Developing Learning Objectives in an Online Course

Learning objectives are specific, measurable statements that articulate what students will be able to do as a result of a learning experience—an overall course, a specific learning unit, a lecture/seminar, or even a particular instructional activity. They support overarching course goals. Clear, organized objectives help facilitate planning, instructional activities, and assessments (Anderson et al., 2001).

Writing clear course learning objectives is the first step in Backwards Design, a student-centered approach to teaching that posits that instructors start with the end in mind. In other words, instructors write clear, transparent, and explicit learning objectives before designing assessments, learning activities, and content (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998). Content, instructional activities and assessments are developed to support and align learners in achieving the learning objective.

Learning Objectives: 3 Frameworks

Best practices in developing learning objectives

The following models can help you build your learning objectives. Click each title to learn more about them.

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Higher Order Thinking

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

SMART Goals

Learning Objectives Builders

Using learning objectives builders can help make your learning objectives clear and align with your teaching activities and assessments. Check out the following resources to help you build learning objectives in your courses.

Reflect and Review

Do your learning objectives begin with a strong action verb?
Are your learning objectives specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound?
Do your learning objectives offer a balance between higher-order and lower-order thinking skills?

Examples of Learning Objectives

Adapted from Digital Learning Hub in the Teaching + Learning Commons at UC San Diego

The table below shows you how to make good and measurable learning objectives.

Not Measurable	Good	Better
Become familiar with evolutionary theory about human behavior.	Evaluate the origins of evolutionary theory about human behavior.	Evaluate the evidence for various frameworks surrounding evolutionary theory about human behavior.
Understand the derivative of a function at a point.	Interpret the derivative of a function at a point as the slope of the tangent line.	Interpret the derivative of a function at a point as the slope of the tangent line and estimate its value from the graph of a function.
Gain an appreciation of art in its global context.	Make cross-cultural comparisons of historical art works from 1400-1945.	Make cross-cultural comparisons of historical art works from Europe, North America, Japan, China and parts of Africa from 1400-1945.

References

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Instructional Design, Engagement, and Support (IDEAS)