Designing Your Course Using Learning Objectives
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Developing Your Course OtliOutline Fl D M hlh CEFacilitator: Dr. Mervin E. Chisholm ... Write the course outline Design competency-based course objectives/learning outcomes Select subject matter content Create learning activities ... Basic Purposes of the Course Outline yProvide a rationale for the course yOffer a course description, ...
Jan 20, 2022 · Designing Your Course Using Learning Objectives 1 Imagine your course. Brainstorm a list of all the possible things you want to teach and might include in your course. 2 Draft your course goals. Write at least 2-3 goals to shape your ongoing course design. ... Suitable verbs to use to... 3 Design ...
Jul 23, 2021 · The creation of an outline that serves as a guide to the course is useful for both student learning as well as for you so you can develop a more effective course. By outlining the most important components—the main modules, lessons, topics, and learning objectives, you can deliver a highly effective, high-quality course in no time.
Here are some tips to help you get started:Identify the Level of Knowledge Necessary to Achieve Your Objective. Before you begin writing objectives, stop and think about what type of change you want your training to make. ... Select an Action Verb. ... Create Your Very Own Objective. ... Check Your Objective. ... Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.Jun 5, 2018
A course outline should include the following sections:Course Name, Number, Credits and Description.Prerequisites/Co-requisites.Instructors Name, Contact Info and Bio.Course Schedule.Learning Outcomes.Content Breakdown by Session.Instructional Methods Used.Course Evaluation Process, Policies and Grading Scale.More items...•Jun 9, 2016
Writing learning outcomes and course objectivesIdentify the noun, or thing you want students to learn. ... Identify the level of knowledge you want. ... Select a verb that is observable to describe the behavior at the appropriate level of learning.More items...•Sep 13, 2019
Course Outlines are critical resources that help students understand the course. A Course Outline defines the course aims and learning outcomes, course requirements, textbooks, and assessment dates and criteria. It also contains contact details for the Course Coordinator and tutors.Feb 8, 2019
THE COURSE OUTLINE:BASIC COURSE INFORMATION:COURSE DESIGNATION:COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES. List one to three student learning outcomes for the course. ... SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES: ... COURSE CONTENT:REPRESENTATIVE METHODS OF INSTRUCTION: ... REPRESENTATIVE ASSIGNMENTS:
Did you know that a course outline is a legal, binding document? It communicates important information about a class such as course outcomes, class expectations, and grading structures. Both instructor and student are obligated to follow the content of the syllabus.May 1, 2012
Course Learning Objectives (CLOs) are clear, concise statements of what learners will be able to perform at the conclusion of instructional activities. Typically a 3-4 unit course will have between 5-12 CLO's.
An example of a learning objective with a criterion is: Be able to list the bones in the ear, spelling them correctly. Bloom's Taxonomy is a helpful tool in developing instructional objectives. It divides cognitive objectives into several categories of increasing complexity.
Course Learning Outcomes are statements clearly describing the meaningful, observable and measurable knowledge, skills and/or dispositions students will learn in this course.
The following are tips for writing a course description:The course description should be no longer than 100 words.Write from a student-centered perspective.Use present tense and active voice.Use clear and simple sentence structure and language.Use gender neutral language.More items...
Having an outline allows you to organize these topics in a way that will make sense to your students. In addition, it prevents you from forgetting to add critical information that is relevant to the topic. Writing out what you plan to cover will also help you generate ideas.
The idea behind rapid eLearning is where you use every tool and strategy you can to potentially create a course in 2 to 3 weeks instead of taking several months. So within your lessons, outline the exact content you will cover.
Assessment plans fall in line with learning objectives. While your learning objectives identify what the student will learn, the assessment allows you and the student to have a clear picture of how well they have mastered the objectives. Your outline will identify the types and frequency of assessments.
Depending on how far down the path of microlearning you are going, lessons might only need to be a couple of minutes up to 10 to 15 minutes in length. There's not too much content in a 2-minute lesson so you really need to get at the heart of the topic and do so quickly if you're going that route.
