Questions

1. What is the best format for listing learning goals?  Why is that format successful?
2. Why should your learning goals address what students will learn to do rather than what you will cover?
3. How can you try to get all students, including those who just want to get a specific grade, interested in actually learning in your course?
4. Should you explicitly discuss your learning goals with your students?
5. What are the benefits of student feedback about your teaching methods?

Answers Below

Answers

1. Learning goals should be written with specific and active verbs.  They should clearly articulate something that the student will have learned or learned how to do, and they should avoid describing what the instructor intends to do in the course.  Specific and clear learning goals will help the instructor to develop more effective methods of teaching and assessment, and they will also help the student to understand what they need to do and assess their own progress.
2. Learning goals should be student-focused rather than instructor-focused because it forces the instructor to think about how to help students learn.  This focus will emphasize how material is presented in addition to what materials are chosen.  Instructor-based goals can obscure the challenges involved in the learning process.
3. Walvoord suggests making the amount and type of work necessary to receive an A equivalent to what is required to best learn a course’s content.  This involves tailoring your assignments and testing so that they involve critical thinking and analysis rather than rote memorization.
4. Yes.  Walvoord says that open discussion of learning goals, including a discussion of the goals that students bring into the course, will help them understand what the course is designed to teach and allow them to assess how they are doing.  It demystifies the process allows for an open dialogue about meeting the goals.
5. Student feedback will help you to determine if they are meeting the learning goals that you’ve established.  If elicited early enough, it would allow for adjustments that would help your current students, as opposed to waiting until the end of the semester and judging success from grades.  It can help you to identify and solve problems and ultimately create a more efficient learning environment. 

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