Identifying learning objectives gives both the instructor and student a clear view of the overall goals of the course. Without these objectives, I could become very easy to veer off course and start getting into subject matter that may be relevant, but is unnecessary to the current lesson being taught.
It helps take any confusion out of the learning process. Students know up front what is expected of them and what they should anticipate throughout the course. It helps keep us as instructors on track and also reminds us that we must be relevent and up to date with information.
In my opinion, it is very important for an educator to know how to construct learning objectives so that they understand how the curriculum should flow. The educator needs to know how and what to instruct the students on and the objectives are a way to measure themselves and the students. The students can also do self-measurements with the objectives if they are written clearly.
It is very important for students to have exposure to learning objectives more than once. They have so much information to consider each day. Additional exposure to the objectives will help them focus on the learning activities during class. It also helps to write or post the objectives on the board and make references to them as the class progresses.
Ron,
I agree. It is important that the instructor provided a simplified explanation of the objectives and the "journey" to accomplishing them, throughout the course.
Tremayne Simpson
Cindy,
This is excellent. In addition, it is a good idea to discuss how an individual activity, will be used to meet a particular learning objective for the course.
Tremayne Simpson
It allows the instructor to gain a thorough knowledge of the course content by reinforcing the need to offer clear objectives for the students to follow. As the instructor becomes familar with the course material I believe she will be best able to deliver it and set expectations for the students.
It helps to focus the large amount of information on a subject into specific content that needs to be taught and understood.
Understanding learning objectives: I found it to be very important for the students to have a understanding of the learning objectives, it provides them the purpose of the lesson and what is except of them in class.
v/r
Ron
Its important to construct learning objectives so that the students as well as the instructor know exactly what will be covered in the course. It is important that the students know the purpose of taking the class and what they should be learning throughout. This will let them know exactly what they need to focus on and what they should be able to accomplish by the end of the course
I write the Learning Objectives on the whiteboard before each class. I think it helps the students to stay on track and they know what to expect. They don't have to worry what is coming in the next couple of hours. I also go over them verbally at the beginning of class.
If you don't have effective and accruate objectives, you most likely won't incorporate everything you should in an instructional plan.
Learning objectives are important for both the teacher and the students. With good learning objectives, the teacher can stay on task easily, and know exactly where he or she is in relation to what needs should be met on any given day.
The students can also use learning objectives to see how they are progressing. Self evaluation is very important, especially in my field of music, and with clearly defined learning objectives, students can decide for themselves if they are meeting these successfully or not, and then plan accordingly.
I actually discuss the day before and the day of.Day before is verbally and the day of the objectives are written on the board and spoken verbally.
I use powerpoints to teach a lot of my classes, because the students need to see pathology and "real time" videos to understand what I am talking about. I list the objectives at the beginning of the presentation which they get copies of. They also are able to view these anytime they want on their student portal. This helps me know that I have covered all the important points they need to pass the registry.
If you dont learn how to construct learning then you will have a classroom full of clueless students about the subject.
Objectives help the students understand the focus of the lecture. Objectives also help me as the instructor tailor my lecture to focus on exactly what the students need to grasp from that chapter.
Its important because it puts in black and white for the student exactly what they are suppose to be learning for that particular section. So if all else fails they would be aware and can ask questions about things that weren't learned or explained well.
Judith,
I agree. In addition, specific and clear learning objectives can enable the student to understand the alignment of the course, with their overall program objectives. With this information, they can understand how their program is preparing them for their desired career.
Tremayne Simpson
When an instructor communicates specific learning objectives for a course -- two positive outcomes result:
1) the instructor focuses the content instruction specifically on teaching the objective,
and 2) the student knows what they are expected to learn and also, are able to track their learning towards the specific goal.
Having a specific objective also prompts focused questions from students about whether they felt they learned the objective or not, or if they feel "fuzzy" about a certain part of the objective that they did not understand clearly.
Good learning objectives help the instructor as well as the student in the learning process.
