Learning Objectives

Documents

The documents below are provided as supplements to the information on this page. 

• Action Verbs for Learning Objectives
• Direct vs. Indirect Measures of Student Learning

Developing Learning Objectives

A learning objective is a specific, detailed statement of the expected knowledge or skills someone should gain as a result of receiving instruction or training. Learning objectives are required for academic programs (degrees, certificates, minors), and most other units will only have performance objectives. As such, the following information focuses on guiding academic programs in the creation of program-level student learning objectives. However, much of the information is relevant and adaptable to learning objective development for any unit.

I. Using Guiding Questions

Academic program assessment is broader than course-level assessment, and it encompasses the knowledge and skills intended to be learned in the entire program. Consider the following questions as you begin to develop program-level objectives:

• What are the most important things students should gain as a result of completing your program?
• What do your students do after graduation? What are the most important things they need for success in those pursuits?
• What does research say about your field? What are the program-level objectives/outcomes from similar programs at peer institutions? Are there goals or standards stated by associations in your discipline/field?
• Do your program’s learning objectives align with the mission or strategic plan for your department and/or the university?

II. Writing Learning Objectives

Students learn more effectively when learning experiences are purposeful and integrated, so ideally, faculty should collaborate to determine program-level objectives that are critical to the discipline. These objectives should then guide course and curriculum planning and development.

Program-level student learning objectives involve knowledge, skills, or attitudes that provide evidence that learning has occurred as a result of the specified program. Types of outcomes include:

• Cognitive: What should graduates of the program know?
• Affective: What should graduates think or care about?
• Behavioral: What should graduates be able to do?

Well-written program-level learning objectives will:

• Be measurable
• Be appropriate and attainable for the student population
• Focus on what graduates will be able to know or be able to do rather than what the program provides
• Include a disciplinary context (reflect the field/domain of study)

One method that can be used to write program-level objectives is the ABC of the popular ABCD method:

*The degree for a learning objective is often similar to what we call the criterion in the Anthology Planning system. As seen in the Example Program-Level Objectives section below, it is okay for a program-level objective to not include the degree. However, the criterion should include this information, along with contextual information to explain how the criterion/degree/benchmark was selected and how it is appropriate for the objective. More information on developing the assessment indicators and criteria is provided below in section III.

Example Program-Level Objectives:

• Upon completion of the BA in Cat Herding (condition), undergraduate students (audience) will be able to generate solutions to common problems that arise in the discipline (behavior).
• Graduates of the BS in Biology (condition/audience) will be able to critically analyze primary scientific literature (behavior).
• Upon completion of the BS in Physics (condition), students (audience) will be able to relate mathematical equations to physical systems (behavior).

III. Developing Assessment Indicators & Criteria (Measuring Learning Objectives)

Each of the learning objectives created needs to be measurable. We know that graduates of the BS in Physics should be able to relate math equations to physical systems, but how will we know they can do this? This is where the assessment indicator and criterion for the objective comes in. The indicator is the method, instrument, process, or technique used to measure and evaluate a learning objective (e.g., an exam or essay), and the criterion is the benchmark that will represent success at achieving the objective.

Ideally, each objective should have more than one assessment method to increase the reliability of the findings. Additionally, assessment plans should include both direct and indirect measures, with an emphasis on direct measures.

Indicators: Direct & Indirect Measures

Direct measures are indicators (methods, instruments, processes, or techniques) that require students to use/demonstrate the skills being measured (e.g., a writing assignment meant to assess writing skills). Indirect measures instead rely on indirect evidence that students possess the skills (e.g., a survey with self-reported indication that students have mastered writing skills).

• Examples of direct measures: capstone projects, essays, comprehensive exams, case studies, presentations, performances, oral exams, pre- and posttests, portfolio evaluations, grading with rubrics, certification or licensure exams, class discussions, reflective journals
• Examples of indirect measures: exit interviews, focus groups, student/alumni satisfaction surveys, graduation rates, job placement statistics, peer assessments, end-of-semester evaluation questions focused on a course (not an instructor), student participation rates in faculty research/publications/conference presentations

Again, in the Anthology Planning system used at SHSU, this information is included in the indicator plan item. The indicator should describe the source of data (e.g., exam scores), the rubric or evaluation scale (e.g., Likert scale, pass/fail, %), and any contextual information (e.g., frequency of data collection, who will evaluate or score the items and review results).

Criterion

A criterion is the benchmark, value, or result that will represent success at achieving the learning objective. For degree programs, this criterion/benchmark may be regionally or nationally developed, such as a teaching certification exam or the bar exam for attorneys.

Example: Graduating seniors from the education degree program will score at or above the state mean on the Texas Teachers Certification Exam.

Another type of criterion compares student performance on an objective to a specific level. For example, an academic program may specify what percentage of students should exhibit competent performance for the learning objective.

Example: 80% of students will score 80% or better in the basket weaving demonstration in their capstone course. Last year, only 75% of students scored 80% or better, due to confusion about the types of materials used for each technique. Additional time will be spent teaching this topic, so the criterion will remain the same as the last assessment cycle.

Be sure to include contextual information to explain how the criterion for success was selected and how it is appropriate for the objective. For example, were existing data used as a baseline criterion/benchmark? Were data used from a similar academic program as a benchmark?

For additional assistance developing and measuring objectives, reach out to our team at assessment@shsu.edu. We are happy to provide assistance or training to individuals or groups.