Articulating Learning Objectives

Effective course design begins with the question, what do I want my students to be able to do or produce by the end of this module?¹ In answering this question, you will articulate course aims and objectives that will guide your choice of topics to cover in each module.

How to Write Effective Learning Objectives

The most effective learning objectives include active verbs and measurable outcomes.

Focusing on concrete actions and behaviors allows us to make student learning explicit, and communicates to students the kind of intellectual effort we expect of them.²

Because learning objectives should guide the selection of assessments, they cannot be vague. Effective objectives point to a clear assessment that can easily check whether students have mastered that skill (e.g. Can they create a closure?).

Vague Objectives:

Objectives:
In this lecture, we'll be covering:
- What is scope?
- Types of scope
- Scope best practices

(NOTE: This could be a useful overview for your module rather than its learning objectives)


Vague words and phrases to avoid include:

understand, know, improve, learn, appreciate, approach, increase, think 

Objectives with Action Verbs and Measurable Outcomes

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• define scope
• articulate the difference between global, functional, and block scope (with reference to variables and parameters when applicable)
• explain the order in which JavaScript looks up variables in nested scopes
• articulate "best practices" regarding scope and the global namespace
• create nested scopes in order to hide some variables while leaving others exposed
• write functions that access variables in function and global scopes
• write functions that can deal with a single variable name that is declared both locally and in a higher scope

Why Write Learning Objectives

Learning objectives are beneficial for students and instructors:

• Students have a clear record of the skills they acquire in each module
• Students have a record of what we expect them to know in order to succeed in the course
• Students can direct their learning efforts and monitor their own progress
• Upon completion of the course, students have a model for how to articulate what they have learned and what they can do
• Instructors can more easily ensure that the workshops help students acquire precisely those skills that they should be learning in each module
• Instructors and fellows can more easily determine the degree to which students are meeting the learning objectives during the workshop

References and Resources:

• Sample Learning Objectives from Carnegie Mellon University
• Writing learning objectives before you write the content and assessments of your modules aligns with the guiding principles of the 'Backward Design' teaching and learning framework