Having clear goals and objectives is important for several reasons, first of all, it gives the studens an idea of where the course is going. It shows them right up front what will be expected of them, what they need to do, and decide right away if it is something that is important enough to them to commit to.
Secondly, it allows the instructor to stay the course. For many of us it is way to easy to be led off on a tangential subject and not cover what we actually need to, haing a rigid set of goals and objectives means the instructor has to stay just as focused as the students.
Third, it gives you a way to measure achievement in your classes. If the students meet the goals and complete the objectives they were successful. As simple as that.
Students operate better when things are clearly defined and not left up to arbitrary means.
Having clear goals and objectives in your course keeps you directed in the right pattern
You need a direction and good flow of content. Its keeps things clear
David,
Thank you for sharing this example with us. You are right about what happens when goals and objectives are not customized to the current group of students. Goals and objectives can remain the same from class session to class session but they need to be adapted based upon the experiences of the current students, their classroom behavior, and examples that are available.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
It is important because it lets students know what to expect and what will be covered in the course. I always tell students that goals and objectives shouls be used as part of assessment for both themselves and the instructor. If the students feel that they have met or exceeded the goals/objectives outlined for a course, then both they and the instructor have been successful.
Paul,
What have been your most successful strategies for making this happen? Thanks for your input on this.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Clear goals and objectives are moot if they are unattainable. I would pull goals and their objectives straight from the textbook. The only problem was: I didn't use most of the textbook for teaching purposes!! I always had to supplement the text, sometimes eliminating the bulk of entire chapters. After getting complaints from students that answering the objectives was no benefit for exams, I spent an entire non teaching term to redo my goals and my objectives do they WERE attainable and would help students pass exams.
To have a more focused and proper direction in guidance of course objectives
Clear goals and objectives are important in order to give a student not only an understanding, but a visual picture of what exactly they're working so hard to achieve. It also helps them to understand what is required of them to help them obtain these goals.
Don,
I like your example and you are right on in terms of needing to have specific goals and objectives for the course. This keeps everyone informed and moving forward to a common goals.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
It is very important to have clear goals and objectives for students to follow during the course. Students get overwhelmed quickly when starting a new course. I give each student
a list of skills so they can set goals to prepare themselves to take the competnecy.
Being clear about goals and objectives provides a roadmap of where we are going ... the destination and milestones for getting there. Both are measurable. If they're not measurable, we're guessing and wouldn't know whether we've achieved what we set out to do. Analogously, I doubt anyone would chance taking a trip or mailing a package by simply stating the address as "across the country". Goals and objectives keep us on track, and let us know if we need to make course corrections.
I have been using goals and objectives in my class presentations and it has been very helpful. I have been using the rubix method where by all class expectations (tests, quizes and projects) are presented to the class on the first day. This is an effective method of communicating with the students. They seem to like this method because they know what to expect and when to ecxpect. This takes the pressure off the instructor and gives them guidance as to their expectations. This works for me. Thank you for the reminder, the presentation was very helpful.
Clear goals and objectives helps students understand from the beginning what they are going to need to know from class and what they will be getting out of the particular class. They also help students to stay on track during class if they know what they are going to be learning. I also like to have my students write the objectives down for the day and than raise their hand when they think we have covered the objective. It becomes like a game to the students and they really get into it and start to get competitive about finding the answer
John,
Good example of how clear goals and objectives can enhance student engagement. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Robert,
Like the age old question "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer: "Once bite at a time." We need to keep this thought in the minds of our students throughout the course.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Carmencita,
Great to hear the words about the course. Glad to hear that the content was valuable to you and your instructional development. I wish you much teaching success.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Just as with anything in life, knowing where you are, and where you want to be allows you to plan a course of action to accomplish the goal and set a path to it. If you were to want to go to San Diego from New York, It would be helpful to know where those two places were in relation to each other as well as available routes so that a plan for the trip could be made. By leaving nothing but political boundaries on your mape, which would be akin to poor goals and objectives, a clear path between the tow locations makes planning difficult at best.
For me it's Imperative to have clear goals and objectives. It's the way my students understand what is expected of them and how they are going to accomplish said goals....
