Learning Outcomes and Objectives
“The best way to design instruction is to work backward from its expected outcomes”.1 Learning outcomes are the knowledge and skills that your students must possess upon the completion of the course. These are broad statements that cover the overall purpose and goals of the course curriculum. They are also an important step in developing the learning objectives. Learning objectives are more specific versions of the learning outcomes that apply to individual lessons. They should be stated in terms that are active and measurable. They should reflect the expected result of the teaching–learning process or the specific instructional goals of a deliberate educational intervention. In other words, they state what students should be able to do as a result of the instruction. A good way to develop preciseness in course objectives is to incorporate three components when you write them: 1. Give the situation for learning with which the student must deal. For example: if the instructional outcome is to be able to label parts of the human body, give the learner a diagram of the body with which to work. 2. Indicate the human capability being demonstrated by using specific language. Example: the student will identify the parts of the body. 3. Describe in no uncertain terms how the human performance is to be completed. Example: the student will write the name of the body part on the diagram. The complete course objective would then read: “Given a diagram of the human body, the student will identify each of the parts by writing its name on the diagram”. Many faculty use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide for developing learning objectives and outcomes. It assumes that acquiring factual knowledge is the easiest mental operation and then the cognitive difficulty increases with each level, as shown in the figure below, with the evaluation or judgment being the hardest and subsuming all previous stages. The next page illustrates it with concrete examples. 1
Gagne, R.M., Briggs, L.J., & Wager, W.W. (1992). Principles of Instructional Design (4th Ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Cognitive Domain Levels of Thinking Skills
The following is a breakdown of the organization of thinking skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy. In the left
column are the general instructional objectives or goals for each learning outcome. The right column lists
specific behavioral terms for stating the specific learning outcomes. The highest level is Evaluation.
Evaluation
Judges the logical consistency of written material
Judges the adequacy with which conclusions are
supported by data
Judges the value of a work (art, music, writing) by
use of internal or external criteria
appraises, compares, concludes, contrasts, critiques,
justifies, evaluates, supports
Synthesis
Writes a well-organized theme
Gives a well-organized speech
Writes a creative short story, poem, music
Proposes a plan for an experiment
Integrates learning from different areas into a plan
for solving a problem
Formulates a new scheme for classifying objects,
events, ideas
categorizes, combines, compiles, composes, creates,
devises, designs, generates, modifies, organizes, plans,
rearranges, reconstructs, revises, rewrites
Analysis
Distinguishes between facts and inferences
Compares and contrasts two issues
Identifies logical fallacies
Identifies unstated assumptions
Analyzes the organizational structure of a work
(art, music, writing)
breaks down, diagrams, differentiates, discriminates,
distinguishes, identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, points
out, relates, selects, separates, subdivides
Application
Applies concepts and principles to new situations
Applies laws and theories to practical situations
Solves mathematical problems
Constructs charts and graphs
Demonstrates correct usage of a method or procedure
changes, computes, demonstrates, discovers, manipulates,
modifies, operates, predicts, prepares, relates, shows,
solves
Comprehension
Understands facts and principles
Interprets verbal material
Interprets charts and graphs
Translates verbal material to mathematical formulas
Estimates future consequences implied in data
Explains methods and procedures
converts, defends, distinguishes, estimates, explains,
extends, generalizes, gives examples, infers, paraphrases,
predicts, rewrites, summarizes
Knowledge
Knows common terms
Knows specific facts
Knows methods and procedures
Knows basic concepts
Knows principles
defines, describes, identifies, labels, lists, names, outlines,
points out, reproduces, selects, states