Creating effective learning objectives and measures

1. Dr. Barbara Wheeling Coordinator for Institutional Assessment Montana State University Billings September 1, 2010 Creating effective learning objectives and measures

2. Primary Concepts • The learning objectives should clearly state what the learner should be able to do. • The assessment should measure if they can, in fact, do that. Patti Shank, "Online Teaching Fundamentals: To Plan Good Instruction, Teach to the Test", Online Classroom, June, 2006, P. 4.

3. Tips on Learning Objectives • Learning Objectives have two parts: a verb and a content area. • Keep statements short and focused. • Avoid verbs that are vague or cannot be objectively assessed. • Learning objectives should be student-focused. http://captain.park.edu/facultydevelopment/writing_learning_objectives.htm.

4. Key Questions for Writing Learning Objectives • 1. Is it specific? • An objective is written too broadly if • It cannot be reasonably assessed with just one or two assessments • It covers several different elements of the subject matter from a course or semester

5. 2. Is it observable and measurable? • Examples, not measurable: • “Students will understand how to divide two-digit numbers.” • “Students will develop an appreciation of cultural diversity in the workplace.” • Example, measurable: • “Students will correctly divide two-digit numbers.” • “Students will summarize in writing their feelings about cultural diversity in the workplace.”

6. Avoid phrases such as, • “have an understanding”, “have an appreciation for”, “be knowledgeable about” • Be careful of modifiers such as, • “will effectively”, “can accurately”, “should completely” • These can make measurement impossible

7. 3. Is it actually a teaching outcome? • Avoid phrases such as: • “will be taught”, “will learn how to”, “will be evaluated on”

8. 4. Does the objective include action verbs? • Overt behavior that can be observed and measured • Examples: compile, create, plan, revise, analyze, design, select, utilize, apply, prepare, use, compute, discuss, explain, predict, assess, compare, rate, critique.

9. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy • The taxonomy provides a useful structure in which to develop learning objectives. • Primarily useful for deciding on action verbs Assurance of Learning Blackboard site: The Assurance of Learning Initiative

10. The Process • Step 1: What should students be able to do? • These are the objectives. • Step 2: What indicates students have met the objective? • These are authentic tasks. • Step 3: What does good performance on the task look like? • These are the criteria to assess.

11. Step 4: How well did the students perform? • Use a rubric with the criteria or • Compile a score for each objective • Step 5: How well should most students perform? • The minimum level at which you would want students to perform is a benchmark.

12. Step 6: What do students need to improve upon? • Information from the rubric will provide feedback and ideas for improving instruction.

13. Q & A