting |
Explore, Experiment, Trial, Improve, Model, Simulate
|
|
Assessment |
All forms of assessment (summative, formative and self) |
Write, present, report, demonstrate, critique |
Rienties, B., Toetenel, L., & Bryan, A. (2015). “Scaling up” learning design: Impact of learning design activities on LMS behavior and performance. In LAK’15: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (pp. 315-319). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2723576.2723600