The Role of an Aligned Curriculum Design in the Achievement of Learning Outcomes

The importance of learning outcomes (LOs) as a central component of LOs-based curriculum design has been emphasized by many higher education experts and researchers (Biggs, 1999; Adam, 2006; Kennedy et al., 2006; Biggs and Tang, 2007; Warnier et al., 2010). However, the important role played by program and course curriculum design in securing a successful shift from the intended learning outcomes (ILOs) to the achieved learning outcomes (ALOs) or simply (LOs) still requires further attention. This study highlights the tight relationship between learning outcomes and LOs-based curricula and argues that an appropriately aligned curriculum design can facilitate and optimize the successful achievement of the intended learning outcomes. A practical model of the implementation of Biggs’s theory of ‘‘Constructive Alignment’’ (CA) is, also, presented through an application on the course (Theories of Translation) delivered under the code (ENG 371) by the department of English language and translation, Faculty of Arabic Language and Social Studies, Qassim University, KSA. The focus on HE systems in countries which are not part of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), like KSA, could contribute to a better mapping and evaluation of the effects of the implementation of Bologna reforms outside Europe. This research mainly outlines, John Biggs’s constructive alignment method, theoretically, and then, puts to practice its operational model through a practical case study of course curriculum design. The main question this research aspires to answer is: “How to implement the constructive alignment method in a course curriculum design to best support the achievement of learning outcomes?”