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Writing Effective Learning Goals

Resource overview.

Tips and resources to help you set learning goals for your course

Oftentimes when instructors are developing courses, they start by thinking about a reading list or a list of topics to lecture on. This is considered a forward-thinking process of designing a course. By contrast, Wiggins and McTighe (2005) recommend a backward design approach that encourages you to consider your outcomes (goals) for students first. A learning goal is a statement of what your students should know or be able to do as a result of successfully completing your course.

By clarifying and explicitly stating your learning goals first, you can then design assessments and learning activities that are aligned with those goals. The benefit of following backward design that you can be confident that students who succeed in the course will leave having achieved the goals that you set for them at the beginning.

Identifying Your Learning Goals

Ideally, learning goals for a course are developed through considering contextual factors, as well as the kinds of knowledge production activities (e.g. synthesis, analysis, comparison, etc.) and skills that you want your students to leave your course comfortable performing. Starting from contextual factors, and considering types of learning on a macro-level, should make it easier to identify specific course-level learning goals for your students. As you are exploring the chart below, consider the relationships among the teaching context, types of learning, and beginning draft of learning goals provided:

What’s the Big Deal about Learning Goals?

So, you might be wondering at this point: what’s the big deal about learning goals? You might even be annoyed if you see learning goals as simply an output of the corporatization of higher education. The truth is however that even if you haven’t used the words “learning goals” before to describe your classes, instructors always have in mind what it is they want their students to get out of a course. And, the best, most meaningful classes for students tend to be those in which that foundational set of goals drives every other decision that is made about the course: What assignments should I ask my students to complete? What should they read or watch? What should we do in class? How should they interact with each other? In short, learning goals can be our compass, can keep us from veering off course in ways that don’t support our students’ learning.

In a time when fancy new technologies and all the other considerations seem overwhelming, learning goals are all the more critical. If you are willing to start from your learning goals, the noise of possibilities will begin to die down, and everything that is truly essential for you to know in order to support your students’ learning will become clearer.

Writing a Learning Goal

As you develop and refine your learning goals for students, you’ll want to make sure they are specific and measurable. It’s critical that the goals that you choose are ones that can be measured–that is, that it would be possible for you to assess how well students have been able to accomplish this goal in your class.

A good way to start drafting a specific learning goal is to identify what you want students to actually  do  with the knowledge that you hope they will gain in your course. Examining  a list of verbs can really be helpful for identifying the specific things that you’d like students to be able to do with knowledge acquired.

One common way to break down these cognitive activities (what students are “doing”) is Bloom’s (revised) Taxonomy, a hierarchical framework for constructing and classifying learning goals (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). The revised taxonomy includes the following levels of cognitive engagement: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. This taxonomy suggests that one isn’t ready to do more complex cognitive tasks (e.g. application, analysis) until one has a firm grasp on the lower-levels (remember, understand).

Traditionally, learning goals are written from the student’s point of view, for example:  “The student should be able to trace the carbon cycle in a given  ecosystem.” 

Click here to see more examples of learning goals.

Characteristics of Effective Learning Goals

It’s relatively easy to write a learning goal, it’s more challenging to write a really effective one! Watch the short video presentation below (~6 minutes) to learn some of the basic principles of effective learning goals.

Further Reading

Nilson, L. (2016). “Outcomes-Centered Course Design” in  Teaching at It’s Best , 4th edition. Jossey-Bass.

Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, Yale University. (2017).  Bloom’s Taxonomy .

Fink, L. D. (2005). A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning .

Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing : A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman.

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design . ASCD.

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How to Write Learning Goals

Main navigation, learning goals overview.

Specific, measurable goals help you design your course and assess its success. To clearly articulate them, consider these questions to help you determine what you want your students to know and be able to do at the end of your course.

• What are the most important concepts (ideas, methods, theories, approaches, perspectives, and other broad themes of your field, etc.) that students should be able to understand, identify, or define at the end of your course?
• What would constitute a "firm understanding", a "good identification", and so on, and how would you assess this? What lower-level facts or information would students need to have mastered and retained as part of their larger conceptual structuring of the material?
• What questions should your students be able to answer at the end of the course? 
• What are the most important skills that students should develop and be able to apply in and after your course (quantitative analysis, problem-solving, close reading, analytical writing, critical thinking, asking questions, knowing how to learn, etc.)?
• How will you help the students build these skills, and how will you help them test their mastery of these skills?
• Do you have any affective goals for the course, such as students developing a love for the field?

A note on terminology: The academy uses a number of possible terms for the concept of learning goals, including course goals, course outcomes, learning outcomes, learning objectives, and more, with fine distinctions among them. With respect for that ongoing discussion, given that the new Stanford course evaluations are focused on assessing learning goals, we will use "learning goals" when discussing what you want your students to be able to do or demonstrate at the end of your class.

A CTL consultant  can help you develop your learning goals.

For more information about how learning goals can contribute to your course design, please see  Teacher-centered vs. Student-centered course design .

Learning Goal Examples

Examples from Stanford’s office of Institutional Research & Decision Support and syllabi of Stanford faculty members:

Languages and Literature

Students will be able to:

• apply critical terms and methodology in completing a literary analysis following the conventions of standard written English
• locate, apply, and cite effective secondary materials in their own texts
• analyze and interpret texts within the contexts they are written

Foreign language students will be able to:

• demonstrate oral competence with suitable accuracy in pronunciation, vocabulary, and language fluency
• produce written work that is substantive, organized, and grammatically accurate
• accurately read and translate texts in their language of study

Humanities and Fine Arts

• demonstrate fluency with procedures of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art practice
• demonstrate in-depth knowledge of artistic periods used to interpret works of art including the historical, social, and philosophical contexts
• critique and analyze works of art and visual objects
• identify musical elements, take them down at dictation, and perform them at sight
• communicate both orally and in writing about music of all genres and styles in a clear and articulate manner
• perform a variety of memorized songs from a standard of at least two foreign languages
• apply performance theory in the analysis and evaluation of performances and texts

Physical and Biological Sciences

• apply critical thinking and analytical skills to interpreting scientific data sets
• demonstrate written, visual, and/or oral presentation skills to communicate scientific knowledge
• acquire and synthesize scientific information from a variety of sources
• apply techniques and instrumentation to solve problems

Mathematics

• translate problems for treatment within a symbolic system
• articulate the rules that govern a symbolic system
• apply algorithmic techniques to solve problems and obtain valid solutions
• judge the reasonableness of obtained solutions

Social Sciences

• write clearly and persuasively to communicate their scientific ideas clearly
• test hypotheses and draw correct inferences using quantitative analysis
• evaluate theory and critique research within the discipline

Engineering

• explain and demonstrate the role that analysis and modeling play in engineering design and engineering applications more generally
• communicate about systems using mathematical, verbal and visual means
• formulate mathematical models for physical systems by applying relevant conservation laws and assumptions
• choose appropriate probabilistic models for a given problem, using information from observed data and knowledge of the physical system being studied
• choose appropriate methods to solve mathematical models and obtain valid solutions

For more information about learning goals, meet with a  CTL consultant .

See more STEM learning goal examples  from the  Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative .

Key dates for end-term feedback

Check the dates for end-term feedback for the academic year.

Frequently asked questions

Get answers to some common questions.

Key principles of evaluation

Key ideas guiding evaluations and student feedback at Stanford.

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• v.21(3); Fall 2022

Writing and Using Learning Objectives

Rebecca b. orr.

† Division of Academic Affairs, Collin College, Plano, TX 75074

Melissa M. Csikari

‡ HHMI Science Education, BioInteractive, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Scott Freeman

§ Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195

Michael C. Rodriguez

∥ Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Learning objectives (LOs) are used to communicate the purpose of instruction. Done well, they convey the expectations that the instructor—and by extension, the academic field—has in terms of what students should know and be able to do after completing a course of study. As a result, they help students better understand course activities and increase student performance on assessments. LOs also serve as the foundation of course design, as they help structure classroom practices and define the focus of assessments. Understanding the research can improve and refine instructor and student use of LOs. This essay describes an online, evidence-based teaching guide published by CBE—Life Sciences Education ( LSE ) at http://lse.ascb.org/learning-objectives . The guide contains condensed summaries of key research findings organized by recommendations for writing and using LOs, summaries of and links to research articles and other resources, and actionable advice in the form of a checklist for instructors. In addition to describing key features of the guide, we also identify areas that warrant further empirical studies.

INTRODUCTION

Learning objectives (LOs) are statements that communicate the purpose of instruction to students, other instructors, and an academic field ( Mager, 1997 ; Rodriguez and Albano, 2017 ). They form the basis for developing high-quality assessments for formative and summative purposes. Once LOs and assessments are established, instructional activities can help students master the material. Aligning LOs with assessments and instructional practice is the essence of backward course design ( Fink, 2003 ).

Many terms in the literature describe statements about learning expectations. The terms “course objectives,” “course goals,” “learning objectives,” “learning outcomes,” and “learning goals” are often used interchangeably, creating confusion for instructors and students. To clarify and standardize usage, the term “objective” is defined as a declarative statement that identifies what students are expected to know and do . At the same time, “outcome” refers to the results measured at the end of a unit, course, or program. It is helpful to think of LOs as a tool instructors use for describing intended outcomes, regardless of the process for achieving the outcome ( Mager, 1997 ). The term “goal” is less useful. Although it is often used to express more general expectations, there is no consistent usage in the literature.

In this guide, “learning objective” is defined as a statement that communicates the purpose of instruction using an action verb and describes the expected performance and conditions under which the performance should occur. Examples include:

• At the end of this lesson, students should be able to compare the processes of diffusion, osmosis, and facilitated diffusion, and provide biological examples that illustrate each process.
• At the end of this lesson, students should be able to predict the relative rates at which given ions and molecules will cross a plasma membrane in the absence of membrane protein and explain their reasoning.

In terms of content and complexity, LOs should scaffold professional practice, requirements for a program, and individual course goals by communicating the specific content areas and skills considered important by the academic field ( Rodriguez and Albano, 2017 ). They also promote course articulation by supporting consistency when courses are taught by multiple instructors and furnishing valuable information about course alignment among institutions. As a result, LOs should serve as the basis of unit or module, course, and program design and can be declared in a nested hierarchy of levels. For clarity, we describe a hierarchy of LOs in Table 1 .

Levels of LOs ( Rodriguez and Albano, 2017 )

a Hereafter, our use of the term “learning objectives” specifically refers to instructional LOs.

This article describes an evidence-based teaching guide that aggregates, summarizes, and provides actionable advice from research findings on LOs. It can be accessed at http://lse.ascb.org/learning-objectives . The guide has several features intended to help instructors: a landing page that indicates starting points ( Figure 1 ), syntheses of observations from the literature, summaries of and links to selected papers ( Figure 2 ), and an instructor checklist that details recommendations and points to consider. The focus of our guide is to provide recommendations based on the literature for instructors to use when creating, revising, and using instructional LOs in their courses. The Effective Construction section provides evidence-based guidelines for writing effective LOs. The Instructor Use section contains research summaries about using LOs as a foundational element for successful course design, summaries of the research that supports recommended practices for aligning LOs with assessment and classroom instruction, and direction from experts for engaging with colleagues in improving instructor practice with LOs. The Student Use section includes a discussion on how students use LOs and how instructor guidance can improve student use of LOs, along with evidence on the impact of LO use coupled with pretests, transparent teaching methods, and summaries of LO-driven student outcomes in terms of exam scores, depth of learning, and affect (e.g., perception of utility and self-regulated learning). Some of the questions and considerations that serve to organize the guide are highlighted in the following sections.

