The full revision of the HAPS Learning Outcomes (LOs) is now available on the HAPS website! This is the first major revision of the HAPS A&P LOs since their release, and brings the LOs up to date in terminology and organization. A parallel effort with the HAPS Anatomy Learning Outcomes brings both documents into direct alignment.
This release of the HAPS A&P LOs is the result of two years of effort by the Learning Outcomes Task Force, led by Jennifer Burgoon and Valerie O’Loughlin, which included multiple video conference calls and several face-to-face meetings generously supported by Macmillan Learning. Macmillan flew the entire team to their offices in Austin, Texas, and made sure the group was properly cared for while they did their important work for HAPS. Generous partners like Macmillan from the private sector often make efforts like these LOs possible.
Both sets of learning outcomes are now available for download to HAPS members on the HAPS website. All are available in three formats: PDF of the full list of 20 modules, Word versions of each of the modules separately, and spreadsheet version of all modules. We encourage HAPS members to use these in any way you find helpful – HAPS resources like these belong to the members!
In addition, there is a white paper written by the Learning Outcomes Task Force that details the motivation, methods, and decisions made by the committee during their years long effort. This document is designed to help longtime users of the learning outcomes transition to the 2019 editions.
The HAPS Learning Outcomes have important roles within and outside of HAPS. Most major publishers are now keying their content to the HAPS LOs, teaching programs are aligning their outcomes to the HAPS outcomes, and within HAPS both the A&P and Anatomy Exams have been linked to the outcomes.
The HAPS Exams bring the learning outcome process full circle by adding assessment – every question on every HAPS exam has a primary (and sometimes secondary learning outcome) with which it is associated. The HAPS A&P exams have been in existence for decades and fully online since 2014, and the HAPS Anatomy exam has been online since its beginning. Both are among the most cost-effective standardized exams available and both continue to be actively developed and improved. We now offer flexibility in how uses choose to administer the exams. We have both an on-campus option proctored by instructors and an off-campus method that leverages our partnership with ProctorU to open the exam to online classes and anyone who wants to offer scheduling flexibility.
The HAPS A&P and Anatomy Learning Outcomes are now finalized, uploaded, and ready for you. And the HAPS Physiology Learning Outcomes are on their way – the Physiology task force has started work and the outcomes should be available in roughly 18 months.