Hi David,
This is such a simple concept but is often overlooked by instructors. Clear goals and objectives guide both instructors and students to the successful completion of the course's activities. They are foundational to everything that goes on in the class.
Gary
Goals and objectives are used to convey the material that will be covered, what the student is required/expected to learn in the course and define the measurable outcomes for each student. In other words, they provide the baseline for grading. Without clear goals/objectives, student will flounder, not learn and be unable to discuss the topics, etc.
Two key reasons I can think of off the top of my head:
1. Because they provide clear direction for the students in the class. They will understand the goals, and why this or that assignment is part of the class.
2. Because they provide clear direction for the instructor. They are useful the first time you teach a class, because they help to keep you focused on the information you need to provide for this particular class.
Goals and objectives then provide both students and teachers a clear direction for the class and an idea of what will be covered.
Setting the goals helps chunk up the material into logical steps and enables the students to see how they will be progressing throughout the course.
Hi Earle,
Exactly. By having clear goals and objectives going in then students know what the expectations are and you have something to measure against when the course is over.
Gary
At the end we are rquired to perform some sort of evalutation of student performance and without clear goals how would we know we achieved the desired outcomes?
The first day of class the students should be explain what the Instructor expect them to achieve in the class course.Students need to be in agreement with the Instructor, ask to clarify anything that is not understood, Instuctor need to be ready and able to assist at all times.
Bessie Sayles
Clear goals and objectives assists the instructor to stay focused. It is easy to stray off course without a lesson plan/outlines. Teaching to the "test" ensures material delivered will meet the criteria for certification requirements.
My goals for the students is to keep a good retention, that they will be able to acheive their goals in life.
Thanks! Have a nice evening :)
Cathy
Hi C Kennedy,
Good points about boundaries and expectations. By having a clear understanding of the expectations, requirements and polices for the course from the very beginning the students can get settled in and start the learning sequence without wondering about how the course is going to go.
Gary
Students need boundaries and expectations. This establishes instructor and course expectations and lays out a plan for students. Without this students don't know what is expected and can fail because there is no foundation laid.
Providing objectives and goals also gives the instructor a foundation to write lesson plans to achieve the goals.
These goals help you as an instructor build and provide an instructional road map for your course. The objectives help to communicate to students what and how they will be learning in the course.
That's a good solution, Gary. I was thinking of a new category to include on the syllabus, but it makes complete sense to just include a more fully-developed daily lesson plan. Thanks.
Hi John,
You ask a very good question. Go ahead an develop the more general objectives, almost goal like and list them for the course. Then you can get very specific for the daily class objectives because those are short term and intensive. I would list course objectives and then daily lesson/lecture objectives that support the general objectives. This way you have met both needs for everyone.
Gary
Obviously, we need clear goals and clear objectives so that the students know both why they are learning what they are learning (the overall reason and direction), and how they will get there (the training, methods, and assessment).
It can quite difficult to show and to prove that they have indeed gotten there (and also to show that they weren't already there to begin with). What suggestions might you have to better judge (and to be able to document) a student's BEFORE and AFTER picture?
Also, I would love to be as specific as possible with the course objectives. The problem is that when we often are teaching off of established course syllabus that have been previously submitted and approved by accreditation officials). So, we're stuck with them. We cannot easily change them.
And also, because of this, and with nature of Information Technology in general, the more specific I try to make objectives, the more problems that I run into when hardware, software, industry standards, etc. change. So, I find that I have to be a specific as possible, yet deliberately vague. For instance, instead of saying "Microsoft Windows XP," I have to say "Microsoft operating system." Even trying to say the "latest version of" can be problematic because we may not have it yet or the hardware to run it. Using any particular brand names can run me into problems, so we have to call courses more generic and call them "Server Administration" instead of "Microsoft Services."
Would it be right, in cases like this, to include the deliberately-more vague list of course objectives (that match with your accreditation), and then to sneak more specific objectives into the syllabus under some type of other name? An objectives subheading, maybe?
You can more concisely define what content fits within the framework of the course.
Hi David,
You can't say too much about the need for clear expectations, polices and requirements. With everything being clear for the course then the instructor and the students can concentrate on the contents of the course and skills they need to develop.
Gary
Students rely on knowing from the start what they are supposed to learn in the class. In order to really focus on new information, they need to be able to put new class goals in perspective with previous courses. Clear goals and objectives answers the question "Why do I need to learn this?"
It is important to have clear goals and let students know what you are trying to accomplish and why?
