Dr. Barbara Wheeling Coordinator for Institutional Assessment Montana State University Billings September 1, 2010

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.

Tips on Learning Objectives 1. Learning Objectives have two parts: a verb and a content area. 2. Keep statements short and focused. 3. Avoid verbs that are vague or cannot be objectively assessed. 4. Learning objectives should be student- focused. earning_objectives.htm.

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

 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.”

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

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

 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.

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

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.

 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.

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

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