Outcome-Based Education (OBE)

OBE is entirely optional

Not every course needs formal outcome mapping. The Outcomes (OBE) tab in Course Settings is a single on/off toggle: turn it off for a plain grading course and every CLO/PLO screen disappears from the course's nav and dashboard,nothing is deleted, so you can turn it back on later and pick up exactly where you left off. Turn it on when you need Course Learning Outcomes mapped to Program Learning Outcomes for accreditation reporting (ABET, PEC/NBA, AACSB, or your own institution's framework).

Step 1: The PLO Setup Wizard

Once OBE is on, click Open PLO Wizard. Step 1 lets you pick a starting point:

Preset framework	Best for
Washington Accord / PEC / NBA (11 attributes)	Engineering programs following the 11 Washington Accord graduate attributes.
PEC / NBA Classic (12 PLOs)	Engineering programs using the classic 12-outcome variant that splits out environment/sustainability.
ABET EAC (US), Outcomes 1 to 7	US-accredited engineering programs under ABET's Engineering Accreditation Commission.
ABET CAC / Seoul Accord (Computing)	Computer science / computing programs under ABET's Computing Accreditation Commission.
Medical: CanMEDS roles	Competency-based medical education using the 7 CanMEDS physician roles.
Nursing: AACN Essentials (2021)	US nursing programs using the 10 AACN Essentials domains.
Business: AACSB Program Learning Goals	Business schools using common AACSB-aligned learning goals.
Generic: Bloom-Based Outcomes	Any field that wants OBE mapping without a formal accreditation body.
Start Blank	Define every PLO yourself from scratch.

Not sure which fits? Use AI: Recommend for me, it looks at your course title, course type/field, and description, and suggests the framework that best matches your discipline.

Step 2: Review and edit your PLOs

Whichever starting point you pick loads a list of Program Learning Outcomes into Step 2, where you can:

• Rename any PLO's wording to match your institution's exact phrasing
• Add additional PLOs the preset doesn't cover
• Remove PLOs that don't apply to your course

Save when the list matches what you'll actually report against. You can always reopen the wizard later to adjust.

The CLO Manager

With PLOs in place, open Manage CLOs from the course dashboard to define Course Learning Outcomes, the specific, measurable things students in this course should be able to do.

AI CLO Assistant

Describe what students should be able to do in plain language (e.g. "analysing AC circuits using phasor methods") and the AI proposes a complete CLO: correct wording built around a valid Bloom taxonomy verb, plus a suggested cognitive domain and level. You can optionally pick the domain yourself first and let the AI choose just the level.

Bloom taxonomy domains and levels

Every CLO is tagged with a domain and level, giving you a consistent, defensible way to describe rigor across your course:

Domain	Levels
Cognitive	C1 Remember · C2 Understand · C3 Apply · C4 Analyze · C5 Evaluate · C6 Create
Psychomotor	P1 Perception · P2 Set · P3 Guided Response · P4 Mechanism · P5 Complex Overt Response · P6 Adaptation · P7 Origination
Affective	A1 Receiving · A2 Responding · A3 Valuing · A4 Organization · A5 Characterization

Mapping CLOs to PLOs

For each CLO, check off which PLO(s) it provides evidence for, and assign a weight to each mapped PLO. Weights for a given CLO must total 100% across however many PLOs it's mapped to, this is what lets ProfDesk later roll individual assessment scores up into outcome-attainment percentages per PLO.

Putting it to work

1. Map each graded assessment or question / sub-part to the CLO it's evidence for, in Manage Assessments.
2. Grade normally in ZenGrader, scores on CLO-mapped questions automatically become outcome-attainment data.
3. Pull the report from the Course File Builder, which includes a Course Learning Outcomes section and an Individual CLO Performance Report.