What is the real and clear difference between goals and outcomes?
• Basically, goals are broad general statements of what you want the program or students to be able to do or know. Outcomes are the measurable, observable end result statements of what those goals look like. For example, compare the goal, “Student Conduct Board Members will value critical thinking” to the outcome, “Student Conduct Board members will demonstrate critical thinking skills by articulating a deeper level (as measured by a rubric based on Facione’s and Facione’s research) of discussion and reflection when considering student misconduct cases”. The goal is a general, broad, non-measurable statement of what you want student conduct board members to do. The outcome is expressing the goal in a specific measurable manner.