LO guide landing page, which provides readers with an overview of choice points.

Screenshots representing summaries of and links to selected papers.

WRITING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Writing LOs effectively is essential, as their wording should provide direction for developing instructional activities and guide the design of assessments. Effective LOs clearly communicate what students should know and be able to do and are written to be behavioral, measurable, and attainable ( Rodriguez and Albano, 2017 ). It is particularly important that each LO is written with enough information to ensure that other knowledgeable individuals can use the LO to measure a learner’s success and arrive at the same conclusions ( Mager, 1997 ). Clear, unambiguous wording encourages consistency across sections and optimizes student use of the stated LOs.

Effective LOs specify a visible performance—what students should be able to do with the content—and may also include conditions and the criteria for acceptable performance ( Mager, 1997 ). When constructing an LO, one should use an action verb to describe what students are expected to know and be able to do with the disciplinary knowledge and skills ( Figure 3 ). Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive skills provides a useful framework for writing LOs that embody the intended complexity and the cognitive demands involved in mastering them ( Bloom, 1956 ; Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001 ). Assessment items and course activities can then be aligned with LOs using the Blooming Biology Tool described by Crowe et al. (2008) . However, LOs should not state the instructional method(s) planned to accomplish the objectives or be written so specifically as to be assessment tasks themselves ( Mager, 1997 ).

Components of an LO.

Our Instructor Checklist provides specific recommendations for writing LOs, along with a link to examples of measurable action verbs associated with Bloom’s taxonomy.

COURSE DESIGN: ALIGNING LEARNING OBJECTIVES WITH ASSESSMENT AND CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION

Course designs and redesigns built around clear and measurable LOs result in measurable benefits to students (e.g., Armbruster et al. , 2009 , and other citations in the Course and Curriculum Design and Outcomes section of this guide). LOs are established as the initial step in backward design ( McTighe and Wiggins, 2012 ). They provide a framework for instructors to 1) design assessments that furnish evidence on the degree of student mastery of knowledge and skills and 2) select teaching and learning activities that are aligned with objectives ( Mager, 1997 ; Rodriguez and Albano, 2017) . Figure 4 depicts depicts integrated course course design, emphasizing the dynamic and reciprocal associations among LOs, assessment, and teaching practice.

Components of integrated course design (after Fink, 2003 ).

Used in this way, LOs provide a structure for planning assessments and instruction while giving instructors the freedom to be creative and flexible ( Mager, 1997 ; Reynolds and Kearns, 2017 ). In essence, LOs respond to the question: “If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know which road to take and how do you know when you get there?” ( Mager, 1997 , p. 14). When assessments are created, each assessment item or task must be specifically associated with at least one LO and measure student learning progress on that LO. The performance and conditions components of each LO should guide the type of assessment developed ( Mager, 1997 ). Data gathered from assessment results (feedback) can then inform future instruction. The Assessment section of our guide contains summaries of research reporting the results of aligning assessment with LOs and summaries of frameworks that associate assessment items with LOs.

The purpose of instruction is communicated to students most effectively when instructional activities are aligned with associated instructional and course-level LOs (e.g., Chasteen et al. , 2011 , and others within the Instructor Use section of this guide). The literature summarized in the Course and Curriculum Design section of the guide supports the hypothesis that student learning is strongly impacted by what instructors emphasize in the classroom. In the guide’s Student Buy-In and Metacognition section, we present strategies instructors have used to ensure that LOs are transparent and intentionally reinforced to students . When LOs are not reinforced in instruction, students may conclude that LOs are an administrative requirement rather than something developed for their benefit. The guide’s Instructor Checklist contains evidence-based suggestions for increasing student engagement through making LOs highly visible.

Using LOs as the foundation of course planning results in a more student-centered approach, shifting the focus from the content to be covered to the concepts and skills that the student should be able to demonstrate upon successfully completing the course (e.g., Reynolds and Kearns, 2017 , and others within the Active Learning section of this guide). Instead of designing memorization-driven courses that are “a mile wide and an inch deep,” instructors can use LOs to focus a course on the key concepts and skills that prepare students for future success in the field. Group problem solving, discussions, and other class activities that allow students to practice and demonstrate the competencies articulated in LOs can be prioritized over lectures that strive to cover all of the content. The guide’s Active Learning section contains a summary of the literature on the use of LOs to develop activities that promote student engagement, provide opportunities for students to practice performance, and allow instructors to gather feedback on learning progress. The evidence-based teaching guides on Group Work and Peer Instruction provide additional evidence and resources to support these efforts.

ENGAGING WITH COLLEAGUES TO IMPROVE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Momsen et al. (2010) examined Bloom’s level of assessment items and course goals from 50 faculty in 77 introductory biology courses for majors. The authors found that 93% of the assessment items were rated low-level Bloom’s, and 69% of the 250 course goals submitted were rated low-level Bloom’s ( Momsen et al. , 2010 ). A recent survey of 38 instructors of biology for nonmajors found similar results. Heil et al. (unpublished data) reported that 74% of the instructors surveyed write their own LOs, and 95% share their LOs with their students ( Heil et al. , unpublished data ). The action verbs used in 66% of these LOs were low-level Bloom’s cognitive skills, assessing knowledge and comprehension ( Heil et al. , unpublished data ). Further, an analysis of 1390 LOs from three best-selling biology textbooks for nonscience majors found that 89% were rated Bloom’s cognitive skill level 1 or level 2. Vision & Change competencies, as articulated in the BioSkills Guide ( Clemmons et al. , 2020 ), were only present in 17.7% of instructors’ LOs and 7% of the textbook LOs ( Heil et al. , unpublished data ). These data suggest that, in introductory biology for both majors and nonmajors, most instructors emphasize lower-order cognitive skills that are not aligned with teaching frameworks.

Researchers have documented effective strategies to improve instructors’ writing and use of LOs. The guide’s Engaging with Colleagues section contains summaries demonstrating that instructor engagement with the scholarship of teaching and learning can improve through professional development in collaborative groups—instructors can benefit by engaging in a collegial community of practice as they implement changes in their teaching practices (e.g., Richlin and Cox, 2004 , and others within the Engaging with Colleagues section of the guide). Collaboration among institutions can create common course-level LOs that promote horizontal and vertical course alignment, which can streamline articulation agreements and transfer pathways between institutions ( Kiser et al. , 2022 ). Departmental efforts to map LOs across program curricula can close gaps in programmatic efforts to convey field-expected criteria and develop student skills throughout a program ( Ezell et al. , 2019 ). The guide contains summaries of research-based recommendations that encourage departmental support for course redesign efforts (e.g., Pepper et al. , 2012 , and others within the Engaging with Colleagues section of the guide).

HOW DO LEARNING OBJECTIVES IMPACT STUDENTS?

When instructors publish well-written LOs aligned with classroom instruction and assessments, they establish clear goalposts for students ( Mager, 1997 ). Using LOs to guide their studies, students should no longer have to ask “Do we have to know …?” or “Will this be on the test?” The Student Use section of the guide contains summaries of research on the impact of LOs from the student perspective.

USING LEARNING OBJECTIVES TO GUIDE STUDENT LEARNING

Researchers have shown that students support the use of LOs to design class activities and assessments. In the Guiding Learning section of the guide, we present evidence documenting how students use LOs and how instructors can train students to use them more effectively ( Brooks et al. , 2014 , and other citations within this section of the guide). However, several questions remain about the impact of LOs on students. For example, using LOs may improve students’ ability to self-regulate, which in turn may be particularly helpful in supporting the success of underprepared students ( Simon and Taylor, 2009 ; Osueke et al. , 2018 ). But this hypothesis remains untested.

There is evidence that transparency in course design improves the academic confidence and retention of underserved students ( Winkelmes et al. , 2016 ), and LOs make course expectations transparent to students. LOs are also reported to help students organize their time and effort and give students, particularly those from traditionally underserved groups, a better idea of areas in which they need help ( Minbiole, 2016 ). Additionally, LOs facilitate the construction of highly structured courses by providing scaffolding for assessment and classroom instruction. Highly structured course design has been demonstrated to improve all students’ academic performance. It significantly reduces achievement gaps (difference in final grades on a 4.0 scale) between disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged students ( Haak et al. , 2011 ). However, much more evidence is needed on how LOs impact underprepared and/or underresourced students:

• Does the use of LOs lead to increased engagement with the content and/or instructor by underprepared and/or underserved students?
• Does LO use have a disproportionate and positive impact on the ability of underprepared and/or underresourced students to self-direct their learning?
• Is there a significant impact on underserved students’ academic performance and persistence with transparent LOs in place?

In general, how can instructors help students realize the benefits of well-written LOs? Research indicates that many students never receive instruction on using LOs ( Osueke et al. , 2018 ). However, when students receive explicit instruction on LO use, they benefit ( Osueke et al. , 2018 ). Examples include teaching students how to turn LOs into questions and how to answer and use those questions for self-assessment ( Osueke et al. , 2018 ). Using LOs for self-assessment allows students to take advantage of retrieval practice, a strategy that has a positive effect on learning and memory by helping students identify what they have and have not learned ( Bjork and Bjork, 2011 ; Brame and Biel, 2015 ). Some students, however, may avoid assessment strategies that identify what they do not understand or know because they find difficulty uncomfortable ( Orr and Foster, 2013 ; Dye and Stanton, 2017 ).

Brooks et al. (2014) reported that about one-third of students surveyed indicated that they had underestimated the depth of learning required to pass an assessment on the stated LOs. Further, students may have difficulty understanding the scope or expectations of stated LOs until after learning the content. Research on how instructors should train students to use LOs has been limited, and many of these open questions remain:

• What are the best practices to help students use LOs in self-assessment strategies?
• How can instructors motivate students to go outside their comfort zones for learning and use LOs in self-assessment strategies?
• How can instructors help students better understand the performance, conditions, and criteria required by the LOs to demonstrate successful learning?
• How might this differ for learners at different institutions, where academic preparedness and/or readiness levels may vary greatly?

CAPITALIZING ON THE PRETEST EFFECT

The guide’s Pretesting section contains research findings building on the pretesting effect reported by Little and Bjork (2011) . Pretesting with questions based on LOs has been shown to better communicate course expectations to students, increase student motivation and morale by making learning progress more visible, and improve retention of information as measured by final test scores ( Beckman, 2008 ; Sana et al. , 2020 ). Operationalizing LOs as pretest questions may serve as an effective, evidence-based model for students to self-assess and prepare for assessment. The research supporting this strategy is very limited, however, prompting the following questions:

• How broadly applicable—in terms of discipline and course setting—is the benefit of converting LOs to pretest questions?
• Is the benefit of operationalizing LOs to create pretests sustained when converting higher-level Bloom’s LOs into pretest questions?
• Does the practice of using LOs to create pretest questions narrow students’ focus such that the breadth/scope of their learning is overly limited/restricted? This is particularly concerning if students underestimate the depth of learning required by the stated LOs ( Brooks et al. , 2014 ).
• Could this practice help instructors teach students to use LOs to self-assess with greater confidence and persistence?

