POs give useful guidance at the program level for the curriculum design, delivery and assessment of student learning. However, they represent fairly high-level generic goals that are not directly measurable. Real observability and measurability of the POs at course level is very difficult. To connect high-level learning outcomes (POs) with course content, course outcomes and assessment, there is a necessity to bring further clarity and specificity to the program outcomes This can be achieved through the following two-step process of identifying Competencies and Performance Indicators (PI). 

(1) Identify Competencies to be attained: For each PO define competencies –different abilities implied by program outcome statement that would generally require different assessment measures. This helps us to create a shared understanding of the competencies we want students to achieve. They serve as an intermediate step to the creation of measurable indicators.

(2) Define Performance Indicators: For each of the competencies identified, define performance Indicators (PIs) that are explicit statements of expectations of the student learning. They can act as measuring tools in assessment to understand the extent of attainment of outcomes. They can also be designed to determine the appropriate achievement level or competency of each indicator so that instructors can target and students can achieve the acceptable level of proficiency