THE ART OF CRAFTING MEANINGFUL, MEASURABLE LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

What is a learning objective? What is a learning outcome? While often used interchangeably, these two terms are quite different. Consider this example for clues to those differences. Suppose that you are developing a nursing course on evidence-based practice. A learning outcome might set the goal of utilizing evidence to provide safe, cost-effective patient care. An objective for such an outcome could be locating scholarly literature pertaining to improving care.

In this Discussion, you will further investigate the relationship between learning outcomes and learning objectives and develop both types of objectives for a scenario.

Note: Remember that your Instructor assigned you to a specific Discussion Group A, B, C, or D in Week 2. You will remain in the same group and respond from the perspective of your Discussion group setting.

TO PREPARE:

• Reflect on the Learning Resources in Weeks 6 and 7. Pay specific attention to alignment between learning activities and learning objectives.
• Review the media program in this week’s Learning Resources to examine effective approaches to writing meaningful, measurable learning objectives.

Review the following scenarios and select the one scenario that would apply most directly to your Discussion group setting.

B: College or University

You are a nursing faculty member at a university and are developing a new course for an introduction to medical-surgical nursing.

• To guide your development of your Discussion post, consider the following questions:
  • What is the overarching learning need illustrated in the scenario? How could this overarching need be expressed in one or more learning outcomes?
  • What learning needs to be addressed in order to achieve those outcomes?
  • What meaningful learning objectives could you develop to represent the learning needs you have identified?
  • How could you use the learning objectives to create an educational, learner-centered activity designed to meet the objectives?
  • How can you use the learning objectives to measure whether learning has taken place?
• Using your answers to the previous questions, for your scenario, develop two learning outcomes, two learning objectives aligned to those outcomes, and a learning activity keyed to the objectives applicable to the scenario.

Posting Directions: When creating your post, use the title: “Learning activity for Scenario _____.”

BY DAY 3 OF WEEK 7

In your Group Discussion area, post the following:

• Describe the 2 learning outcomes, 2 learning objectives, and 1 learning activity that you developed for the scenario for your Discussion group setting.
• Explain the differences between learning outcomes and learning objectives.
• Explain how the learning outcomes and learning objectives for your activity adhere to these differences.
• Explain how these differences would impact other learning in your Discussion group setting.

• LEARNING RESOURCES

  Required Readings

  • Oermann, M. & Gaberson, K. (2016). Assessment and the education process Download Assessment and the education process. In Evaluation and testing in nursing education (5th ed., pp. 3–22). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.
    Credit Line: Evaluation and testing in nursing education New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, 5th Edition by Oermann, M., & Gaberson, K. Copyright 2016 by Springer Publishing Company. Reprinted by permission of Springer Publishing Company via the Copyright Clearance Center.
  • Bjerke, M. B., & Renger, R. (2017). Being smart about writing SMART objectivesLinks to an external site.. Evaluation and Program Planning (61), 125–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2016.12.009
  • Herrmann, T., & Leggett, T. (2019). Curriculum mapping: Aligning content and designLinks to an external site.. Radiologic Technology, 90(5), 530–533.
  • Schutte, K., Line, D., & McCullick, C. (2018). Using curriculum mapping and visualization to maximize effective changeLinks to an external site.. Administrative Issues Journal: Education, Practice & Research, 8(2), 81–93.
  • Arkansas State University. (n.d.). Bloom’s revised taxonomy Download Bloom’s revised taxonomy: Cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Retrieved from https://www.astate.edu/dotAsset/7a3b152c-b73a-45d6-b8a3-7ecf7f786f6a.pdf 
    (Previously read in Weeks 2, 3, and 7)
  • Future Learn. (n.d.). Introduction to educational design in higher education: Constructive alignment exampleLinks to an external site.. Retrieved from https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/educational-design/0/steps/26419
    (Previously reviewed in Week 6)
    Note: As you review this web resource, scroll down to the graphic, “Mapping PLOs and CLOs” and select “Click to expand”. Once you expand the graphic, you will be able to visualize a mapping of the relationship between the Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) and the Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs). Consider how this example might help you as you create your graphic of your program of study for Part 3 of your Course Project.
  • Document: Learning Objective Verbs at Each Bloom’s Taxonomy Level (PDF document)

  
  

  
  

Use the Learning Resources and/or the best available evidence from current literature to support your post.