STUDENT OUTCOMES

The guide concludes with research summaries regarding the specific benefits to students associated with the use of LOs. Specifically, 1) alignment of LOs and assessment items is associated with higher exam scores (e.g., Armbruster et al. , 2009 , and others within the Outcomes section of the guide); 2) exam items designed to measure student mastery of LOs can support higher-level Bloom’s cognitive skills (e.g., Armbruster et al. , 2009 , and others within the Outcomes section of the guide); and 3) students adjust their learning approach based on course design and have been shown to employ a deeper approach to learning in courses in which assessment and class instruction are aligned with LOs ( Wang et al. , 2013 ).

CHALLENGES IN MEASURING THE IMPACT OF LEARNING OBJECTIVES

It is difficult to find literature in which researchers measured the impact of LOs alone on student performance due to their almost-necessary conflation with approaches to assessment and classroom practices. We argue that measuring the impact of LOs independently of changes in classroom instruction or assessment would be inadvisable, considering the role that LOs play in integrated course design ( Figure 4 ). Consistent with this view, the guide includes summaries of research findings on course redesigns that focus on creating or refining well-defined, well-written LOs; aligning assessment and classroom practice with the LOs; and evaluating student use and/or outcomes ( Armbruster et al. , 2009 ; Chasteen et al. , 2011 ). We urge instructors to use LOs from this integrated perspective.

CONCLUSIONS

We encourage instructors to use LOs as the basis for course design, align LOs with assessment and instruction, and promote student success by sharing their LOs and providing practice with how best to use them. Instructor skill in using LOs is not static and can be improved and refined with collaborative professional development efforts. Our teaching guide ends with an Instructor Checklist of actions instructors can take to optimize their use of LOs ( http://lse.ascb.org/learning-objectives/instructor-checklist ).

Acknowledgments

We thank Kristy Wilson for her guidance and support as consulting editor for this effort and Cynthia Brame and Adele Wolfson for their insightful feedback on this paper and the guide. This material is based upon work supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant number DUE 201236 2. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Creating Learning Outcomes

Main navigation.

A learning outcome is a concise description of what students will learn and how that learning will be assessed. Having clearly articulated learning outcomes can make designing a course, assessing student learning progress, and facilitating learning activities easier and more effective. Learning outcomes can also help students regulate their learning and develop effective study strategies.

Defining the terms

Educational research uses a number of terms for this concept, including learning goals, student learning objectives, session outcomes, and more. 

In alignment with other Stanford resources, we will use learning outcomes as a general term for what students will learn and how that learning will be assessed. This includes both goals and objectives. We will use learning goals to describe general outcomes for an entire course or program. We will use learning objectives when discussing more focused outcomes for specific lessons or activities.

For example, a learning goal might be “By the end of the course, students will be able to develop coherent literary arguments.” 

Whereas a learning objective might be, “By the end of Week 5, students will be able to write a coherent thesis statement supported by at least two pieces of evidence.”

Learning outcomes benefit instructors

Learning outcomes can help instructors in a number of ways by:

• Providing a framework and rationale for making course design decisions about the sequence of topics and instruction, content selection, and so on.
• Communicating to students what they must do to make progress in learning in your course.
• Clarifying your intentions to the teaching team, course guests, and other colleagues.
• Providing a framework for transparent and equitable assessment of student learning. 
• Making outcomes concerning values and beliefs, such as dedication to discipline-specific values, more concrete and assessable.
• Making inclusion and belonging explicit and integral to the course design.

Learning outcomes benefit students 

Clearly, articulated learning outcomes can also help guide and support students in their own learning by:

• Clearly communicating the range of learning students will be expected to acquire and demonstrate.
• Helping learners concentrate on the areas that they need to develop to progress in the course.
• Helping learners monitor their own progress, reflect on the efficacy of their study strategies, and seek out support or better strategies. (See Promoting Student Metacognition for more on this topic.)

Choosing learning outcomes

When writing learning outcomes to represent the aims and practices of a course or even a discipline, consider:

• What is the big idea that you hope students will still retain from the course even years later?
• What are the most important concepts, ideas, methods, theories, approaches, and perspectives of your field that students should learn?
• What are the most important skills that students should develop and be able to apply in and after your course?
• What would students need to have mastered earlier in the course or program in order to make progress later or in subsequent courses?
• What skills and knowledge would students need if they were to pursue a career in this field or contribute to communities impacted by this field?
• What values, attitudes, and habits of mind and affect would students need if they are to pursue a career in this field or contribute to communities impacted by this field?
• How can the learning outcomes span a wide range of skills that serve students with differing levels of preparation?
• How can learning outcomes offer a range of assessment types to serve a diverse student population?

Use learning taxonomies to inform learning outcomes

Learning taxonomies describe how a learner’s understanding develops from simple to complex when learning different subjects or tasks. They are useful here for identifying any foundational skills or knowledge needed for more complex learning, and for matching observable behaviors to different types of learning.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical model and includes three domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. In this model, learning occurs hierarchically, as each skill builds on previous skills towards increasingly sophisticated learning. For example, in the cognitive domain, learning begins with remembering, then understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and lastly creating. 

Taxonomy of Significant Learning

The Taxonomy of Significant Learning is a non-hierarchical and integral model of learning. It describes learning as a meaningful, holistic, and integral network. This model has six intersecting domains: knowledge, application, integration, human dimension, caring, and learning how to learn. 

See our resource on Learning Taxonomies and Verbs for a summary of these two learning taxonomies.

How to write learning outcomes

Writing learning outcomes can be made easier by using the ABCD approach. This strategy identifies four key elements of an effective learning outcome:

Consider the following example: Students (audience) , will be able to label and describe (behavior) , given a diagram of the eye at the end of this lesson (condition) , all seven extraocular muscles, and at least two of their actions (degree) .

Audience 

Define who will achieve the outcome. Outcomes commonly include phrases such as “After completing this course, students will be able to...” or “After completing this activity, workshop participants will be able to...”

Keeping your audience in mind as you develop your learning outcomes helps ensure that they are relevant and centered on what learners must achieve. Make sure the learning outcome is focused on the student’s behavior, not the instructor’s. If the outcome describes an instructional activity or topic, then it is too focused on the instructor’s intentions and not the students.

Try to understand your audience so that you can better align your learning goals or objectives to meet their needs. While every group of students is different, certain generalizations about their prior knowledge, goals, motivation, and so on might be made based on course prerequisites, their year-level, or majors. 

Use action verbs to describe observable behavior that demonstrates mastery of the goal or objective. Depending on the skill, knowledge, or domain of the behavior, you might select a different action verb. Particularly for learning objectives which are more specific, avoid verbs that are vague or difficult to assess, such as “understand”, “appreciate”, or “know”.

The behavior usually completes the audience phrase “students will be able to…” with a specific action verb that learners can interpret without ambiguity. We recommend beginning learning goals with a phrase that makes it clear that students are expected to actively contribute to progressing towards a learning goal. For example, “through active engagement and completion of course activities, students will be able to…”

Example action verbs

Consider the following examples of verbs from different learning domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy . Generally speaking, items listed at the top under each domain are more suitable for advanced students, and items listed at the bottom are more suitable for novice or beginning students. Using verbs and associated skills from all three domains, regardless of your discipline area, can benefit students by diversifying the learning experience. 

For the cognitive domain:

• Create, investigate, design
• Evaluate, argue, support
• Analyze, compare, examine
• Solve, operate, demonstrate
• Describe, locate, translate
• Remember, define, duplicate, list

For the psychomotor domain:

• Invent, create, manage
• Articulate, construct, solve
• Complete, calibrate, control
• Build, perform, execute
• Copy, repeat, follow

For the affective domain:

• Internalize, propose, conclude
• Organize, systematize, integrate
• Justify, share, persuade
• Respond, contribute, cooperate
• Capture, pursue, consume

Often we develop broad goals first, then break them down into specific objectives. For example, if a goal is for learners to be able to compose an essay, break it down into several objectives, such as forming a clear thesis statement, coherently ordering points, following a salient argument, gathering and quoting evidence effectively, and so on.

State the conditions, if any, under which the behavior is to be performed. Consider the following conditions:

• Equipment or tools, such as using a laboratory device or a specified software application.
• Situation or environment, such as in a clinical setting, or during a performance.
• Materials or format, such as written text, a slide presentation, or using specified materials.

The level of specificity for conditions within an objective may vary and should be appropriate to the broader goals. If the conditions are implicit or understood as part of the classroom or assessment situation, it may not be necessary to state them. 

When articulating the conditions in learning outcomes, ensure that they are sensorily and financially accessible to all students.

Degree 

Degree states the standard or criterion for acceptable performance. The degree should be related to real-world expectations: what standard should the learner meet to be judged proficient? For example:

• With 90% accuracy
• Within 10 minutes
• Suitable for submission to an edited journal
• Obtain a valid solution
• In a 100-word paragraph

The specificity of the degree will vary. You might take into consideration professional standards, what a student would need to succeed in subsequent courses in a series, or what is required by you as the instructor to accurately assess learning when determining the degree. Where the degree is easy to measure (such as pass or fail) or accuracy is not required, it may be omitted.

Characteristics of effective learning outcomes

The acronym SMART is useful for remembering the characteristics of an effective learning outcome.

• Specific : clear and distinct from others.
• Measurable : identifies observable student action.
• Attainable : suitably challenging for students in the course.
• Related : connected to other objectives and student interests.
• Time-bound : likely to be achieved and keep students on task within the given time frame.

Examples of effective learning outcomes

These examples generally follow the ABCD and SMART guidelines. 

Arts and Humanities

Learning goals.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to apply critical terms and methodology in completing a written literary analysis of a selected literary work.

At the end of the course, students will be able to demonstrate oral competence with the French language in pronunciation, vocabulary, and language fluency in a 10 minute in-person interview with a member of the teaching team.

Learning objectives

After completing lessons 1 through 5, given images of specific works of art, students will be able to identify the artist, artistic period, and describe their historical, social, and philosophical contexts in a two-page written essay.

By the end of this course, students will be able to describe the steps in planning a research study, including identifying and formulating relevant theories, generating alternative solutions and strategies, and application to a hypothetical case in a written research proposal.

At the end of this lesson, given a diagram of the eye, students will be able to label all of the extraocular muscles and describe at least two of their actions.

Using chemical datasets gathered at the end of the first lab unit, students will be able to create plots and trend lines of that data in Excel and make quantitative predictions about future experiments.

• How to Write Learning Goals , Evaluation and Research, Student Affairs (2021).
• SMART Guidelines , Center for Teaching and Learning (2020).
• Learning Taxonomies and Verbs , Center for Teaching and Learning (2021).

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Home » Blog » How To Write SMART Learning Objectives & Outcomes

How To Write SMART Learning Objectives & Outcomes

As a methodology first created for business management, SMART has since been adapted across numerous fields, including education. SMART objectives offer a structured framework to help educators design effective learning goals that are clear, focused, and reachable. They ensure that learners can understand what is expected from them, fostering a more efficient and meaningful learning experience.

What are SMART Learning Objectives?

