The Art of Crafting Meaningful, Measurable Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes

Discussion: The Art of Crafting Meaningful, Measurable Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes
What is a learning objective? What is a learning outcome? While often used interchangeably, these two terms are quite different. Consider this example for clues to those differences. Suppose that you are developing a nursing course on evidence-based practice. A learning outcome might set the goal of utilizing evidence to provide safe, cost-effective patient care. An objective for such an outcome could be locating scholarly literature pertaining to improving care.

In this Discussion, you will further investigate the relationship between learning outcomes and learning objectives and develop both types of objectives for a scenario.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Note: Remember that your Instructor assigned you to a specific Discussion Group A, B, C, or D in Week 2. You will remain in the same group and respond from the perspective of your Discussion group setting.

To Prepare:
Reflect on the Learning Resources in Weeks 6 and 7. Pay specific attention to alignment between learning activities and learning objectives.
Review the media program in this week’s Learning Resources to examine effective approaches to writing meaningful, measurable learning objectives.
Review the following scenarios and select the one scenario that would apply most directly to your Discussion group setting.
A: Home Care or Public Health Agency
You are a home care nurse in a public health setting and are developing a learning experience for new staff nurses on providing wound care education to their patient population.

B: College or University

You are a nursing faculty member at a university and are developing a new course for an introduction to medical-surgical nursing.

C: Medical/Health Center

You are a diabetes educator in a hospital and are developing a learning experience for newly diagnosed diabetic adult patients who need to understand their insulin needs and how to handle an insulin syringe.

D: Other Setting (Clinic, etc.)

You are a nurse for an outpatient clinic and are developing a learning experience for patients receiving the flu vaccine.

To guide your development of your Discussion post, consider the following questions:
What is the overarching learning need illustrated in the scenario? How could this overarching need be expressed in one or more learning outcomes?
What learning needs to be addressed in order to achieve those outcomes?
What meaningful learning objectives could you develop to represent the learning needs you have identified?
How could you use the learning objectives to create an educational, learner-centered activity designed to meet the objectives?
How can you use the learning objectives to measure whether learning has taken place?
Using your answers to the previous questions, for your scenario, develop two learning outcomes, two learning objectives aligned to those outcomes, and a learning activity keyed to the objectives applicable to the scenario.
Posting Directions: When creating your post, use the title: “Learning activity for Scenario _____.”

By Day 3 of Week 7
In your Group Discussion area, post the following:

Describe the 2 learning outcomes, 2 learning objectives, and 1 learning activity that you developed for the scenario for your Discussion group setting.
Explain the differences between learning outcomes and learning objectives.
Explain how the learning outcomes and learning objectives for your activity adhere to these differences.
Explain how these differences would impact other learning in your Discussion group setting.
Use the Learning Resources and/or the best available evidence from current literature to support your post.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6 of Week 7
Respond to colleagues in your Discussion group on two different days by critically appraising colleagues’ learning outcomes, learning objectives, and activity. Offer additional or alternative learning outcomes and/or learning objectives for the specific activity and explain your reasoning with support from the Learning Resources and/or the best available evidence from current literature.

Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the “Post to Discussion Question” link and then select “Create Thread” to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Submit!

Submission and Grading Information
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:

Week 7 Discussion Rubric
Rubric Detail

Select Grid View or List View to change the rubric’s layout.

Name: NURS_6321_Week7_Discussion_Rubric
Grid View
List View
Excellent Good Fair Poor
Main Posting
45 (45%) – 50 (50%)
Answers all parts of the discussion question(s) expectations with reflective critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module and current credible sources. Supported by at least three current, credible sources. Written clearly and concisely with no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.
40 (40%) – 44 (44%)
Responds to the discussion question(s) and is reflective with critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module. At least 75% of post has exceptional depth and breadth. Supported by at least three credible sources. Written clearly and concisely with one or no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.
35 (35%) – 39 (39%)
Responds to some of the discussion question(s). One or two criteria are not addressed or are superficially addressed. Is somewhat lacking reflection and critical analysis and synthesis. Somewhat represents knowledge gained from the course readings for the module. Post is cited with two credible sources. Written somewhat concisely; may contain more than two spelling or grammatical errors. Contains some APA formatting errors.
0 (0%) – 34 (34%)
Does not respond to the discussion question(s) adequately. Lacks depth or superficially addresses criteria. Lacks reflection and critical analysis and synthesis. Does not represent knowledge gained from the course readings for the module. Contains only one or no credible sources. Not written clearly or concisely. Contains more than two spelling or grammatical errors. Does not adhere to current APA manual writing rules and style.
Main Post: Timeliness
10 (10%) – 10 (10%)
Posts main post by Day 3.
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
N/A
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
N/A
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not post main post by Day 3.
First Response
17 (17%) – 18 (18%)
Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings. Responds fully to questions posed by faculty. Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources. Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives. Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues. Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed. Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.
15 (15%) – 16 (16%)
Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings. Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues. Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed. Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources. Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.
13 (13%) – 14 (14%)
Response is on topic and may have some depth. Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication. Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed. Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.
0 (0%) – 12 (12%)
Response may not be on topic and lacks depth. Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication. Responses to faculty questions are missing. No credible sources are cited.
Second Response
16 (16%) – 17 (17%)
Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings. Responds fully to questions posed by faculty. Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources. Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives. Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues. Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed. Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.
14 (14%) – 15 (15%)
Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings. Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues. Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed. Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources. Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.
12 (12%) – 13 (13%)
Response is on topic and may have some depth. Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication. Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed. Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.
0 (0%) – 11 (11%)
Response may not be on topic and lacks depth. Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication. Responses to faculty questions are missing. No credible sources are cited.
Participation
5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
Meets requirements for participation by posting on three different days.
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
N/A
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
N/A
0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not meet requirements for participation by posting on three different days.
Total Points: 100
Name: NURS_6321_Week7_Discussion_Rubric

Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)

Oermann, M. & Gaberson, K. (2016). Assessment and the education process. In Evaluation and testing in nursing education (5th ed., pp. 3–22). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

Credit Line: Evaluation and testing in nursing education New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, 5th Edition by Oermann, M., & Gaberson, K. Copyright 2016 by Springer Publishing Company. Reprinted by permission of Springer Publishing Company via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Bjerke, M. B., & Renger, R. (2017). Being smart about writing SMART objectives. Evaluation and Program Planning (61), 125–127.

Herrmann, T., & Leggett, T. (2019). Curriculum mapping: Aligning content and design. Radiologic Technology, 90(5), 530–533.

Schutte, K., Line, D., & McCullick, C. (2018). Using curriculum mapping and visualization to maximize effective change. Administrative Issues Journal: Education, Practice & Research, 8(2), 81–93.

Arkansas State University. (n.d.). Bloom’s revised taxonomy: Cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Retrieved from https://www.astate.edu/dotAsset/7a3b152c-b73a-45d6-b8a3-7ecf7f786f6a.pdf

(Previously read in Weeks 2, 3, and 7)

Future Learn. (n.d.). Introduction to educational design in higher education: Constructive alignment example. Retrieved from https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/educational-design/0/steps/26419

(Previously reviewed in Week 6)

Note: As you review this web resource, scroll down to the graphic, “Mapping PLOs and CLOs” and select “Click to expand”. Once you expand the graphic, you will be able to visualize a mapping of the relationship between the Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) and the Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs). Consider how this example might help you as you create your graphic of your program of study for Part 3 of your Course Project.

Document: Learning Objective Verbs at Each Bloom’s Taxonomy Level (PDF document)

Document: Part 3 Planning Guide: Curriculum Design Home Care or Public Health Agency (Word document)

Document: Part 3 Planning Guide: Curriculum Design College or University (Word document)

Document: Part 3 Planning Guide: Curriculum Design Medical/Health Center (Word document)

Document: Part 3 Planning Guide: Curriculum Design Other Settings (Clinic, etc.) (Word document)

Required Media (click to expand/reduce)

Discussion: The Art of Crafting Meaningful, Measurable Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes
What is a learning objective? What is a learning outcome? While often used interchangeably, these two terms are quite different. Consider this example for clues to those differences. Suppose that you are developing a nursing course on evidence-based practice. A learning outcome might set the goal of utilizing evidence to provide safe, cost-effective patient care. An objective for such an outcome could be locating scholarly literature pertaining to improving care.

In this Discussion, you will further investigate the relationship between learning outcomes and learning objectives and develop both types of objectives for a scenario.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Note: Remember that your Instructor assigned you to a specific Discussion Group A, B, C, or D in Week 2. You will remain in the same group and respond from the perspective of your Discussion group setting.

To Prepare:
Reflect on the Learning Resources in Weeks 6 and 7. Pay specific attention to alignment between learning activities and learning objectives.
Review the media program in this week’s Learning Resources to examine effective approaches to writing meaningful, measurable learning objectives.
Review the following scenarios and select the one scenario that would apply most directly to your Discussion group setting.
A: Home Care or Public Health Agency
You are a home care nurse in a public health setting and are developing a learning experience for new staff nurses on providing wound care education to their patient population.

B: College or University

You are a nursing faculty member at a university and are developing a new course for an introduction to medical-surgical nursing.

C: Medical/Health Center

You are a diabetes educator in a hospital