What the Text is About
Highlighting the necessity of well-articulated outcomes, we explore the ways AI can support educators in crafting and refining course objectives. Find practical tips on creating effective prompts and maximizing the strengths of AI, all while recognizing that instructor expertise is essential for evaluating and shaping the final learning goals. The partnership between AI capabilities and human judgment leads to a more effective and student-focused approach to course design.
Reflecting on a recent trip, most people recall knowing the destination, the estimated travel time, and the planned activities upon arrival. The same should be true for a student in a course. A student should be aware of what they’re about to learn, how long it will take, and how they will get there. Before exploring the qualities of effective learning objectives and their significance, it is helpful to discuss them in greater detail.
Learning objectives? Tell me more.
When boiled down, a learning objective is a student-centric statement describing what they will be able to do after they engage in a learning experience. Let’s look at the backward design framework (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), the first step in the course design process is to determine the purposes and goals of the course.
Learning objectives should be specific, measurable statements that articulate what students will be able to do as a result of a course, unit, or something smaller — a seminar, or specific activity. A well-constructed learning objective consists of two parts: an action verb and the object. It’s important to align your course components with learning objectives. If the course content and the assessment don’t match up, it could confuse and frustrate students. Let’s take a look at an example.
| Type | Learning Objective | Assessment | Alignment? | ID opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Misaligned | Students will be able to evaluate the causes of World War I. | Complete a multiple-choice quiz on the dates/locations of key WWI battles | No | The assessment checks factual recall of dates, not evaluation of causes as the objective states |
| Well-aligned | Students will be able to evaluate the causes of World War I. | Write a short essay evaluating the most significant causes of WWI, providing evidence for your choices. | Yes | The assessment directly measures the evaluation and reasoning skills specified in the objective. |
Strong learning objectives start with well-chosen action verbs. These verbs help ensure that objectives are focused, observable, and measurable. Selecting the right verb is the first step in setting clear expectations and designing appropriate assessments. Use the list below to guide your choice of action verbs when writing learning objectives.
Knowledge Domain Verbs
| Remembering | Understanding | Applying | Analyzing | Evaluating | Creating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Define Describe Examine Identify Label List Locate Match Memorize Recall Recite Recognize Record Reproduce Select State Tabulate Tell Visualize | Ask Cite Classify Compare Demonstrate Discuss Estimate Explain Generalize Illustrate Indicate Infer Match Outline Predict Report Restate Review Show Summarize Translate | Apply Articulate Calculate Change Chart Compute Construct Develop Employ Examine Experiment Explain Illustrate Modify Operate Produce Relate | Analyze Categorize Compare Connect Contrast Differentiate Dissect Estimate Evaluate Experiment Infer Organize Plan Question Separate Survey Test | Argue Assess Choose Convince Critique Debate Estimate Evaluate Grade Judge Measure Persuade Predict Rank Rate Summarize Support | Adapt Assemble Compose Create Design Develop Facilitate Integrate Invent Modify Negotiate Plan Revise Simulate Speculate Support Validate |
| Model Learning Objective | Refinement Needed |
|---|---|
| Analyze the key factors that contributed to the outbreak of World War I | Understand the topics discussed in the module |
| Design a simple website using HTML and CSS that includes a homepage, an about page, and a contact form | Learn about climate change |
| Interpret and summarize statistical data from a given dataset using appropriate graphs and charts | Be exposed to different teaching methods |
Designing clear and effective learning objectives and outcomes can be a challenging task. It often requires careful thought, precise language, a deep understanding of both subject matter and student needs, and time. This is where tools like artificial intelligence prove invaluable—AI can help streamline the course design process by offering suggestions, generating examples, and ensuring that objectives are measurable and aligned with assessments.
Brainstorming learning objectives with AI
When using AI, it is important to recognize that some tasks are better suited to humans, and others to AI. One area where AI clearly has us beat is volume: it can generate hundreds, if not thousands, of responses in a matter of seconds. But speed does not guarantee quality; this is where human expertise comes in. AI is an excellent tool for brainstorming a wide range of ideas, but it takes a human to curate, revise, and refine.
During the early stages of course development, AI can be especially helpful in generating potential learning objectives. The results may include a handful of promising options, or none at all. Either way, AI can help reduce cognitive load and clarify thinking by offering samples to build upon or avoid entirely. At UMass, instructors have access to several AI tools, including Microsoft CoPilot and the UMass GenAI Playground. Other popular options include ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. Learn more about AI tools in “AI to Boost Course Design and Efficiency.”
To get started, draft a prompt that includes specific details about both the context and the task. For context, consider including your role or expertise, intended audience, course structure, and learning goals. For the task, be clear about what you want the AI to generate, how many items you need, and the desired format. Take a look at the sample prompt and AI response below:
Prompt
Context:
I am an experienced history professor designing a 15-week online course on World War I for first-year college students. This course will examine the four major causes of World War I: militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism. My course will emphasize research skills, critical thinking, and historical argumentation.
Task:
I want a list of learning objectives that I could use to build my course. These learning objectives must be easy to understand and appropriate for first-year college students, and begin with a measurable action verb. Generate 5 potential learning objectives for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
AI Response
(Sample from “Analyzing” level)
- Analyze how the four causes of WWI interacted to create a volatile political climate.
- Distinguish between long-term and short-term causes of the war using case studies.
- Examine the motivations behind a nation’s entry into the war using historical documents.
- Categorize key events of the war under each of the four major causes.
- Investigate contrasting viewpoints on trench warfare in soldiers’ letters and diaries.
