Course Design and Review

Introduction

Learning objectives are not standalone statements. They must all relate to each other, the content, and the course activities.

Articulating learning objectives for students is a best practice in education. When an instructor explicitly tells students what is expected for them to know and do (and are given aligned practice opportunities), students are more likely to succeed on a test or major assignment. That is to say, they will have learned what they needed to know in order to prove mastery of course content. If students are not told what they will be expected to do, then they are left guessing.

Why Learning Objectives?

Learning objectives help faculty to:

• Decide emphasis in the course: Of all the things we could teach, what should we teach?
• Decide how best to teach: Teaching students to analyze requires different teaching approaches from teaching students to memorize.
• Decide how best to assess learning: Do I need a project, a performance assessment, or a final exam?
• Communicate expectations to students: What are our decisions on the matters above?

Learning objectives help students to:

• Create a connection between teaching and learning, between professors and students.
• Take much of the guessing out of the learning process.
• Truly master the content of the course.

Learning objectives need to be SMART.

• Specific: The learning objective should be well defined and clear. It states exactly what will be accomplished.
• Measurable: The learning objective should provide a benchmark or target so that the institution can determine when the target has been reached, by how much it has been exceeded, or by how much it has fallen short. 
• Attainable: Learning objectives can be achieved based on current skill, available resources, and area of study. Learning outcomes should neither be easy nor impossible to attain, but somewhere in between.
• Relevant: Learning objectives should apply to the course content and relate to an important discipline-specific concept.
• Time-Framed: A learning objective should include a specific date by which it will be completed. It is important to allow enough time to successfully implement the steps needed to achieve the objective, but not so much as to elicit procrastination.

Writing a Learning Objective Statement

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy provides the framework for writing course and unit level learning objectives. Each learning objective is represented by a sentence that consists of an action verb related to a cognitive process and a clearly defined content related to a specific knowledge type.

All learning outcomes have a common format: Subject Verb Object.

• Subject

  The SUBJECT of the learning outcome statement is the student or the learner.

  Example: Students will __________.

• Verb

  Each VERB in a learning outcome statement represents a cognitive process. Ask yourself: How will my students show what they learned?

  Learning outcomes should consider the different types of cognitive processes involved in knowledge retention and transfer. Bloom's Revised Taxonomy is a well-known framework that can provide clarity to this process.

  The Cognitive Process Dimension
  Bloom's Definition	Verbs
  Remember	Exhibit memory of previously learned material by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts, and answers.	choose, define, detail, find, label, list, match, recall, select, show
  Understand	Demonstrate understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions, and stating main ideas.	classify, compare. contrast, demonstrate, explain, extend, illustrate, infer, interpret, outline, paraphrase, relate, summarize, translate
  Apply	Solve problems to new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules in a different way.	apply, choose, execute, implement, model, organize, plan, solve
  Analyze	Examine and break information into parts by identifying motives or causes. Make inferences and find evidence to support generalizations.	analyze, categorize , classify, compare, contrast, deconstruct, dissect, divide, examine, inspect, organize, simplify
  Evaluate	Present and defend opinions by making judgments about information, validity of ideas, or quality of work based on a set of criteria.	appriase, assess, criticize, defend, determine, disprove, detect, evaluate, judge, justify, measure, prove, rate, support
  Create	Compile information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions.	adapt, build, combine, compile, compose, construct, design, develop, generate, hypothesize, improve, invent, modify, plan, produce

• Object

  The OBJECT of the learning outcome statement is derived most often from the course content. Ask yourself: what do I want my students to learn?

  The course content can be linked to four general types of knowledge: Factual, Conceptual, Procedural, and Metacognitive. The table below explains these knowledge dimensions along with their specific subtypes and provides examples for each one. 

  The Knowledge Dimension
  Factual	Conceptual	Procedural	Metacognitive
  Knowledge of terminology Knowledge of specific details and elements	Knowledge of classifications and categories Knowledge of principales and generalizations Knowledge of theories, models, and structures	Knowledge of subject-specific skills and algorithms Knowledge of subject-specific techniques and methods Knowledge of criteria for determining when to use appropriate procedures	Strategic knowledge Knowledge about cognitive tasks, including appropriate contextual and conditional knowledge Self-knowledge

   

 Bloom's Revised Taxonomy brings the cognitive process dimensions and the knowledge dimensions together to form a more complete, specific learning objective. 

To view a grid of this intersection, review the responsive version of Revised Bloom's Taxonomy Model from Iowa State University.

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All learning objective information was adapted from A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment:

Anderson, L.W. (Ed.), Krathwohl, D.R. (Ed.), Airasian, P.W., Cruikshank, K.A., Mayer, R.E., Pintrich, P.R., Raths, J., & Wittrock, M.C. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Complete edition). New York: Longman.

Additional Resources

Learning Outcomes Taxonomy Table (Center for Teaching Excellence, University of South Carolina)

A Model of Learning Objectives (Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Iowa State University)