The SMART framework breaks down learning objectives into five key characteristics: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Each characteristic plays a pivotal role in creating a comprehensive learning goal that is practical, attainable, and aligned with overall educational targets.

George T. Doran first proposed the SMART framework in the November 1981 issue of Management Review . In his initial formulation, Doran’s A stood for “assignable,” meaning a task that can meaningfully be given to a specified individual. His R stood for “realistic,” a concept now captured by the latter-day “achievable” component.

In its current form, the framework offers a set of criteria that can be applied to any learning methodology to ensure that its content and assessment systems are fit for purpose.

The learning objective should be well-defined, clear, and unambiguous. Instead of setting a broad or generic goal, educators should aim to specify what the learner will achieve upon successful completion of the course or lesson.

Another way to think of this is to consider what the learner will be able to do or understand, having completed the course, that they couldn’t have done or understood beforehand. How will it change their work life, skillset, or understanding?

The objective must include criteria for measuring progress and outcome. This ensures that the learner’s progress can be tracked, and the effectiveness of the learning process can be evaluated.

With eLearning content , there are numerous ways to measure progress and comprehension, including completion percentages, internal quizzes, and final assessments. Various interactive tools allow for gamifying the process of measurement with puzzles and challenges that can be inserted into the course material to maintain interest and gauge understanding.

The learning objective should be realistic and attainable. While ambitious goals can be motivational, they should not be so challenging as to be unattainable, which might lead to frustration or discouragement.

Stepped courses with modules for complete beginners, intermediate-level learners and experts can help ensure that the student completes a course at a level they can manage. Courses should avoid being too lengthy or complicated, or the end goal can begin to seem unreachable.

Break down your course materials into slides, lessons, and modules to motivate students to persist, and reward completion stages with badges, congratulations, or other markers of success.

The objective should align with the learner’s broader educational or professional goals, ensuring the learning process is meaningful and applicable to their overall development. This is particularly important in mandatory training courses such as fire and safety training, first aid or DEI courses.

By tailoring courses to the day-to-day situations your students and employees will face, you will increase engagement.

If a course has an in-person element, make sure it incorporates time for students to discuss how each lesson relates to their own life or work. Lively discussions will follow, and the relevance of the topic will hit home.

Each objective should have a defined timeline, offering a clear deadline for when the learning goal should be achieved. This enhances motivation and allows progress tracking over time.

Run many trials of your courses and time how long it takes the average student to complete the various modules, then tweak the content and design accordingly. Experience has shown that an individual module should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete.

Another good idea is to give students a realistic notion of how long each part of the course will take to finish. This will allow them to allocate sufficient time for completion, without having to interrupt their flow.

Step-by-Step Guide to Writing SMART Learning Objectives

Creating SMART learning objectives involves six critical steps – an initial definitional stage and then one step for each concept in the SMART framework. By following these steps methodically, you’ll ensure your courses are well-designed and fit for purpose.

Step 1: Identify Desired Outcome(s)

Before setting an objective, identify the desired learning outcomes of the lesson or course. What should learners know or be able to do by the end? It’s a good idea to specify this up front to set expectations.

When you’ve devised the course, you can run tests and examine the achieved outcomes. Do they match your intentions when designing the course? If not, a rethink may be required.

Step 2: Be Specific

Use action verbs to precisely define what the learner will achieve. Clearly state the scope of the objective to eliminate ambiguity.

Here’s an example of a poorly written course objective:

“Students will gain an understanding of the basics of social media marketing.”

And here’s that objective written with more specificity (with action verbs in bold):

“Students will appreciate the different audiences of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, understand the marketing objectives that can be achieved using each one, and will practise using some marketing techniques to make best use of each medium.”

Step 3: Ensure Objectives are Measurable

Define clear, quantifiable criteria to evaluate progress and success. You might establish various methods of assessment, including quizzes, projects, or discussions.

Be very transparent upfront about what constitutes an excellent, good, or acceptable “pass mark.” While some courses pass or fail only (driver’s tests, for example), others have gradations of achievement.

It can be difficult to quantify comprehension of a complex topic with multiple choice questions, so if it is vital that students gain an in-depth knowledge of a complex subject, then it is better to include a project, in-person assessment or written essay.

Without some sort of measurable outcome, there’s a danger students can complete courses as “lip service” to the notion of education, without really learning anything.

Step 4: Ensure Objectives are Achievable

Consider the resources available and the learners’ current capabilities when setting objectives. This ensures that the goals are challenging but within reach.

It can be helpful to run a “pre-assessment” test or questionnaire to gauge current comprehension level. If you do so, make sure you stress that there is no good or bad level of achievement; you are simply trying to identify a place to begin.

Match your course materials to the age, reading level and/or educational level of your students. Don’t use overly complicated language when simpler terms will do.

Step 5: Ensure Objectives are Relevant/Personalised

Align the learning objectives with the overall goals of the course and the individual learner’s needs. This ensures the learning process is valuable and beneficial for the learner.

Online systems allow for a high degree of learning personalisation of courses, including offering modules in a range of languages or including various optional extras.

As well as making the course content fit students’ needs, you need to make sure the outcomes match what they’ll be able to use in their employment or day-to-day lives.

For instance, if you were teaching a course in beer-making in a microbrewery setting, but most of your students were likely to work in commercial breweries, it would be wise to tailor the outcomes to include those very different environments.

Step 6: Establish Deadlines/Timeframes

Set clear deadlines for each objective. Balance the time constraints with the scope of the objective to ensure it’s feasible within the given timeframe. This may involve a degree of trial and error as you’re designing the course.

There’s little more frustrating than being told a course must be completed in one hour, only to find that its quizzes are so lengthy and challenging that it takes twice as long to finish.

Examples of SMART Learning Objectives

Here are examples of SMART objectives in different settings:

Classroom Setting

“In this semester, students will improve their writing skills by composing and revising at least three essays, with each essay receiving a score of 70% or higher.”

Note that there is room for variation in this objective – some students may complete three essays while others may do more. 70% is an ambitious but not unrealistic goal if your student intake has been pre-selected for basic literacy.

Online Courses

“By the end of this 20-hour online photography course, participants will produce a portfolio of ten high-quality photographs demonstrating mastery of advanced lighting techniques.”

This course may use advanced photo analytics to judge whether specific lessons about dynamic range, composition, colour, focus and subject choice have been adhered to and demonstrated.

What’s especially good about this objective is that it specifies the completion time (20 hours) and work volume (ten photos) very precisely.

Professional Development

“Within six months, team members will complete an advanced project management course, implement new strategies in their work, and show a 20% decrease in project overruns.”

Although the 20% overrun reduction may prove ambitious, it’s likely that the course organisers have researched the difference between the effect on deadlines of trained versus untrained teams.

“Within six months” is time-bound, but allows some wriggle room, for learners who can complete their coursework more quickly. The objective promises real professional and personal development.

Each of the above examples is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Benefits of Using SMART Learning Objectives

Enhanced focus and clarity.

SMART objectives provide clear and concise goals, aiding learners in understanding exactly what is expected. They ensure that a higher percentage of learners engage with course materials and see courses through to completion.

Improved Measurement and Assessment

Because they’re measurable, SMART objectives make progress tracking and outcome assessment easier and more effective. It becomes easier to demonstrate the efficacy of a course, and to identify places where materials can be improved in future iterations.

Increased Motivation and Engagement

Achievable and time-bound objectives motivate and engage learners by providing clear goals and a sense of urgency. They can foster a spirit of friendly rivalry too, as team members compete with one another to gain the best completion scores.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing SMART Objectives

Here are some of the frequent pitfalls course creators face:

• Avoid vague or overly broad objectives that fail to clearly state what is expected from the learner. These will not inspire excitement and may lead to students feeling adrift as they work through the course materials.
• Avoid objectives without measurable criteria that offer no way to evaluate success. Neither the course creator nor the student is well-served by a course with no objective measure of achievement.
• Avoid irrelevant content that students won’t be able to incorporate within their lives or working environment. If elements add to completion time but don’t contribute to course objectives, the content should be left out.
• Lastly, steer clear of unattainable or unrealistic goals that may frustrate or discourage learners. This will reduce engagement and can cause you to receive poor reviews of your courses.

Strategies for Implementing and Monitoring SMART Objectives

Methods for effective implementation include:

• Incorporating objectives into lesson planning and making sure they are at the forefront when designing a course.
• Tracking progress and adjusting as necessary. Run numerous trials of your courses in the design stage, including participants at various levels of prior subject knowledge.
• Providing regular feedback and support to learners. Take stock at various points during your course, either with recaps (for an online course) or in-person discussions of “what we’ve learned so far.” This helps learners feel they’re keeping up.

SMART is Objectively Better

Creating SMART learning objectives plays an important role in enhancing educational effectiveness. It enables learners to understand expectations, focus their efforts, and measure their progress.

As an eLearning company , Skillshub is committed to creating efficient and impactful learning experiences.

We incorporate these principles into our learning modules, providing a well-rounded eLearning platform and approach that caters to each learner’s unique needs and abilities.

Join us today to elevate your learning experience!

Sean McPheat

Sean is the CEO of Skillshub. He’s a published author and has been featured on CNN, BBC and ITV as a leading authority in the learning and development industry. Sean is responsible for the vision and strategy at Skillshub, helping to ensure innovation within the company.

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Updated on: 6 September, 2023

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Learning Goals & Objectives in Course Design: How To Prepare a Great Lesson Plan (2024)

Table of Contents

A great course that provides value to its learners is the dream of any course creator who wishes to make an impact, right? A combination of a validated course idea and a value-adding syllabus is a win-win situation for both course creators and their learners.

But what makes a course great? What are the elements that determine if a course adds the value a learner is looking for? Is it just the years of experience the instructor has about the teaching subject? The course idea per se? Or something more practical, like a clear definition of the learning goals and objectives that prepare the ground for an effective lesson plan of a course?

In this article, we are going to explore in-depth the role of Learning Goals and Objectives in course design and how to prepare a  lesson plan  based on them.

Table of contents

• 1 What are Learning Goals
• 2 What are Learning Objectives
• 3 What is the Difference Between Goals and Objectives?
• 4 Why is it Important to Set Objectives?
• 5 How Should Objectives be Formed?
• 6 Designing Your Course Using Learning Objectives
• 7 What if I Have Already Created My Course?
• 8 Further Reading

What are Learning Goals

Learning goals are broad, general statements of what we want our students to learn and provide:

Setting goals gives us a real road map to where we want to go. The same when we provide goals to learners. Learning goals are the heart of a course design and need to be made clear at the planning stage .

An instructor can use those goals as a roadmap to prepare an online class. In this article, we are going to explore in-depth the role of Learning Goals and Objectives in course design and how to prepare a lesson plan based on them.

What are Learning Objectives

The best way to use goals as a roadmap for a course design is to make them more clear and concise by determining specific learning objectives .

Writing learning objectives keeps you focused and helps you in planning. This is easily achieved with the use of action verbs that describe learner capabilities at the end of a course.

From the learners’ point of view, objectives help them understand what the instructor expects of them and what they must expect of themselves.

Your professional looking Academy in a few clicks

What is the difference between goals and objectives.

Many people confuse the definitions of goals and objectives and often confuse the terms.

Learning goals are long-term, broad, and achievable, but not necessarily measurable.

