Introduction to Learning Objectives
The first step in the Backward Design process and the course mapping process is to determine the desired result that you would like your students to achieve at the completion of your online course. Below, we will explore in detail what learning objectives are and why they are an integral element of your course design.
What are Learning Objectives?
According to Design Your Online Course, learning objectives are defined statements of outcomes that detail what you would like your learner to achieve through a course and helps you identify whether students have gained the appropriate skills and knowledge by the end of a course or unit of instruction. Specifically, a learning objective:
- Specifies in measurable terms what a learner will be able to do as a result of your instruction after a specified timeframe.
- Describes the intended outcome of a learning interaction rather than a description or summary of the content.
- Describes intended results rather than the process used to achieve the results.
Types of Learning Objectives
There are two main types of learning objectives:
- Course Objectives: These are observable, measurable, and achievable outcomes that define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes learners will demonstrate by the end of a course and are typically written as a brief statement.
- Module Objectives: Since course objectives are broad and illustrate what the students should be able to do by the end of the course, break them down into smaller units of instruction to help your students achieve them. Module objectives are observable, measurable, and achievable outcomes that define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes learners will demonstrate by the end of a unit of learning, which in Canvas (and in this course) are referred to as Modules.
Why are Learning Objectives Important?
Creating learning objectives is key to developing purposeful and systematic instruction and setting your students up for success. This principle, of course, spans all course modalities and classroom demographic indicators as it resides at the very core of the learning experience. However, learning objectives are especially important in the online environment where the instructor and the student have little or no face-to-face time as they function as guideposts to help students organize their efforts toward accomplishing the desired behaviors.
Some important guiding questions to consider while thinking about learning objectives are:
- What pre-determined course objectives already exist for your course(s) that have been issued by the department (to meet accreditation standards)?
- What activities do students typically complete to show they've met the course objective(s)?