A very simple way to define and differentiate learning goals and learning objectives! The following set of 5 slides and accompanying questions seems to work well in a time-limited setting… we start with a ‘conventional’ session plan, and look at how it translates into a statement of goals and objectives

Session plan for ‘A practical guide to developing programme goals and objectives’ 1.What? 1.Goals 2.Learning objectives 3.Indicators 4.The future… OCAV Degree Level Expectations and Standards 2.Why? 1.How they help us (faculty) (Division) (York) 2.How they help students 3.How? 1.What’s involved 2.Practical tips and helpful resources

Alternatively….

Session goal to help Program Coordinators plan and facilitate preparation of programme goals etc. for UPRs by providing an overview of key concepts and steps in the preparation process Objectives - participants will be able to Discriminate between goals, objectives and indicators Help colleagues understand the necessity and value of this innovation in the Undergraduate Programme Review process Identify essential stages and key issues in the development process and begin to plan how this will be done within their programme Know where to find more resources and advice

Compare the session plan with the statement of goals and objectives: How do the statements of the session plan and session goal/objectives differ? –Note the switch in perspective from what the teacher will cover to how the session will be useful to the learner and what specifically it should enable them to know or do. Describe/comment on how the learning objectives are presented. –Note that objectives start with concrete verbs (see later materials for resources with more examples of useful verbs) –Link to assessment – objectives should suggest the logical assessment task (or an observable outcome). –Issue of ‘behaviourist’ objectives/outcomes may be raised. Helpful to talk about how faculty already make useful inferences (eg assess knowledge based on appropriate use of a specific set of concepts in an essay), and raise importance of using a range of assessments to make valid inferences about student learning. The following two slides highlight and summarize these differences

Session goal to help Program Coordinators plan and facilitate preparation of programme goals etc. for UPRs by providing an overview of key concepts and steps in the preparation process Objectives - participants will be able to Discriminate between goals, objectives and indicators Help colleagues understand the necessity and value of this innovation in the UPR process Identify essential stages and key issues in the development process and begin to plan how this will be done within their programme Locate useful resources and advice

Key concepts Educational goals and learning objectives create common and explicit understanding of what learners will gain from the programme Goals are general statements of overall aims (categories of knowledge, skills and attitudes within area, as well as general or transferable skills) Learning objectives identify specific knowledge, skills and attitudes that students will learn in the programme. Goals and objectives become more specific and limited at the course level. If one were to map the goals and objectives of courses in a programme to the overall goals and objectives, it should be possible to trace how knowledge and skill are built progressively across the programme (see Curriculum Mapping)