Like with everything, there are tools you can use to help you outline your course. You can definitely use a pen and paper for this exercise, but it's really nice if your outline is already on a device where you can work with it later. That way you can expand on it when you go from outline to your actual content.
This is the first 10 minutes or so of your course. The goal at the beginning of your course is to motivate and hook your students. Start your course with the following: 1 Intro lecture: Keep this short and simple, 2-4 minutes. Introduce yourself and explain why you are the best person to teach this course. Set the right expectations, tell the learners what they’ll learn from your course and what they’ll be able to do by the end of your course. 2 Instructional lectures: Introduce the topic and why it’s important in these initial 1-2 lectures. 3 Engagement activity: Engage learners right away by providing an activity within the first few lectures in your course. This could be an exercise or reflection activity and is a great way to motivate your learners.
Think of your course as a story. It should have three parts: a beginning, middle, and an end, that follow a logical flow that builds knowledge in a way that is clear and makes sense.
Final lecture: At minimum include a congratulations lecture at the end that summarizes key takeaways from the course, thanks your learners for their time, and leaves them with a sense of accomplishment. Bonus lecture: While optional, you can include a bonus lecture after your final lecture.
You need to use learning objectives as a part of your overall course design to guide the user through the entire learning experience. Using learning objectives also allows the user to revisit your course later and get a refresher on the different subject areas.
There needs to be a distinction between learning objectives and goals. The course goal is the broad skill (s) that is the ultimate desired outcome. Using the previous example, the goal would be to design a WordPress website. The learning objectives break down the primary course goal so that there are smaller specific goals to follow.
Measurable: The objective will need to be measurable so that the user can see that the information or skill was learned. Attainable: You must design the course in a way so that there's a chance for the user to reach the objective. This means you have to consider the user's existing skills and knowledge.
Bloom's Taxonomy encompasses six levels of learning. This includes remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. The reason why you want to abide by Bloom's Taxonomy is that it deepens the level of learning and ensures that the user walks away with actual skills.
The following are tips you can use when writing learning objectives to ensure they are as effective as possible: 1 Keep your learning objectives concise. Learning objectives should be short, to the point and easy to understand. This ensures that both you and your learners are on the same page as to what they can expect to get from your training course or class. 2 Use action verbs. When writing your learning objectives you should focus on using action verbs that clearly indicate what learners can expect to gain from the course or class. Examples of action verbs include define, cite, discuss, build, conduct and participate. 3 Make sure your learning objectives are realistic. The learning objectives you write should be realistic for individuals to achieve by the time they have completed your training course. If they are not realistic, learners will become discouraged and may not benefit from your teachings.
The next step in writing learning objectives is to determine the behavior or other learned outcomes that students/trainees can expect after the completion of the course. An effective way to do this is to define objectives by either the knowledge, skills or attitudes that you anticipate students/trainees will have once the course is complete.
Learning objectives are important for a number of reasons, including that they: Inform trainees/students what they can anticipate learning and/or master throughout the course of a class. Enable trainers or teachers to have a clear understanding of what they should focus on throughout the entirety of a class or course.
Examples of action verbs include define, cite, discuss, build, conduct and participate. Make sure your learning objectives are realistic.
Learning objectives describe the learning outcomes of a training course. It sounds like a straightforward task—and it is. That’s where the challenge lies. You only have a couple of sentences to sum up the learning outcomes of your course in a way that resonates with employees.
Objectives for development and learning should motivate employees to join training by clearly pointing out the learning outcomes. The verb that you use to describe your learning objectives will determine how clear your message is.