On the other hand, learning objectives are also referred to as learning outcomes because they are immediately linked to the expected outcomes; what we can expect learners to be able to do by the end of the course.

Learning objectives can then be broken down into small learning activities , or assessments.

Changing one of these three components greatly affects the other two. So, this process is dynamic while planning course content . The table below can help you understand how goals differ from objectives:

Is it clear enough yet?

Now, let’s see a real example of an instructional goal vs. the objectives in an Art course and Photoshop course:

Why is it Important to Set Objectives?

When setting Learning Objectives:

• You can adequately organize the course material because you can establish a logical sequence of learning milestones.
• You can immediately align objectives with evaluation methods .
• You communicate expectations to your learners, so you help them evaluate themselves.
• Finally, learners can interconnect goals through your courses.

Objectives tell the learner how they will be able to know , not merely guess, whether or not they have learned and understood the lesson.

How Should Objectives be Formed?

Objectives should be specific, concise, observable, and measurable . Each learning objective should target one particular aspect of student performance and be expressed with a single action verb.

There is a specific order according to which learners process information in a course. Bloom’s taxonomy helps understand this natural order. What Bloom did is describe the levels of student learning, that could help a designer set the right objectives:

• Comprehension application
• Evaluation.

Following this taxonomy is the most surefire way to boost learning to a higher level. The following table depicts everything we are talking about. In it there are examples of verbs and activities you can use to formulate your course objectives. Take a look!

Examples of how to use the listed verbs:

See how it goes? You may struggle at first to apply this method, but it provides an analytical design, worthwhile to try out!

You will see how much more your learners will engage in your course.

While designing your objectives, it is optimal to follow Bloom’s hierarchical order of objectives and not dismiss lower levels as unworthy so that learners have all the requirements regarding previous knowledge to proceed.

Important tips:

• Consider developing 2-3 learning objectives for each section of your course.
• If the objectives are several, organize them into subcategories.
• Use simple language, speak personally (ex. ‘You will be able to’), and keep objectives short.
• Don’t use more than one sentence to express your objectives.
• Don’t list multiple verbs in one objective – since every action will be measured and assessed differently, each verb should be in a separate objective.
• Communicate your objectives through your course page, your welcoming video, or discussion with your learners.

Designing Your Course Using Learning Objectives

Let’s suppose you have chosen your topic and you are determined about what to teach in your course. When in the process of completing these steps, it is optimal either to use a pen and paper or a concept map application to create connections between your ideas.

1 Imagine your course

Brainstorm a list of all the possible things you want to teach and might include in your course.

2 Draft your course goals

Write at least 2-3 goals to shape your ongoing course design. Here, we give you some questions that will help you plan your course goals:

“In this course, I will emphasize in…” “The main themes learners will go through are…” “The big picture I want to promote through this course is…”

Suitable verbs to use to set goals are shown below. “Through this course, you will…”

✔️ Understand

✔️ Appreciate

✔️ Grasp the significance of

3 Design Learning Objectives

Using the table above, design your Learning Objectives. Break down your goals to form more specific and measurable learning objectives. Link those objectives to the corresponding sections.

• Consider: For whom are you writing your learning objectives? Analyze your target audience and their pre-existing knowledge.
• Keep overall course objectives to no more than a dozen—this will keep you focused on the essentials.
• Don’t exaggerate trying to write even more precise learning objectives—the main point is to express as clearly and plainly as possible.

4 Write the Activities

For each objective of the course, write down some corresponding activities that you are planning to use to accomplish that objective. Through these activities, students will achieve the objectives you set for them. Other activities not mentioned above are:

• Reading a text
• Reading worked-out example problems
• Answering short objective questions
• Discussing issues with other learners
• Conducting research

5 Develop Assessments

Ideally, as you are drafting course goals and learning objectives, you are also beginning to develop the assessments for the course. Decide which questions you will include in your questionnaires or exams (as well as the type of questions you will use) or the content of your assignments based on the objectives you have set.

Align your assessment activities with your objectives. This way you can be sure that your learners have the desired progress.

Reflect on your objectives and consider the following:

• Are your course objectives achievable given the available resources?
• Are your course objectives in agreement with the course goals?
• Can learners’ performance on the objective be measured?
• Are there real measures stated (rate numbers, percentages, or frequencies)?
• When do you want learners to accomplish the objective?
• Are you attempting too much so that your objectives are not achievable?
• Is the objective adding value for the learner?

What if I Have Already Created My Course?

You may argue with the above if you have already created your course without having formed clear goals and objectives. But imagine how much you could improve your material by reviewing what you want to achieve and also how happy your old or new learners will be if you add this information to your course.

How to update a course using learning goals and objectives:

• Review all of the material of your course thus far.
• Identify any patterns in themes, content, hopes, objectives, and activities.
• Group similar items together.
• Give titles to each group of items. You automatically see what your objectives are.
• Identify the most important things you hope learners will take away from the course and what you want their learning experience to be. These are your course goals!

Then, you can create a great lesson plan based on the learning objectives, goals, and activities you have decided on.

Further Reading

To prepare quality educational materials using learning goals, objectives and outcomes is a challenge worth pursuing. It will translate into a higher valued course, an optimized level of learning, satisfied students, and will help you in the process of creating your own course.

For this purpose, we suggest the following literature for further studying:

📑 Learning outcomes and instructional objectives: Is there a difference?

📑 Choosing teaching methods based on learning objectives: An integrative framework

📑 Bloom’s taxonomy revisited: Specifying assessable learning objectives in computer science

Academic Sources

• Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula, Third Edition, 2008. Robert M. Diamond. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA.)
• Harden, R. M. (2002). Learning outcomes and instructional objectives: is there a difference?. Medical teacher, 24(2), 151-155.
• Bonner, S. E. (1999). Choosing teaching methods based on learning objectives: An integrative framework. Issues in Accounting Education, 14(1), 11-15.
• Starr, C. W., Manaris, B., & Stalvey, R. H. (2008). Bloom’s taxonomy revisited: specifying assessable learning objectives in computer science. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 40(1), 261-265.
• Bloom, B. S. (ed.). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. Longmans, Green and Company, New York, 1956.

Further reading you might find interesting:

• How to Create a Membership Site
• How to Create a Tutorial Website to Sell Courses
• How Much Money Can You Make Selling Online Courses?
• Best Online Learning Platforms
• How to Teach Online & Earn Money

Rosemary Georgarakou

Rosemary is LearnWorlds’ Content Marketing Manager. She has over 2 decades of experience in omnichannel marketing and content writing for the IT and SaaS industry. Her expertise lies in crafting effective content marketing strategies that attract, engage, and nurture customers, enabling LearnWorlds to reach its target audiences with precision.

Writing Course Goals/Learning Outcomes and Learning Objectives

The goal is where we want to be. The objectives are the steps needed to get there. As seen in this flow chart, the outcome and the learning objectives connect you with (and among) your students, the course content, assignments, and your teaching approach.

Example Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the unit on plant growth and development students will be able to:

• List the five most common plant growth hormones
• Describe the relationship between carbon dioxide level and photosynthesis
• Illustrate the transpiration stream in a corn plant

It is easy to measure each of the objectives.

Either the student has or has not accomplished each one. These measurable objectives can then be used as the basis for your grading or another type of student assessment. For example, based on the first learning objective above, if a student is able to list all 5 plant hormones they earn 100% for the assignment if they can only list 4 plant hormones they earn 90%, and so on.

Bloom’s Taxonomy as a Framework for Writing Learning Objectives

Developing a basic understanding of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom et al., 1956) is a good place to start as you begin writing learning objectives.

Bloom’s Taxonomy in a nutshell: In the late 1940s a group of educators began classifying educational goals and objectives. The intent was to develop a classification system for three domains: the cognitive (mental skills or knowledge), the affective (feelings and emotional skills or attitude), and the psychomotor (manual or physical skills). The work that resulted in the cognitive domain was completed in 1956 and is commonly referred to as Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain ( Bloom et al., 1956).

The major concept of the taxonomy is that educational objectives can be arranged in a hierarchy that moves from less to more complex levels of knowledge. The levels are successive; one level must be mastered before the next level can be reached.

The original levels published by Bloom et al. (1956) were ordered as follows:  Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.

In 2001 Anderson and Krathwohl published a  revised version of Bloom’s Taxonomy  that reflected what has been learned in the forty or so years since it was first published. In summary, the changes reflect more outcome-focused modern education objectives and include switching the names of the levels from nouns to active verbs. The two highest levels have also been changed with the pinnacle level now being ‘create’.  The revised levels are: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate and Create. View CELT’s Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy page.

Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to Learning Objectives

Effective learning objectives need to be observable and/or measurable, and using action verbs is a way to achieve this. Verbs such as “identify”, “argue,” or “construct” are more measurable than vague or passive verbs such as “understand” or  “be aware of”. As you design your course focus on creating clear learning objectives and then use these objectives to guide class assignments, exams, and overall course assessment questions.

Action Verbs

Below are examples of action verbs associated with each level of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. These are useful in writing learning objectives, assignment objectives, and exam questions.

Choose Describe Define Label List Locate Match Memorize Name Omit Recite Select State Count Draw Outline Point Quote Recall Recognize Repeat Reproduce

Classify Defend Demonstrate Distinguish Explain Express Extend Give Examples Illustrate Indicate Interrelate Interpret Infer Match Paraphrase Represent Restate Rewrite Select Show Summarize Tell Translate Associate Compute Convert Discuss Estimate Extrapolate Generalize Predict

Choose Dramatize Explain Generalize Judge Organize Paint Prepare Produce Select Show Sketch Solve Use Add Calculate Change Classify Complete Compute Discover Divide Examine Graph Interpolate Manipulate Modify Operate Subtract

Categorize Classify Compare Differentiate Distinguish Identify Infer Point out Select Subdivide Survey Arrange Breakdown Combine Detect Diagram Discriminate Illustrate Outline Point out Separate

Appraise Judge Criticize Defend Compare Assess Conclude Contrast Critique Determine Grade Justify Measure Rank Rate Support Test

Combine Compose Construct Design Develop Formulate Hypothesize Invent Make Originate Organize Plan Produce Role Play Drive Devise Generate Integrate Prescribe Propose Reconstruct Revise Rewrite Transform

View the  interactive model of learning objectives  which shows the relationship between the knowledge dimension and the cognitive process dimension .

Download and review Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy on this website

Content on sample learning objectives adapted from: Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology, Washington State University (2013).

Anderson, L.W., & Krathwohl (Eds.). (2001).  A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives . Longman.

Bloom, B., Englehart, M. Furst, E., Hill, W., & Krathwohl, D. (1956).  Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain . Longmans, Green.

Goal Strategist

Educational Goals Essay Samples and Overcoming Challenges

Crafting an essay on your educational goals can be a turning point in your academic journey. It’s your chance to showcase your aspirations and the roadmap to achieving them. Whether you’re applying for a scholarship, a college, or simply setting personal milestones, articulating your educational objectives is key.

You’ll find that a well-thought-out educational goals essay not only impresses admissions committees but also clarifies your own vision. Let’s dive into examples that can illuminate your path and inspire a compelling narrative for your academic future.

