For Faculty

TTU Professor Presents a Different Approach to Learning Objectives

By Trevor Hendricks, eLearning Student Assistant

A recent study suggests that learning objectives may not be as effective as intended. Learning objectives are used by a spectrum of university personnel such as faculty, instructors and students. Tasked with connecting course framework with specified learning outcomes, learning objectives provide students with a focused mindset and help instructors direct course content. Some opposition would propose, however, that learning objectives are only included in syllabi to satisfy a faculty requirement.

Dr. Kristina Mitchell, a Political Science instructor at Texas Tech University's main campus in Lubbock, Texas, has recently published a paper about learning objectives in the Journal of Political Science Education. Dr. Mitchell worked with Dr. Whitney Manzo at Meredith College to research and write "The Purpose and Perception of Learning Objectives." Their work addresses, as Dr. Mitchell explains it, "a common talking point amongst online instructors" by better describing what learning objectives are and how they are used in modern curricula. This study explores the restructuring of learning objectives within the higher education community in terms of instructor dependence and time investment.

To determine the practical merit of learning objectives, Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Manzo conducted heavy research by implementing several methods. The most prominent method proved to be faculty and student surveys. The honest insight collected from the surveys became the most beneficial, showing that "there is no shared understanding of learning objectives and why they are used. Using learning objectives in different ways does not make a difference in student learning or overall performance." As a six-year instructor herself, Dr. Mitchell, through first-hand experience, has seen the impact that learning objectives have on students and was not surprised with her findings. "Students pay little attention to learning objectives when reading a syllabus." Instead, Dr. Mitchell argues that "students will benefit more from quality lecture content than well-written learning objectives."

Learning objectives may not achieve sought-after results, but Dr. Mitchell sees her research as "a welcome finding for faculty because this shows the way that learning objectives are being crafted isn't the best and a simple change in verbiage doesn't matter to students." For Dr. Mitchell, this finding has allowed her to develop alternate learning objectives tailored to fit her own instructing style. Now her focus is "spending less time creating descriptive learning objectives and more time improving the overall quality of my lecture content." As an online educator, Dr. Mitchell understands that one of the most important aspects of her role is to make sure that her students are learning the presented material and that in an online classroom, there can be more communication barriers than in the traditional classroom setting.

Now that evidence has pointed towards the lack of understanding with learning objectives between students and instructors, Dr. Mitchell has begun to direct her attention towards researching assessment challenges as well as continuing to conduct further research to advance her arguments on learning objectives' effectiveness. She also aims to evaluate a reconsideration of instructor requirements, where focusing time to write detailed learning objectives could be redirected towards scripting in-depth course content. Long term, Dr. Mitchell believes that "decreasing the importance on learning objectives could give instructors more academic freedom."