Student Learning Outcomes

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

SLOs, or Student Learning Outcomes, are genuinely defined as levels of knowledge, abilities, and skills attained via a student after engaging in a particular set of schooling experience. In this case, a student can be any person seeking to research while an education experience can consist of set curriculums and programs. Essentially, each curriculum has broad desires or a set of skills it seeks to impart in the learners. These goals are the SLOs, that state what a pupil should be capable of doing after going through the curriculum. In Bachelor of Science in Health Administration, SLOs are necessary in not only guiding students toward achieving their academic goals and gaining skills, however also assessing their achievement levels as well as creating and revising the curriculums to increase achievement levels for students.

SLOs for BSHA

To gain a better understanding of SLOs for BSHA, one needs to understand the main goal of the course as well as its purpose within the healthcare industry. Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration, BSHA, is a program designed for the integration of general courses in education with health care programs (ACHA, 2016). It aims at equipping students with foundational skills and knowledge necessary for entering the current challenging healthcare industry that continues to gain more sophistication. Its coursework includes knowledge in several areas such as finance, management, ethical, legal, risks, information systems and human resources. Understanding these areas of the program are necessary for determining the student learning outcomes, which at the end of the course are supposed to equip the student with enough knowledge to enter the industry (University of Phoenix, 2017).

General SLOs for BSHA

There are many student learning outcomes within BSHA depending on the area of focus. However, there are general outcomes designed before one can specialize. General SLOs for BSHA include the ability to analyzing health care organizations from a perspective of the market or industry. The students will be in a position to analyze the economic and financial issues that face the healthcare industry on a daily basis and suggest ways forward. This outcome allows graduates to deal with daily issues occurring within the industry (ACHA, 2016). They will also be able to analyze and examine the impact of legal and regulatory policies as well as requirements involved in the delivery of healthcare (University of Phoenix, 2017). This is particularly important considering that healthcare industry is closely monitored and regulated by the law. Also, the students should be able to make ethical decisions in regard to health care administration.

Specialized SLOs for BSHA

On areas of risk and quality management, graduates are supposed to, at the end of the course, be in a position to apply the skills gained as well as examine them. When it comes to technology, graduates will have the skills needed to apply and analyze applications of information systems and other technologies within the healthcare industry. Finally, students should be in a position to utilize management and leadership skills that are adaptable to the dynamic healthcare system (University of Phoenix, 2017). Students should also be in a position to explain the main concepts and principles within the functional areas of their program such as finance, accounting, and management. At the end of the program, students should be able to distinguish and explain the interplay between each of the main areas of healthcare management that include access to healthcare, cost, and quality (Oregon Tech, 2016). The three areas are closely related and impact each other both directly and indirectly, thus their importance (University of Phoenix, 2017).

Alignment to Industry Skills

Important to note is that these SLOs are aligned to industry skills, in the preparation for students to enter the healthcare industry upon graduation. Although these are the main general outcomes, other SLOs for specific areas such as En-Route credentials within specific specialties are available. An example is a focus on emergency management, where students gain extra skills. Some of the SLOs within this area of focus can include the ability to create plans for emergency operations within the healthcare industry, application of leadership and management within the emergency departments and evaluation of research around the area with the aim of preparing communities for emergency response (ACHA, 2016). Therefore, through the SLOs, students who complete this program will have the necessary skills and knowledge to enter the healthcare industry prepared to tackle issues revolving around delivery and administration of healthcare.

Impact of SLOs on Student Experience

SLOs within the BSHA have an important role and make a significant impact on student learning. They can impact student experience in different ways. One of the impacts that students gain by mastering the SLOs is an opportunity to prepare for the workplace considering the learning outcomes are aligned with industry requirements and standards (University of Phoenix, 2017). This ensures that students leave college with applicable skills as opposed to having knowledge without knowing how to apply it in the work setting. Also, these SLOs are aligned to the industry’s competencies as well as standards, which give the learners a practical experience before leaving college. This ensures a smooth transition from learning to working within the healthcare industry.

The SLOs also provide students with an opportunity to repeat learning the skills required within the workplace throughout their learning process. Such repetition ensures retention and practice with knowledge acquired. They can know their weaknesses and strengths, which provides them with a way of knowing the areas they need to improve on. This further ensures students can learn effectively (University of Phoenix, 2017). Also, by providing students with expectations at the beginning of the program ensures that students can plan and have a glimpse at the path they need to follow. With a clear path to follow, students can gauge their skills using the SLOs as well as conduct self-assessments during their learning experience.

The SLOs have an impact on the focus of students as well. By providing a clear path and ways of gauging their skills, students can know when they are falling behind if they find themselves unable to do some of the set tasks or objectives within the SLOs. Without such learning outcomes, students may never know the direction they are taking in the program (Diamond, 2011). Also, students can increase their focus because they already know what is expected of them towards the end of the course. Finally, SLOs have also impacted student performance positively. By sharing these SLOs with students and having a clear path, learners can achieve more because they have a sense of what is expected at the end of the program. Essentially, they know where they are headed and what is necessary to arrive there.

Impact of SLOs on Program Evaluation and Revision

In addition to impacting students learning experiences, SLOs also impact program evaluation and revision in several ways. The most popular impact of SLOs on program evaluation is the assessment process. SLOs are supposed to be the final results of skills that a learner gains from an educational experience. SLOs help in assessment in various ways. One of them is planning, where educators can create marking criteria. The second area is a collection of evidence as well as data analysis, which is crucial for finding areas of improvement. The third is the implementation of improvements necessary depending on the findings of the second area. Finally, they help in assessing the effectiveness of implemented improvements within the program (University of Phoenix, 2017).

The other area of impact is continuous improvement. Under this area, the SLOs impact improvement to the curriculum, program, procedures, and processes within the institution and other areas that improve the achievement of students such as support services, qualification of faculty members, and content of the course. By making assessments on the level of achievements, faculty members can identify areas of improvement within the course material and make changes to ensure students achieve the desired outcomes (University of Phoenix, 2017). SLOs also give institutions an opportunity to revise their curriculum especially because they are tailored to meet industry standards. This means that when such standards change, the curriculum has to adapt to ensure students achieve transferable skills into the healthcare industry (Diamond, 2011). Finally, SLOs promote accountability as well as transparency within program evaluation and revision. Primarily, they promote and foster evidence-based learning culture within students and faculty members as well as accreditation bodies.

References

ACHA. (2016). Student Learning Outcomes. Retrieved from http://www.acha.org/ACHA/Resources/Topics/Learning_Outcomes.aspx

Diamond, R. M. (2011). Designing and assessing courses and curricula: A practical guide. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

University of Phoenix. (2017). Health services administration program handbook for students. Retrieved from https://www.phoenix.edu/content/dam/altcloud/doc/academics/hsa-program-handbook.pdf

Oregon Tech. (2016). Health care management B.S. Retrieved from http://www.oit.edu/faculty-staff/provost/learning-outcomes/health-care-management