Remember that this list is just a starting point. AI-generated objectives are far from course-ready and will require careful review and revision by the instructor. At this stage, the goal is simply to find something to work with. Determining which objectives show potential ultimately depends on the instructor’s expertise, goals, and course outcomes. Those that hold promise can then be refined and developed further.
Revising learning objectives with AI
Whether working with a new set of objectives or revisiting an older course, refining learning objectives is a crucial step in aligning the course with its current goals and student needs.
In some cases, existing objectives may not reflect a specific instructional focus (such as historical argumentation in our previous scenario), or they may not align with a planned summative assessment. Another possibility might be an instructor recognizing a learning gap from previous semesters or feeling that the course is too simple or overly challenging.
Regardless of the situation, AI can help identify issues in learning objectives and suggest improvements to make objectives clearer, more measurable, and more aligned with course content and assessments.
Once again, AI’s strength in volume can play a valuable role when revising existing objectives. AI can provide detailed feedback, refine the language, or provide a list of alternatives. It can also be pushed a step further, to rank alternative objectives and explain its reasoning.
Let’s look at an example that uses the same context as the previous scenario (i.e., an online World War I course for first-year students) and uses the following as our original learning objective: “Appreciate the range of national responses to the outbreak of World War I.”
Prompt
Revise the following learning objective to make it clearer, measurable, and aligned with Bloom’s Taxonomy: “Appreciate the range of national responses to the outbreak of World War I.” Generate 5 alternatives. Present them in a ranked table with brief notes on each objective’s strengths and weaknesses.
| AI Response (Sample from top entries) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Revised Objective | Bloom’s Level | Strengths | Potential Weaknesses |
| 🥇 1 | Assess how nationalism shaped national responses to the outbreak of WWI in Britain, Germany, and France. | Evaluate | Encourages historical reasoning; focuses on a key theme; clearly measurable; supports argument-based writing. | Assumes familiarity with “nationalism”—may need scaffolded instruction. |
| 🥈 2 | Compare the political and military responses of Britain, Germany, and France at the start of WWI. | Analyze | Focused comparison promotes critical thinking; uses clear, measurable language. | Narrower in scope; doesn't prompt students to evaluate or explain causes. |
| 🥉 3 | Explain how different European nations responded to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. | Understand | Offers a logical entry point for first-years; links content to a pivotal event. | Lower Bloom’s level; less analytical or argumentative. |
These AI-generated objectives are much improved over the original. They are more specific, measurable, and easier for students to understand. If needed, an instructor can always rework the responses or submit them back to AI for further feedback and refinement. AI could also be asked to suggest aligned assessments, provide appropriate scaffolding, or recommend instructional strategies to effectively teach these revised objectives. As always, it is important to remember that this is an iterative process: AI offers a list of options, but the human must evaluate and revise its suggestions to fit their needs.
Adapting learning objectives for different audiences with AI
A key aspect of revising course objectives is to ensure that they are clear and understandable for students, but this is sometimes easier said than done. In some cases, students may come from a diverse range of academic backgrounds or an instructor may be adapting an existing course for a different audience, such as:
- Dual-enrollment high school students
- Students at a different institution
- An interdisciplinary partnership course
- An honors section or one-credit honors colloquium
- Graduate students enrolled alongside undergraduates
AI can be a powerful tool when adapting existing objectives for these new audiences. When drafting a prompt, it helps to include additional information for context, such as the course’s typical audience, as well as any relevant information about the new audience and their potential needs. If the differences aren’t obvious, AI can also offer ideas about what to expect.
For example, imagine that our sample World War I course is being adapted into an honors section next semester, and we will need to modify the following objective: “Compare national responses to the outbreak of WWI in Britain, Germany, and France.”
First, we explained the change in academic expectations (e.g., stronger literacy skills, more independence, higher standards, etc.). Then, using the same ranking strategy that we used earlier, we asked AI to generate a list of revised objectives. Take a look at the results below:
| AI Response (Sample from top entries) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Revised Objective | Bloom’s Level | Why It’s Stronger for Honors Students |
| 🥇 1 | Evaluate how political ideology and public sentiment shaped national responses to the outbreak of WWI in Britain, Germany, and France. | Evaluate | Encourages critical thinking and interpretation of underlying causes—not just surface comparison. |
| 🥈 2 | Construct a historical argument comparing the strategic and ideological motivations behind Britain, Germany, and France’s entry into WWI. | Create | Requires synthesis of evidence to support a claim; ideal for writing-based assignments. |
| 🥉 3 | Analyze primary source documents to assess how each nation framed its rationale for entering WWI. | Analyze/Evaluate | Introduces source work—good for deeper historical thinking and honors-level engagement. |
These revised learning objectives are much more rigorous than the original. They not only encourage deeper analysis, research, and synthesis, but also challenge students to consider the broader political and national ideologies that shaped World War I, potentially leading to greater engagement and deeper learning.
Keeping the human in the loop
While AI will continue to evolve in the years to come, it will never replace the expertise, adaptability and empathy of a skilled educator. There is no doubt that AI can help us improve our practice, especially in aligning learning objectives with course content. However, it is up to us to keep the human in the loop: to write, revise, and refine objectives that support the goals of our courses and the needs of our students.
Additional Resources
- Learn more about developing Learning Objectives from the IDEAS team at UMass.
- Schedule a consult with Instructional Designers from IDEAS to get help creating Learning Objectives.
References
Bowen, J. A., & Watson, C. E. (2024). Teaching with AI: a practical guide to a new era of human learning. José Antonio Bowen, C. Edward Watson. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Mollick, E. (2024). Co-intelligence : living and working with AI. Portfolio/Penguin.
Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Ascd.