If the content and evaluations of the course are not aligned with learning objectives, teachers will not have adequate data to determine if students are achieving their desired objectives. Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives can be an extremely useful framework for determining what level of cognitive activity a learning objective is at and matching that level with appropriate forms of assessment. Learning objectives should be student-centered and describe what students should be able to achieve as a result of instruction, rather than what the teacher will address or do in the course. Unlike general learning goals, learning goals provide clear criteria for teachers to assess whether students are achieving their desired learning goals.
Learning objectives, sometimes referred to as learning outcomes (Melton, 199), are the statements that clearly describe what students are expected to achieve as a result of instruction. When creating your learning objectives, think in terms of the tests that students will provide to demonstrate a level of mastery of the objective.
