#9: Clear Learning Objectives
Transform your vague course goals into crystal-clear, actionable learning objectives, setting both you and your students up for success.
Welcome to the summer 2024 “Top 10 Essential Practices” series for new faculty! Catch up with the series introduction here and the start of the countdown here #10: Understand Your Learners.
#9: Clear Learning Objectives
Are your course objectives truly guiding your students toward success? In education, setting clear, effective learning objectives is like providing a roadmap for both educators and learners. But crafting these objectives is an art in itself - one that can dramatically improve the learning experience when done right. Item #9 in the top 10 essential practices for new faculty explores why well-defined learning objectives are crucial, how they benefit both teachers and students, and introduces a powerful yet simple method to transform vague goals into precise, actionable objectives. While I’ve written previously about backward design and learning outcomes, today’s post is a short-cut to better objectives.
Setting clear learning objectives is essential for guiding both our teaching and our students' learning. These objectives define the knowledge, skills, and competencies that students should acquire by the end of a lesson, module, or course. Clear learning objectives provide a roadmap for our teaching, helping us structure our lessons and prioritize content effectively. For students, objectives outline expectations and help them focus their efforts on mastering specific concepts or skills - this is why it is so important to communicate these objectives clearly to our students at the beginning of each course. This transparency not only helps students understand what they are expected to learn but also empowers them to track their progress and take ownership of their learning.
Throughout our teaching, regularly revisit these objectives to assess student progress and adjust our teaching strategies as needed. If students are struggling to meet a particular objective, we may need to provide additional resources or adjust our teaching approach to offer more support.
Put clear learning outcomes into practice…
A short, effective activity for instructors to improve their learning objectives is the ABCD method. Here's how it works:
Write short statement about something you want your students to know or be able to do by the end of the semester.
Break it down into four components:
A - Audience (Who is the learner?)
B - Behavior (What should they be able to do?)
C - Condition (Under what circumstances?)
D - Degree (To what level of proficiency?)
Revise the objective to include all four elements.
This simple exercise helps ensure objectives are specific, measurable, and student-centered. It typically takes just a few minutes per objective but can significantly enhance clarity and effectiveness. What does this look like with real objectives? Let's start with a basic objective: Students will understand photosynthesis.
Now, apply the ABCD method:
A (Audience): First-year biology students
B (Behavior): Explain the process of photosynthesis
C (Condition): Given a diagram of a plant cell
D (Degree): Identifying at least 5 key steps and components
Revised objective: Given a diagram of a plant cell [condition], first-year biology students [audience] will be able to explain the process of photosynthesis [behavior], identifying at least 5 key steps and components [degree].
This revised version is more specific and measurable. It clearly states who the learners are, what they should be able to do, under what circumstances, and to what degree of proficiency.
Here’s one more example: Students will write a research paper.
Revised objective: Third-year undergraduate history students [audience] will write an original 3000-4000 word [degree] research paper [behavior] using at least three primary and five secondary sources [condition], with proper citations in Chicago style [degree].
This objective is now more specific, measurable, and provides clear expectations for both students and instructors. It also implicitly includes skills like research, analysis, and academic writing.
Do you think you write clear learning objectives? Why or why not? Please share in the comments!
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