Feedback on Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Drafting has become an exploratory yet deeply focused and detailed part of our design process. After writing and fine-tuning the learning outcomes and objectives for the two courses in the pathway, we put the drafts out there for feedback in this problem solving session. Colleagues were invited to participate in the session from a variety of perspectives:

• Subject matter expert (SME) – in math, computers, communications, or digital culture
• Learner
• Instructor but not SME
• Curriculum developer

This allowed us incorporate a variety of different views into this review of outcomes and objectives. After a group discussion around the course outcomes and whether the scope was right and whether the components fit together and made sense, we individually reviewed and commented on the objectives for each outcome for both courses.

The written comments and subsequent discussion led us to modifications, such as:

• Breaking objectives down into sub-parts, to ensure adequate time would be planned for
• Re-combining elements into groups that fit together better
• Adding missed potential objectives
• Eliminating “nice to have” objectives that went too far outside the scope of a course

This resulted in a second draft that incorporated more viewpoints, benefitted from more eyes, and pushed us to think deeper about a few key issues. Once again, we are grateful to those who were able to participate in this problem solving session for their time and expertise.

We are holding these open problem solving sessions every two weeks as part of the development of the Career Program Pathway – Creative Technologies project. The purpose of these sessions is twofold: give SFL and CT faculty multiple opportunities to get involved in the development process, and for the course developers to be able to learn from the expertise of others and apply that knowledge in this project.

Interested in the results of our last Problem Solving Session? Check out our post on this blog: Depth of Knowledge. Have ideas to share but not able to make a session? You can chat anytime with Allison, Penny, or Deanna.