5. Use Bloom’s Taxonomy 1 Remembering: recognize, recall, retrieve, list, name, define, match. Remembering requires the learner to retrieve previously acquired knowledge. An example, “At the end of safety training, warehouse employees will be able to list the 5 most common safety hazards in a warehouse.” 2 Understanding: interpret, identify, classify, explain, outline. Now the learner needs to have understood the information well enough to explain it to others. During IT security training, for instance, employees learn to “identify common security threats.” 3 Applying: organize, plan, implement, execute, solve. At this level, learners use the information to move from theory to practice. For example, “By the end of this time management course, remote workers will be able to organize their workload more efficiently.” 4 Analyzing: categorize, classify, simplify, list, distinguish, compare. The learner can break information down into its components and identify the relationship among those. For example, a health information technician can “categorize patient data” after successful software training. 5 Evaluating: choose, compare, measure, determine, disprove, prioritize, interpret. At this level, learners can make judgments and form decisions based on the knowledge acquired. A Project Manager can learn to “prioritize their tasks” and a QA tester to “accurately determine the quality of a product.” 6 Creating: develop, design, improve, adapt, solve, modify, perform. Learners can create something new, combining the previously acquired knowledge. Like a sales manager can “develop a strategic sales plan,” or HR employees can “solve workplace conflict.”
Bloom’s Taxonomy was first developed in 1956 by the American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom. It’s a classification of learning goals based on the cognitive processes involved. Each learning goal corresponds to a different level of learning. L&D professionals often use this taxonomy as a guideline for writing learning objectives.
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Aiming high generally works well in life. But when it comes to training, it’s best to set realistic learning objectives. The results of your Training Needs Analysis will help you gauge the knowledge level of your employees.
Learning objectives, for example, may outline the material the instructor intends to cover or the disciplinary questions the class will address. By contrast, learning outcomes should focus on what the student should know and realistically be able to do by the end of an assignment, activity, class, or course. The same goals addressed by learning objectives can be equally addressed by learning outcomes , but by focusing on the application and integration of the course content from the perspective of the student, learning outcomes can more explicitly and directly address expectations for student learning.
Through assessment, learning outcomes can become fully integrated in course design and delivery. Because learning outcomes focus on the application and integration of knowledge and skills learned, learning outcomes point to appropriate modes of assessment and ensure that assessment focuses on the essential knowledge or skills of the course. Assignments and exams should match the knowledge and skills described in the course’s learning outcomes. A good learning outcome can readily be translated into an assignment or exam question; if it cannot, the learning outcome may need to be refined.
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is particularly useful because it associates particular verbs with each level of learning. Although Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchy, each type of learning can be a valuable aspect of a course. Ultimately, however, learning outcomes should focus on the “higher order thinking” found in the highest levels of the Taxonomy: analyze, evaluate, and create. Bloom’s Taxonomy was developed in 1956, and was revised in 2001 by Bloom’s colleagues, Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl. The revised Taxonomy is presented here.
Learning outcomes should outline the most central and essential elements of a particular course or program. They will also shape assessment. As such, the process of developing learning outcomes offers an opportunity for reflection on what is most necessary to help learners gain this knowledge and these skills. Considering (1) key words for the course, (2) desired types of learning, and (3) the context in which the knowledge and skills gained in the course will be used, including possible applications, provides a foundation for the development of learning outcomes.
Scholars working in pedagogy and epistemology offer us taxonomies of learning that can help make learning outcomes more precise. These levels of learning can also help develop assessment and evaluation methods appropriate to the learning outcomes for the course.
[1] Unlike Bloom’s original “Knowledge” category, “Remember” refers only to the recall of specific facts or procedures[2] Many instructors, in response to the original Taxonomy, commented on the absence of the term “understand”. Bloom did not include it because the word could refer to many different kinds of learning. However, in creating the revised Taxonomy, the authors found that when instructors use the word “understand”, they were most frequently describing what the original taxonomy had named “comprehension”.
“Key to the outcomes approach to assessment is the use of ‘authentic assessment’. This approach stresses creating assignments and assessments that simulate as much as possible the situations in which students would make useknowledge, skills and values emphasized in the course.”