What Are Learning Outcome Statements (LOS)?

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The Learning Objective of the CFA® Charter

Most candidates working towards their CFA charter are hoping it plays a large part in advancing their careers. However, more than the added prestige these three letters after your name brings, this investment should enhance your success in finance. Students’ enhanced knowledge and abilities after the course are essential. The knowledge you gain should enable you to improve your life and more effectively contribute to society.

We believe that such reflection will lead the CFA Institute to continue to focus on a broad synthesis of abilities. These abilities will combine knowledge, skills, and values into a whole that reflects how people apply knowledge. Learning Outcome Statements (LOS) refers to that all-encompassing whole.

The Role of Learning Outcome Statements (LOS)

With that context, the CFA exam content framework is outlined by several learning outcomes statements (LOS). LOS describe the knowledge or skills students should acquire by the end of a particular assignment, class, course, or program. Therefore, LOS help you understand why that knowledge and those skills will be useful to you. They focus on the context and potential applications of knowledge and skills. This focus helps you connect learning in various settings as well as guides assessment and evaluation.

Good learning outcomes emphasize the application and integration of knowledge. Instead of focusing on coverage of material, learning outcomes articulate how you will be able to employ the content in the curriculum and more broadly.

Examples of Learning Outcomes Outside of Finance

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • identify and describe the political, religious, economic, and social uses of art in Italy during the Renaissance
  • identify a range of works of art and artists
  • analyze the role of art and the artist in Italy at this time
  • examine the art of the period according to objective methods
  • link different materials and types of art to the attitudes and values of the period
  • evaluate and defend their response to a range of art-historical issues

As you prepare for the CFA exam, know that all content is not created equally, even with the LOS being the same. You want to find the right prep materials from a reputable company that best provides the most precise explanations, illustrations, examples, and sample tests around these learning outcomes. 

Source: www.teaching.utoronto.ca


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