Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives/Outcomes
Learning Objectives (Outcomes) are statements that describe what students will be expected to learn by the end of the course, unit, lesson, project, class period, etc.
Some instructors use these terms interchangeably, some are very particular about them. Generally, “objectives” are what is taught and “outcomes” are what the instructor wants the students to learn. In the end, both terms describe what will be tested and most instructors can correlate the items on their exams back to the learning objectives they assigned in class.
Just understand that these statements represent the “take-home” message and they should be used to guide your studying.
Not only do you have to learn the material, if you’re going to study systematically, you need to understand the level of knowledge you’re expected to have! Use the words in the learning objectives as a guide for study: are you aiming for lower-order learning or higher-order thinking? Look at the verbs in the statements and you’ll get clues as to what you’ll be expected to do with the material.
The list of verbs here progresses downward from the lowest-order thinking to the highest-order:
| Lower Order Processes: | recall, list, name, locate, identify, recognize, describe |
|---|---|
| understand, interpret, summarize, infer, paraphrase | |
| classify, explain, use, implement | |
| analyze, compare, organize, deconstruct, outline, | |
| evaluate, hypothesize, critique, test, | |
| Higher Order Processes: | create, design, devise, develop, produce, predict |
For the sake of example, consider this partial listing of the Learning Objectives from BS 161 (Cells & Molecules):
Course-Level Learning Objectives
Describe the molecular structures of the four basic types of biomolecules, compare and contrast the structures and functions of these biomolecules, explain how molecular structure determines molecular interactions and relates to the cellular functions of these biomolecules, and make predictions about the cellular functions of biomolecules based on their chemical properties.
Lecture-Level Learning Objectives
Throughout this course we will frequently refer to four types of bonds/interactions/forces: covalent bonds, hydrogen bonds, ionic interactions, and hydrophobic exclusion. For each of these, you need to do the following:
- Describe the relative strength
- Describe the atomic underpinning of each bond/interaction/force
- Identify the common types of bonds/interactions/forces likely to occur between two functional groups
Throughout this course we will be working with seven key functional groups: hydroxyl, carbonyl, carboxyl, amino, sulfhydryl, phosphate, and methyl. For each of these groups you need to do the following:
- Draw the molecular structure of each functional group
- Classify each functional group as nonpolar, polar uncharged, or polar charged
- Identify the functional groups that are commonly charged in biological conditions
- Identify the types of interactions in which each functional group commonly participates in biological system
- Identify functional groups in various representations of biological molecules
- Predict how functional group properties influence the function of a biological molecule
- List a biological molecule in which it occurs and explain why this functional group is important for the function of that molecule
- Predict how substitution of one functional group for another functional group will impact interactions in biological systems
There are a few things I should draw your attention when you read these objectives. The first might be that there’s a lot of work ahead to master them! Hopefully you will read the first Lecture-Level objective and be reminded of your time in chemistry – this is an example of a time when that prerequisite knowledge comes in. Since intermolecular forces are covered in CEM 141, you can expect to spend less time on them in BS 161 as you should already know this.
The professor is kind enough to give you both Course-Level Objectives and Lecture-Level objectives. You should be able to see how the lecture objectives are smaller parts of the over-arching course objectives. Note that each of these two Lecture-Level Objectives start with “Throughout this course…”. This indicates that the professor expects you to hang on to this information and build from it – these are not ideas that you regurgitate on an exam and then forget about the next week. It should also be noted that if these ideas are extensions of what you learned in another course (like chemistry, in this case), you'll need to make time to review notes/concepts from that other course in order to grasp the larger picture, if you don't recall the details of that subject.
Pay close attention to the verbs that are used. Referring to the list above, you can see that there are different levels of learning expected – very few of them are on the lowest level and yet many students rely on memorization of material as the key component of studying. Don’t misunderstand, some memorization is needed as you must set a firm foundation on which to layer subsequent knowledge and facts that you memorize can be part of that scaffold – but it’s not the only thing you must do! The section on Study Skills will get at the specifics of becoming more efficient with your study time.
Now let’s look at one of the actual BS 161 exam questions that covers these learning objectives:
What can we learn from just reading the question? First, we can get an indication of the amount of work to be done. You can expect the higher-point-value questions to be more demanding than those with lower points, so compare the point value of this question with the others on the exam and budget your time accordingly. Second, there are three things to do (draw, name, explain). Third, the “3 sentences” in parenthesis would indicate that you are limited to three sentences for the explanation so you’ll need to choose your words carefully.
This question hits on several of the Lecture-Level Objectives listed (and likely several objectives that were covered in a different lecture). Thorough preparation of the learning objectives – and going to Instructor/TA office hours and the BioSci help room for clarification on details you didn’t understand – would make this a fairly straightforward question!