The Importance of Setting Educational Goals

When you begin to articulate your educational goals, you’re carving out a clear path for your future. Setting these goals is not just about fulfilling a requirement; it’s about establishing a foundation for your educational journey. By defining what you want to achieve, you create a sense of purpose that guides your academic decisions and keeps you motivated during challenging times.

Think of your educational goals as a roadmap. Without this direction, you might find yourself wandering aimlessly through your academic career. With goals, you have destinations in mind and can plan your route accordingly. As you progress, every milestone you achieve brings a sense of accomplishment and steels your resolve to tackle the next challenge.

It’s no secret that education opens doors to opportunity. But it’s the specificity of your goals that allows you to unlock the right doors for your aspirations. Whether it’s gaining expertise in a particular field, enhancing your skills for a desired profession, or expanding your knowledge base, your goals help tailor your educational experience to align with your vision.

Furthermore, setting educational goals lets you measure your progress. This is crucial for staying on track and making adjustments as needed. It’s also a way to communicate your aspirations to others. When applying for scholarships or college admissions, clear educational goals show that you’re not just a dreamer – you’re a doer with a plan.

Ultimately, having a well-defined set of educational goals empowers you to take control of your learning. It’s about making informed choices that resonate with your personal and professional ambitions. Remember, the act of setting goals is a dynamic process. As you grow and learn, it’s perfectly fine to refine or even overhaul your goals to stay aligned with your evolving interests and the ever-changing job landscape.

Understanding Your Passions and Interests

Identifying your passions and interests is key to crafting educational goals that resonate with your core values. Knowing what excites you and what you’re curious about provides a compass that guides your educational journey. To start, reflect on classes, topics, or activities that spark your enthusiasm. Are there subjects that you find yourself drawn to or projects that energize you?

When drafting your educational goals essay, consider incorporating examples that demonstrate how your interests align with your long-term aspirations. Perhaps you have a fascination with renewable energy that has prompted you to pursue a degree in environmental science, or maybe your interest in languages is steering you toward international relations.

Assessing your strengths is also crucial in understanding what educational pathway to follow. If you’re naturally good with numbers, a career in finance might be right up your alley. On the other hand, if you’ve always excelled at writing and communicating, roles in journalism or public relations might be more fitting.

Here are some strategies to align your passions with your educational goals:

• Engage in self-reflection : Regularly take time to think about what activities make you feel most alive.
• Explore various fields : Don’t hesitate to enroll in different courses or attend workshops to broaden your perspective.
• Seek advice : Connect with mentors or professionals in areas you’re interested in to gain insight and guidance.

Remember, your educational objectives should be a reflection of what truly matters to you – they will be the ones propelling you forward through the rigorous demands of academic life. By intertwining your goals with your passions and interests, not only do you set the stage for a fulfilling education, but you also pave the way for a career that’s aligned with your personal definition of success.

Setting Short-Term Goals

When you’re mapping out your educational journey, it is essential to include short-term goals. These targets provide immediate motivation and serve as stepping stones toward your broader aspirations. Short-term goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant , and Time-bound (SMART). Here are some strategies to consider:

• Identify skills you need to develop within the next few months
• Enroll in workshops or courses that enhance your expertise
• Seek mentorship or guidance to strengthen your professional network
• Tackle smaller projects that contribute to larger assignments or objectives

Your educational goals essay should highlight how these short-term goals are not just checkboxes on your to-do list but crucial components of your educational strategy. For example, if one of your long-term goals is to become an engineer, a short-term goal might be to master a specific type of software used in the field.

Prioritizing Your Efforts

To avoid feeling overwhelmed, prioritize your goals. Consider which short-term goals will have the most significant impact on your long-term vision. Devise a Prioritization Matrix to determine which tasks to tackle first. Here’s a simple categorization:

• Urgent and Important : Tasks you must do immediately
• Important but Not Urgent : Tasks that contribute to long-term successes
• Urgent but Not Important : Tasks that require your attention but may not have considerable long-term benefits
• Neither Urgent nor Important : Tasks that you could potentially eliminate or delegate

Tracking Progress

Measure your progress consistently. Keep a journal, use an app, or maintain a spreadsheet where you can track your successes and areas for improvement. Feedback from peers and mentors can also be invaluable in refining your approach. Reflecting on your progress helps ensure that you’re on route to meeting your long-term educational goals. It’s not just about ticking off goals; it’s about personal growth and adapting your strategies as needed.

Your educational goals are unique to you. By setting concrete short-term goals and consistently assessing your progress, you’re building a solid foundation for not only meeting but exceeding your educational aspirations. Remember, every big achievement starts with the decision to try, and even the most ambitious dreams are realized one step at a time.

Setting Long-Term Goals

When plotting out your educational journey, long-term goals are your ultimate endgame. These are broad objectives that typically look beyond the upcoming year and sprawl across several years or even a decade. Imagine them as the pillars supporting your career trajectory, laying the groundwork for the professional you aspire to become.

Long-term goals in education aren’t just about the credentials or titles. They’re deeply personal ambitions that resonate with your values and passions. Whether this involves pursuing a PhD, becoming an industry expert, or launching a startup, these goals keep you anchored and motivated through the ups and downs of your educational endeavors. Here’s how to define your long-term goals:

• Reflect on what you’re passionate about and how you want to impact the world.
• Research the education and experience necessary to enter your desired field.
• Think about where you see yourself in 10 or 15 years.
• Break down these visions into attainable long-term goals.

Harnessing the Power of Visualization

Visualizing your long-term goals can be remarkably effective. By creating a vivid mental picture of where you want to be, your goals become more tangible. Visualization also acts as a practice run for your brain, gradually cementing the belief that these outcomes are not just possible but likely.

To leverage visualization:

• Find a quiet place to concentrate without interruptions.
• Imagine achieving your biggest educational and professional aspirations.
• Emotionally connect with this envisioned future, experiencing the satisfaction and pride that comes with accomplishment.

Remember, setting long-term goals isn’t a one-off task. You should revisit and refine these goals periodically to ensure they remain aligned with your evolving interests and the changing landscape of your chosen field. As life unfolds, your insights will deepen, and the goals you set today may evolve to reflect the person you’re growing into tomorrow.

Aligning Your Goals with Your Desired Career Path

Once you’ve set your long-term vision, it’s crucial that your educational goals align tightly with your desired career path. Doing this ensures that every academic effort you make is a stepping stone towards your ultimate professional aspirations. But how do you make that alignment as strong as possible?

Start with Research . Scour through job descriptions, connect with industry professionals, and gain deep insights into the skills and qualifications that your dream job requires. Armed with this knowledge, tailor your educational pursuits to cover these areas.

Break down your long-term career ambitions into more immediate objectives. If you’re aiming for a career in software development, for instance, your short-term goals might include mastering a specific programming language or completing relevant coursework.

Prioritize Relevant Experiences . Alongside classroom learning, seek internships, volunteer work, or part-time positions in your field. These practical experiences not only enhance your resume but also help to solidify your understanding of the industry.

Monitor Industry Trends. Stay up-to-date with movements within your chosen field. If you’re in digital marketing, for example, your education should keep pace with evolving SEO practices, social media algorithms, and content creation tools.

Don’t forget the role of Soft Skills . In almost every career path, communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills are paramount. Find ways through extracurricular activities or courses to develop these skills alongside your specialized knowledge.

As you move through your educational journey, remain flexible. Your career path might shift as you uncover new interests or as the industry evolves. Regularly assess and adjust your goals to maintain alignment with your career trajectory, ensuring that with each step, you’re inching closer to your professional dream.

Overcoming Challenges and Obstacles

When pursuing your educational goals, you’ll inevitably face challenges and obstacles that may seem daunting at first. But remember, overcoming these hurdles is a crucial part of your journey towards career success.

Identify potential barriers early in your path. These might include financial constraints, time management issues, or limited access to resources. Develop a proactive plan to tackle these issues head-on. For instance, you might explore scholarships, part-time work, or alternative funding options if finances are a concern.

Time management often becomes a critical skill when you’re juggling school with other responsibilities. Here’s what you can do:

• Prioritize tasks by urgency and importance
• Create a structured schedule
• Practice saying no to non-essential activities

Sometimes, obstacles are not external but rooted in personal doubts or a lack of confidence. Believe in your capabilities and remember that setbacks can be transformed into growth opportunities. Seek support systems: mentors, peers, or educational counselors who can offer guidance and perspective.

Keep abreast with technological advancements and learn how to leverage them in overcoming educational obstacles. Online courses, educational software, and virtual study groups can bridge the gap between you and your goals.

Staying informed of industry trends ensures you remain relevant and can pivot when faced with industry shifts. Frequently audit your skills and knowledge to close any gaps and take advantage of internships to gain hands-on experience.

Your educational goals essay should reflect resilience and adaptability. Showcasing challenges you’ve faced and how you’ve overcome them not only lays out a realistic roadmap but also demonstrates your determination and strategic thinking. Keep your narrative authentic and your solutions actionable to illustrate a forward-moving trajectory in the pursuit of your education and career.

Crafting an educational goals essay that reflects your aspirations and plans is a powerful step toward achieving success. Remember, it’s your resilience and adaptability that will shine through as you navigate potential barriers and leverage the latest industry trends. Your ability to manage time effectively, believe in yourself, and build a solid support system will not only enrich your essay but also your educational journey. Stay proactive, stay informed, and let your essay be the roadmap that guides you to your goals.

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1.1. Learning Goals

Nancy Ami; Natalie Boldt; Sara Humphreys; and Erin Kelly

LEARNING GOALS

You will learn how to focus on a purpose for writing.

Sometimes narrowing down a purpose for writing can be the most difficult task to achieve. As a student, you might think that writing should come to you naturally, but nothing could be further from the truth. Writing can be a manageable (and maybe even rewarding) experience if it’s treated as a series of steps rather than a one and done exercise. Much like building a house, writing begins with a plan, a foundation, a frame, and so on (but not necessarily in that order).

You will learn how to approach writing as a process.

Think of this chapter as the first step to planning your writing and, in turn, drafting. If you work up an outline and then draft your paper, revise and polish it, then you might be surprised by the outcome. Each of these elements are described in some detail in this chapter. However, it is vital to understand that there is more than one way to plan and draft, and this chapter will help you discover your writing process. Please feel free to jump down to 1.8 Your Own Process to learn more.

You will learn why feedback is a crucial part of the writing process.

A major part of learning to write in academic settings is to get comfortable with having others read your work. In your academic and professional lives, you will be writing for an audience. We (in academia and beyond) often write within our own headspace, which means we may not recognize what works in our writing and what doesn’t. Another pair of eyes can help you recognize what you’re doing well and where you can improve. In turn, you can help others. You’ll discover that feedback is one of the most important aspects of the writing process.

Why Write? A Guide for Students in Canada Copyright © 2020 by Nancy Ami; Natalie Boldt; Sara Humphreys; and Erin Kelly is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
• Instructional Guide

Writing Goals and Objectives

“If you’re not sure where you are going, you’re liable to end up some place else.” ~ Robert Mager, 1997

Instructional goals and objectives are the heart of instruction. When well- written, goals and objectives will help identify course content, structure the lecture, and guide the selection of meaningful and relevant activities and assessments. In addition, by stating clear instructional goals and objectives, you help students understand what they should learn and exactly what they need to do.

