1. Why is it important to check the validity of your learning objectives? How would you ensure that your learning objectives are valid.
It is important to check the validity of the your learning objectives because you need to determine if it is an actual learning objective opposed to a learning activity. Anne Reeves’s, “Where Great Teaching Begins” states, “The most direct way to check an instructional objective is to ask whether it is student-centered, is thinking-centered, and describes a performance that demonstrates learning.” Reeves’s highlights the need to validate your learning objectives based on whether the content is student-centered, cognitively appropriate and that the learning objective is observable and measurable.
Anna Reeves described a couple simple ways to determine the validity of the learning objectives. By using these tests we can check if it is a learning activity or a learning objective.
Hey Dad test – Something that can be seen or observed
“ Hey Dad, listen to me read this” or Hey Dad watch me ride my bike.
Helps teachers to test whether their instruction meets the learning objective requirement.
Principle in the Hall Test – What did you learn today? What can you do that you couldn’t yesterday.
Additional test that helps to determine whether their instruction meets the learning objective requirement.
Whaddya Know Test – Basic regurgitation of what they already know.
Allows you to understand where they are currently at
2. Describe your understanding of Characteristics of Good Instructional Objectives?
Good Instructional objectives are statements which clearly describe an anticipated learning outcome. They define what is supposed to be learned and are helpful to both the teacher and learner throughout the learning process. Additionally, learning objectives help with evaluation of the learning process and provide a clear end goal. Also, good instructional objectives uses verbs such as “to identify,” “to list,” and “to analyze” are explicit and describe observable actions or actions that lead to observable products. For example, a typical class or lesson begins with “”Upon completion of this lesson, the student should be able to….” which is a clear way for the teacher to establish the learning objective at the beginning of the lesson.
Additional characteristics of learning objectives is that they are well written, clearly describe learning outcome, are student oriented and result in an observable product. We need students to be engaged so our learning objectives need to relate to the students. We want to be able to observe progress and measure the outcomes. Finally, we need to make sure that the content is appropriate for the age (student oriented) or cognitive levels of the students. We do not want to overwhelm students. We want our students to feel like they are making progress. Hence, the content should be provided in a linear fashion and not be so advanced that it does not allow them to learn the information in a reasonable time. Additionally, it is good to identify the area that the learning objective will target; psychomotor, affective, and cognitive types of objective.
My thoughts:
Overall, I understand the need for learning objectives and feel that they are necessary to the instructional process. Personally, I have always liked clear instructions that state the goal and how the outcome will be determined/measured. Without clear goals and measurements it is very hard for me to be successful in classrooms or the working world. However, creating learning objectives and a quality assess method seems very difficult because it requires you to conceptualize a project from beginning to end. I wonder how I am going to be able to create my first learning objective and create a quality rubric. However, I look forward to the challenge and believe that I will get better as I get more experience running a classroom.
References:
Reeves, Anne R. Where Great Teaching Begins: Planning for Student Thinking and Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2011. Print.
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