ACADEMIC ■ IMPRESSIONS

A Comprehensive Approach to Designing

Online Courses

Developing Objectives Christina Sax

Session Goals

• Recognize the multiple roles and importance of

learning objectives
• Understand the relationship between learning goals,
objectives, and outcomes
• Explore the various factors that influence the
formulation of learning objectives
• Review the basic principles of writing learning
objectives
Learning Objectives

• What are they?

• How are they different from learning goals?
• Why are they important?
A Matter of Perspective

• Faculty member
• Instructional designer
• Support staff
• Academic administrator
• Students
• External governing bodies

All are valid and have merit

Activity 1 - The Role of Learning Objectives

• Work in teams
• Use Activity Sheet 1
• Identify the perspectives in your group
• Arrive at group answers to questions on
Activity Sheet
• Group reports (designate your spokesperson)
Activity 1 – Group Reports

• State the perspectives in your group

• State your group’s answers:
– What are LOs?
– How are LOs different from learning goals?
– Why are LOs important?
Activity 1 – Debriefing

• How easy/difficult was it to agree upon group

answers? Why?
Importance of Learning Objectives

• Common understanding between students and

faculty
• Framework for designing aligned instruction,
materials, and activities
• Vehicle to construct valid assessments
• Focus student attention & time
• Sequencing courses & content
• Internal/external assurance of course & program
integrity & quality
• Reaccredidation
Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes

• Goal
– What we strive to achieve
– “Why we do what we do”

• Objective
– Specific & measurable knowledge, skills, attributes that students
are expected to achieve and demonstrate
– What students should be able to do

• Outcome
– Students’ demonstration of the actual level of attainment of the
knowledge, skills, and attributes
Handout 1
Layering Goals and Objectives

Program Goals Broad

Course Goals

Course Objectives

Module Objectives

Weekly
Objectives

Specific
Scaffolding Goals & Objectives

Course Course
Goal 1 Goal 2

Course Course Course Course Course Course

Objective 1 Objective 2 Objective 3 Objective 4 Objective 5 Objective 6
Steps to Formulating Learning Objectives

1. Who are the students? Handout 2

2. What is the course?

3. What is important?
4. How do students process the content?
5. Who writes and approves the learning
objectives?
6. Are there any guiding standards? Handout 2B

7. Others ????
Writing the Learning Objectives

• What are the learning objectives?

• Can you determine whether students have

achieved the learning objectives?

• Using taxonomies to write the objectives:

– Bloom’s
– Marzano’s
Bloom’s Taxonomy - 1956

Higher Order Use Appropriate Verbs!

Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
Lower Order
Handout 3
Bloom’s Taxonomy Revised - 2001

Two Matrixed Domains:

• Types of knowledge used in cognition

• Cognitive processes by which thinkers

encounter and work with knowledge
Types of Knowledge Used in Cognition

• Factual knowledge
• Conceptual knowledge
• Procedural knowledge
• Meta-cognitive knowledge
Cognitive Processing of Knowledge

Higher Order

Create

Evaluate

Analyze

Apply

Understand
Lower Order
Remember
Using Bloom’s 2001

Encyclopedia of Educational Technology

Marzano’s Taxonomy - 2000

• Three Systems When faced with option of new task …

– Self - continue current or engage in new?

– Meta-cognitive - sets goals & tracks progress to goals

– Cognitive - processes necessary information

• Knowledge Domain - provides the content

– Information
– Mental Procedures
– Physical Procedures
Activity 2 – Writing Learning Objectives

• Work in teams
• Use Activity Sheet 2
• Read the course description for NURS 246
• Select a course goal (from morning work)
• Write 2 learning objectives
– Faculty Knowledge / Remember
– Procedural Knowledge / Create
• Consider the challenges & solutions
• Group reports (designate your spokesperson)
Activity 2 – Group Reports

• State your two learning objectives.

• What challenges did you experience?

• How can you overcome these challenges?

The Students’ Perspective

Do students …
• understand the role of LOs for course,
faculty, students?
• understand the meaning/wording of each
LO?
• know how to use LOs?

How can we facilitate each?Activity Sheet 3

Learning Objectives as the Foundation

• Creating assessments
• Sequencing content
• Selecting & designing instructional strategies
• Designing the framework
• Developing instructional materials
• Guiding faculty-student engagement
• Evaluation & revision