Course Goals

A course goal may be defined as a broad statement of intent or desired accomplishment. Goals do not specify exactly each step, component, or method to accomplish the task, but they help pave the way to writing effective learning objectives. Typical course goals include a number of subordinate skills, which are further identified and clarified as learning objectives.

A course goal may be defined as a broad statement of intent or desired accomplishment.

For example, an English 102 goal might be to prepare students for English 103. The goal “prepare students” specifies the big picture or general direction or purpose of the course. Course goals often do not specify student outcomes or how outcomes will be assessed. If you have difficulty defining a course goal, brainstorm reasons your course exists and why students should enroll in it. Your ideas can then generate course-related goals. Course goals often originate in the course description and should be written before developing learning objectives. You should also discuss course goals with your colleagues who teach the same class so that you can align your goals to provide students with a somewhat consistent experience of the course.

Course Goal Examples

Marketing course .

Students will learn about personal and professional development, interpersonal skills, verbal and written presentation skills, sales and buying processes, and customer satisfaction development and maintenance.

Physical Geography course

Students will understand the processes involved in the interactions between, spatial variations of, and interrelationships between hydrology, vegetation, landforms, and soils and humankind.

Theatre/Dance course

Students will investigate period style from pre-Egyptian through the Renaissance as it relates to theatrical production. Exploration of period clothing, manners, décor, and architecture with projects from dramatic literature.

General Goal Examples

• Students will know how to communicate in oral and written formats.
• Students will understand the effect of global warming.
• Students’ perspective on civil rights will improve .
• Students will learn key elements and models used in education.
• Students will grasp basic math skills.
• Students will understand the laws of gravity.

Learning Objectives

We cannot stop at course goals; we need to develop measurable objectives. Once you have written your course goals, you should develop learning objectives. Learning Objectives are different from goals in that objectives are narrow, discrete intentions of student performance, whereas goals articulate a global statement of intent. Objectives are measurable and observable, while goals are not.

Comparison of Goals and Objectives

• Broad, generalized statements about what is to be learned
• General intentions
• Cannot be validated
• Defined before analysis
• Written before objectives

Objectives are

• Narrow, specific statements about what is to be learned and performed
• Precise intentions
• Can be validated or measured
• Written after analysis
• Prepared before instruction is designed

Objectives should be written from the student’s point of view

Well-stated objectives clearly tell the student what they must do by following a specified degree or standard of acceptable performance and under what conditions the performance will take place. In other words, when properly written, objectives will tell your learners exactly what you expect them to do and how you will be able to recognize when they have accomplished the task.  Generally, each section/week/unit will have several objectives (Penn State University, n.p.). Section/week/unit objectives must also align with overall course objectives.

Well-stated objectives clearly tell the student what they must do ... and under what conditions the performance will take place.

Educators from a wide range of disciplines follow a common learning objective model developed by Heinich (as cited by Smaldino, Mims, Lowther, & Russell, 2019). This guide will follow the ABCD model as a starting point when learning how to craft effective learning objectives.

ABCD Model of Learning Objectives

• A udience: Who will be doing the behavior?
• B ehavior: What should the learner be able to do? What is the performance?
• C ondition: Under what conditions do you want the learner to be able to do it?
• D egree: How well must the behavior be done? What is the degree of mastery?

Writing a learning objective for each behavior you wish to measure is good instructional practice. By using the model as illustrated in Table 2, you will be able to fill in the characteristics to the right of each letter. This practice will allow you to break down more complex objectives (ones with more than one behavior) into smaller, more discrete objectives.

Writing a learning objective for each behavior you wish to measure is good instructional practice.

Behavioral Verbs

The key to writing learning objectives is using an action verb to describe the behavior you intend for students to perform. You can use action verbs such as calculate, read, identify, match, explain, translate, and prepare to describe the behavior further. On the other hand, words such as understand, appreciate, internalize, and value are not appropriate when writing learning objectives because they are not measurable or observable. Use these words in your course goals but not when writing learning objectives. See Verbs to Use in Creating Educational Objectives (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) at the end of this guide.

Overt behavior: If the behavior is covert or not typically visible when observed, such as the word discriminate, include an indicator behavior to clarify to the student what she or he must be able to do to meet your expectations. For example, if you want your learners to be able to discriminate between good and bad apples, add the indicator behavior “sort” to the objective: Be able to discriminate (sort) the good apples from the bad apples.

Some instructors tend to forget to write learning objectives from the students’ perspective. Mager (1997) contends that when you write objectives, you should indicate what the learner is supposed to be able to do and not what you, the instructor, want to accomplish. Also, avoid using fuzzy phrases such as “to understand,” “to appreciate,” “to internalize,” and “to know,” which are not measurable or observable. These types of words can lead to student misinterpretation and misunderstanding of what you want them to do.

…avoid using fuzzy phrases such as “to understand,” “to appreciate,” “to internalize,” and “to know,” which are not measurable or observable.

The Link Between Learning Objectives and Course Activities and Assessment

After you have crafted your course goals and learning objectives, it is time to design course activities and assessments that will tell you if learning has occurred. Matching objectives with activities and assessments will also demonstrate whether you are teaching what you intended. These strategies and activities should motivate students to gain knowledge and skills useful for success in your course, future courses, and real-world applications. The table below illustrates objective behaviors with related student activities and assessments.

Examples of Linked Instructional Goals, Objectives, and Assessments

Instructional goal .

Students will know the conditions of free Blacks during antebellum south.

Learning Objective

In at least 2 paragraphs, students will describe the conditions of free Blacks in pre-Civil War America, including 3 of 5 major points that were discussed in class.

A traditional essay or essay exam.

Instructional Goal

Students will know how to analyze blood counts.

Given a sample of blood and two glass slides, students will demonstrate the prescribed method of obtaining a blood smear for microscopic analysis.

Instructor observation of student demonstration in a lab using a criterion checklist of critical steps for objective scoring.

Students will understand how to interpret classic literature.

Learning Objective 

Students will compare/contrast Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice and Marlowe’s Jaw of Malta in terms of plot, character, and social-political themes.

Assessment 

Instructional goals and learning objectives are the heart of your role as a learning facilitator. When written well, goals and objectives will assist you in identifying course content, help you structure your lecture, and allow you to select activities and assessments that are relevant and meaningful for learning. Make sure that you check with your department to determine whether they require certain learning objectives for a course, for example to align courses with Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) requirements for transferrable general education courses (see the current NIU Undergraduate Catalog section on “Illinois Articulation Initiative Core Curriculum).

Several sources are available that you can use to check the accuracy and efficacy of your learning objectives. The sources below provide checklists and other instruments to help you design effective and meaningful objectives.

Mager, R. F. (1997). Measuring instructional results: How to find out if your learning objectives have been achieved. (3 rd ed.). Atlanta, GA: CEP Press.

Mager, R. F. (1997). Preparing learning objectives: A critical tool in the development of effective instruction. (3 rd ed.). Atlanta, GA: CEP Press.

Penn State University, Schreyer Institute (n.p.). Learning outcomes assessment tutorial. https://sites.psu.edu/loatutorial/

Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., Mims, C., & Russell, J. D. (2019). Instructional technology and media for learning (12 th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Selected Resources

Gronlund, N. E., & Brookhart, S. M. (2009). Gronlund’s writing instructional objectives (8 th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Suggested citation

Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. (2020). Writing goals and objectives. In Instructional guide for university faculty and teaching assistants. Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide

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Learning Goals Essays

Components of self-assessment in education, popular essay topics.

• American Dream
• Artificial Intelligence
• Black Lives Matter
• Bullying Essay
• Career Goals Essay
• Causes of the Civil War
• Child Abusing
• Civil Rights Movement
• Community Service
• Cultural Identity
• Cyber Bullying
• Death Penalty
• Depression Essay
• Domestic Violence
• Freedom of Speech
• Global Warming
• Gun Control
• Human Trafficking
• I Believe Essay
• Immigration
• Importance of Education
• Israel and Palestine Conflict
• Leadership Essay
• Legalizing Marijuanas
• Mental Health
• National Honor Society
• Police Brutality
• Pollution Essay
• Racism Essay
• Romeo and Juliet
• Same Sex Marriages
• Social Media
• The Great Gatsby
• The Yellow Wallpaper
• Time Management
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Violent Video Games
• What Makes You Unique
• Why I Want to Be a Nurse
• Send us an e-mail

Rationale Essay

Writing about goals.

A discussion of goals and contexts is usually the first portion of the rationale essay, so readers can get a sense of why you’re pursuing your degree, how you want to use your degree, and what you hope to achieve. Use these questions to help you think and write about goals:

Personal Goals

• How do you intend to use your degree?
• What knowledge, qualities, or characteristics do you hope to develop through your studies?

Academic Goals

• Based on any self-assessments you have done and any previous college course work (at ESC or other colleges), do you need to strengthen certain academic skill areas or develop certain perspectives? More generally, what do you want to learn via this degree?
• What skills and/or ways of thinking about the world will help you become a more fully-educated person?

Professional Goals

• Where would you like to be professionally in five or ten years?
• How will your degree help you to reach your professional goals?
• Why do you want to pursue a degree? Can you provide enough background so that readers can understand the reasons that led you to pursue a degree and the results you expect to achieve by pursuing a degree?
• What type of degree (associate, bachelor’s) do you want to pursue?
• What concentration (if any) do you want to pursue and why?

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55 Learning Objectives Examples

Learning objectives are explicit statements that clearly express what learners should be able to comprehend, perform or experience by the end of a course or instructional period (Adams, 2015).

They are fundamental to the process of educational planning and instructional design, acting as vehicles that drive both teaching and learning strategies.

Importantly, they ensure coherence and a clear focus, differentiating themselves from vague educational goals by generating precise, measurable outcomes of academic progress (Sewagegn, 2020).

I have front-loaded the examples in this article for your convenience, but do scroll past all the examples for some useful frameworks for learning how to write effective learning objectives.

Learning Objectives Examples

Learning objectives for internships.

For more, see: List of SMART Internship Goals

Learning Objectives for Presentations

For More: See This Detailed List of Communication Objectives Examples

Learning Objectives for Kindergarten

Taxonomies to assist in creating objectives.

Various taxonomies are available to educators as guides in formulating potent learning objectives, with three prominent ones provided below.

1. The SMART Framework for Learning Objectives

The SMART framework helps you to construct clear and well-defined learning objectives. It stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (Doran, 1981).

• Specific objectives are ones that are straightforward, detailing the what, why, and how of the learning process. For example, an objective that states “Improve mental multiplication skills” is less specific than “Multiply two-digit numbers mentally within two minutes with 90% accuracy.” When I was learning to write learning objectives at university, I was taught to always explicitly describe the measurable outcome .
• Measurable objectives facilitate tracking progress and evaluating learning outcomes. An objective such as “Write a 500-word essay on the causes of World War II, substantiated with at least three academic sources” is measurable, as both word count and the number of sources can be quantified.
• Achievable objectives reflect realistic expectations based on the learner’s potential and learning environment, fostering motivation and commitment.
• Relevant objectives correspond with overarching educational goals and learner’s needs, such as an objective to “identify and manage common software vulnerabilities” in a cybersecurity course.
• Time-bound objectives specify the duration within which the learning should take place, enhancing management of time and resources in the learning process.

2. Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy outlines six cognitive levels of understanding – knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Adams, 2015). Each are presented below:

Each level is demonstrated below:

Here, we can reflect upon the level of learning and cognition expected of the learner, and utilize the Bloom’s taxonomy verbs to cater the learning objectives to that level.

3. Fink’s Taxonomy

Another helpful resource for creating objectives is Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning , which emphasizes different dimensions of learning, including foundational knowledge, application, integration, human dimension, caring, and learning how to learn (Marzano, 2010):

• Foundational knowledge refers to the basic information learners must understand to progress with the topic at hand—for instance, understanding color theory before painting a canvas.
• Application gives learners real-world instances for applying the knowledge and skills they’ve cultivated, such as using Adobe Photoshop in a design project after a graphic design lecture.
• Integration enables learners to make interdisciplinary connections between the new knowledge and various fields of study or areas of life—for example, a business student applying economic theory to understand market dynamics in biotechnology.
• Human dimension involves personal and social implications of learning, i.e., how the learners see themselves and interact with others in light of the new knowledge.
• Caring challenges learners to develop new feelings, interests, or values aligned with the course outcomes, like fostering a conservation mindset in an environmental science course.
• Learning how to learn encourages learners to become self-directed and resourceful, enabling them to cultivate learning strategies, skills, and habits that make them lifelong learners, such as using reflective journals or peer reviews (Marzano, 2010).

An example of an objective that uses Fink’s framework could be:

“Learners will conduct a small research project about a famous physicist (foundational knowledge), incorporating class teachings (application) and their own interpretations (integration), then present to the class (human dimension), reflecting on how the physicist’s work affects them personally (caring) and how the project grew their understanding of research methods (learning how to learn).”

Why are Learning Objectives Important?

Effective learning objectives serve to streamline the learning process, creating a clear path for both teachers and learners.

The role of objectives in education mirrors the use of a roadmap on a journey; just as marking out stops and landmarks can facilitate navigation, learning objectives can clarify the trajectory of a course or lesson (Hall, Quinn, & Gollnick, 2018).

On a practical level, imagine teaching a course about climate change. Without explicit learning objectives (like understanding how carbon footprints contribute to global warming), learners could easily veer off track, misinterpreting the main focus.

Learning objectives also act as an anchor during assessments, providing a yardstick against which progress and performance can be gauged (Orr et al., 2022). When students are graduating high school, for example, it’s likely they’ll be assessed on some form of standardized testing to measure if the objectives have been met.

By serving as a guide for content selection and instructional design, learning objectives allow teachers to ensure coursework is suitably designed to meet learners’ needs and the broader course’s objectives (Li et al., 2022). In situations where time is crucial, such as military training or emergency medicine, keeping the focus narrow and relevant is crucial.

Tips and Tricks

1. tips on integrating learning objectives into course design.

Learning objectives serve as a foundation in the designing of a course.

They provide a structured framework that guides the incorporation of different course components, including instructional materials, activities, and assessments (Li et al., 2022).

When designing a photography course, for example, learning objectives guide the selection of appropriate theoretical content (like understanding aperture and shutter speed), practical activities (like a field trip for landscape photography), and the assessment methods (like a portfolio submission).

Just like how research objectives shape the methodology a research study will take, so too will learning objectives shape the teaching methods and assessment methods that will flow-on from the path set out in the overarching learning objectives.

2. Tips on Assessing and Revising your Learning Objectives Regularly

Learning objectives are not set in stone; they demand constant review and refinement.

In the light of feedback from learners, instructors or external bodies (like accreditation agencies), learning outcomes, and advancements in pedagogy, learning objectives may need to be revised (Orr et al., 2022).

Think about a programming course where new frameworks or libraries are regularly introduced; in such cases, the learning objectives would need to be updated to reflect these emerging trends. This provides opportunities for continual enhancement of the course design, thus fostering an environment of progressive learning and teaching (Sewagegn, 2020).

Teachers should revise their learning objectives every time they re-introduce the unit of work to a new cohort of students, taking into account the learnings and feedback you acquired last time you taught the unit.

Learning objectives, when effectively formulated and implemented, serve as key drivers of successful instruction.

They underscore the importance of clarity, directness, and depth in the learning process, fostering a learning environment designed for optimal learner engagement, progress tracking, and educational outcome (Hall, Quinn, & Gollnick, 2018).

With their expansive role in the educational journey, educators are encouraged to invest time and resourceful thought in crafting and continually refining their classroom objectives (Doran, 1981). Moreover, the use of established taxonomies and attention to characteristics like SMARTness in this process can greatly facilitate this endeavor.

As the backbone of well-structured courses, learning objectives deserve the thoughtful consideration and continuous improvement efforts of every dedicated educator. It is our hope that this article has provided insights that will help you bring more clarity, coherence, and effectiveness to your educational planning.

Adams, N. E. (2015). Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives.  Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA ,  103 (3), 152. doi: https://doi.org/10.3163%2F1536-5050.103.3.010

Doran, G. T. (1981). There’sa SMART way to write management’s goals and objectives.  Management review ,  70 (11), 35-36.

Hall, G. E., Quinn, L. F., & Gollnick, D. M. (2018).  Introduction to teaching: Making a difference in student learning . Sage Publications.

Li, Y., Rakovic, M., Poh, B. X., Gaševic, D., & Chen, G. (2022). Automatic Classification of Learning Objectives Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy.  International Educational Data Mining Society .

Marzano, R. J. (2010).  Designing & teaching learning goals & objectives . Solution Tree Press.

Orr, R. B., Csikari, M. M., Freeman, S., & Rodriguez, M. C. (2022). Writing and using learning objectives.  CBE—Life Sciences Education ,  21 (3). Doi: https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.22-04-0073

Sewagegn, A. A. (2020). Learning objective and assessment linkage: its contribution to meaningful student learning.  Universal Journal of Educational Research ,  8 (11), 5044-5052.

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Animism Examples
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• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Social-Emotional Learning (Definition, Examples, Pros & Cons)
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Maintaining Students’ Motivation for Learning as the Year Goes On

Neuroscience can suggest ways to keep students working toward their learning goals after their initial excitement wears off.

It’s likely that your hard work orchestrating the first weeks of school enhanced your students’ connection to the school community and their enthusiasm for the learning to come. However, as the semester goes on and you seek to sustain that motivated momentum, you may not be able to find the same amount of prep time that you dedicated to the start of the year.

Yet even when your students’ bubbles of excitement fade, you can reboot their connections, engagement, and motivation with the help of insights from neuroscience research .

The Neuroscience of Motivation

Motivation is a desire to learn, try, work, and persevere. I’m a neurologist and former teacher, and one of my focus areas is the neuroscience of learning—especially motivated and successful learning. Students’ levels of intrinsic motivation—the inherent satisfaction of the activity itself, rather than an outside reward—directly correspond with increased effort and with seeing the effectiveness of their behavior, choices, focus, and performance.

Intrinsic motivation is promoted by dopamine, a brain chemical that gives us a rush of satisfaction upon achieving a goal we’ve chosen. When dopamine levels rise, so does one’s sense of satisfaction and desire to continue to sustain attention and effort. Increased dopamine can  also improve other mental processes, including memory, attention, perseverance, and creative problem-solving.

The Value of Choice

Dopamine release is promoted by meeting desired challenges, interacting with peers, movement, humor, and listening to music, among other things. Knowing what boosts students’ dopamine levels can help you in your quest to maintain or reboot their motivation. One dopamine booster that I’ve found especially effective is choice, which appears to increase students’ levels of intrinsic motivation , supporting their sustained effort and persistence in academic tasks.

Choice shifts responsibility for their learning to students and builds their judgment and decision-making. Some students may feel anxious about having too much freedom, fearing they won’t do the right thing. By starting with small choices first, you can help your learners develop skills of evaluating, selecting, and following through with good choices. As you offer more opportunities for choice and expand students’ boundaries as self-directed learners, you’ll see further increases in their confidence and motivated effort toward their chosen goals.

Some Classroom Examples

Here are some ways to provide choice to invigorate students’ motivation, engagement, and effort in their learning beyond the first weeks.

World languages: As students learn vocabulary in the target language, you can offer them choices regarding how they build mastery and self-assess their progress. Curiosity and personal relevance for this type of task can start with your showing a short humorous video in the target language. Look for clips that show positive emotions, laughter, and people and places to which your learners will relate. Their goal is to explain—in a manner of their choosing—why they think the clip is funny. You may allow them to use dictionaries, provide guidance to the appropriate textbook material, or have them work in flexible groups with you or peers.

You can give them guided choice in demonstrating their achievement: Allow them to write or speak about the humor they found, to draw a cartoon strip reflecting something in the video, or to make their own videos on the humorous topic emphasized in the video.

Language arts: To motivate students to learn the essentials of punctuation, have them choose a book they love, which will become a punctuation learning tool.

Ask students to choose a favorite section of their chosen text and have them copy it without the punctuation. You then make anonymous copies of these unpunctuated documents and place them in boxes labeled with the level of challenge (as you determine it). You can add information about the topic to guide the new “punctuators” to select a topic of interest. You can also allow them a choice in the level of challenge—they can progress at their own comfort level through increasing levels of challenge.

The students’ job is to make the chosen text understandable by adding punctuation. You should note that the original author’s punctuation choices are not the only valid ones, and when students make different choices the class can discuss those differences. Your students will get feedback that they’re building mastery as they use punctuation to make sense of increasingly challenging texts.

After you’ve done this once, you’ll have samples of student work you can share in subsequent years—ideally examples showing a progression from a text with no punctuation to one with incorrect or incomplete punctuation, and then on to a readable text with appropriate punctuation.

Math: Metric system boring? Let students choose something that interests them, such as recipes they want to make or sporting statistics, and have them convert the standard values involved into metric measurements.

Look to help learners recognize the pleasurable emotional experiences that occur through their learning and sustained effort. Remind them of these experiences—you may want to show students photographs of themselves smiling during such experiences—when they need a boost of motivated enthusiasm and effort for subsequent goals.

Motivation has a major impact on students’ effort, academic success, and joy of learning. Providing choices for your learners to engage with new learning and to progress through achievable challenges, with feedback on their progress toward their chosen goals, will make a difference in sustaining their motivated effort throughout the school year ahead.

Home — Essay Samples — Education — Learning — Exploring Service Learning: Goals, Benefits, and Challenges

Exploring Service Learning: Goals, Benefits, and Challenges

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About this sample

Words: 711 |

Published: Jan 30, 2024

Words: 711 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, importance and benefits of service learning, a. the concept of service learning, b. the goals and objectives of service learning, c. benefits of service learning, d. challenges and limitations of service learning, e. case studies and examples of successful service learning projects, f. reflection and personal experiences with service learning.

• Eyler, J., & Giles, D. (1999). Where's the learning in service-learning? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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As a student of creative writing , you will create original works of literature, culminating in a significant, extended body of poetry, fiction, and/or creative nonfiction that manifests your artistic potential. 

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your own voice and style as a writer, which you have discovered and developed

your use of the central subject matter that comes out of your own individual life experience and from your imagination

your understanding of the creative process as a forum for critical as well as intuitive thinking, as well as problem-solving

your awareness of the literary, cultural, and historical contexts within which you write, including the influence of past and present literary forms, structures, styles, and traditions on your artistic choices

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