Learning objectives

Good teaching needs learning objectives

Learning objectives are descriptions of skills and characteristics that learners should have acquired at the end of a teaching-learning process. Learning objectives are not to be equated with teaching content.

A distinction is made between indicative, broad and detailed objectives. Learning objectives define a specific state that should be achieved at the end of a course (detailed objective), a series of courses (broad objective) or a course of study (indicative objective).

An example:

Learning objective hierarchy

Indicative learning objectives for the curriculum

e.g. ÄAppO. §1 The aim of training is to produce a scientifically and practically trained physician who is capable of independent and autonomous professional practice (...).

Rough learning objectives for a subject, a study section

e.g. pediatrics: students should be able to identify somatic, psychomotor and emotional problems in a sick child on the basis of medical history and physical examination

Detailed learning objectives for a course, a teaching unit

e.g. Radiology: Students should be able to correctly recognize pulmonary shadows larger than 2 cm on ap-thoracic images in 80% of cases.

from: Fabry, Götz (2008): Medizindidaktik. A handbook for teaching, p. 87

"A learning objective can be defined with sufficient clarity if the behavior that the student is to acquire can be described or depicted in such a way that one can recognize that behavior when one sees it." (Tyler 1949 quoted by N. Stenhouse 1975, p 54)

Words that are open to much interpretation:

Know, understand, really understand, appreciate, fully appreciate, grasp the meaning of something, like, believe, trust

Words that admit less interpretation

Write, recite by heart, identify, distinguish, solve, construct, enumerate, compare, contrast

from: Mager, Robert F. (1965): Learning Objectives and Programmed Instruction, p.11

We are currently working on implementing the competence-based learning objectives of the National Competence-Based Learning Objectives Catalog for Medicine (NKLM).