Skip to content

Assuring Education Quality in the New Era

Evidencing learner outcomes when your programs are short

A 60-hour program can still show what learners can do. What counts as outcome evidence, and how to collect it without a research department.

Learners collaborating around a table with laptops

CEQAC evaluates what learners can do, not only how long they sat in a classroom. For short, competency-based programs, that means showing outcomes clearly and honestly.

Start from the competencies

Each program should state the competencies a learner will be able to demonstrate. Outcome evidence is then the record of learners demonstrating them: assessed tasks, practical observations, projects, portfolios.

Use the assessments you already run

Your existing assessments are your first source of evidence. Keep the rubric, a sample of marked work at different levels, and the overall results. A reviewer learns more from three marked samples than from a summary table alone.

Ask what happened next

Completion is an outcome; so is what learners do afterwards. A short follow-up survey at three or six months, on employment, promotion, further study or confidence in using the skill, is enough to start. Report response rates alongside results.

Report the difficult numbers too

Withdrawal rates, and what you changed because of them, are evidence of continuous improvement. Peer reviewers look for a provider that knows its own data, not one with only good news.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *