week five outcomes and objectives, comparison chart

What are learning outcomes?

What experiences have you had working with or writing learning outcomes?

What is the difference between learning outcomes and learning objectives?

Learning outcomes are statements of what the learner should be able to do after completion of the course.
My experience with learning outcomes comes from working with course outlines in the college that I work at as a professor. Each course has outcomes and objectives that meet back to Ministry Standards. All objectives must meet back to the outcomes and all objectives must be met in the course. Ususally there are between eight and twelve outcomes. There are many more objectives as the course content is narrowed down. So, the outcomes are more broad. The objectives are more specific.
I sit on the curriculum committee for my program. We review the course outlines to make sure that the content is still relevant and that the outcomes and objectives are in line with each other and the Ministry Standards. I will write outcomes or objectives using the Blooms Taxonomy.

• Compare and contrast the views of Morrison et al. (2013) and Cranton (2012) regarding the purpose of learning outcomes.
• How are your ideas similar or different from those of Cranton (2012) and Morrison et al. (2013)?

THE PURPOSE OF LEARNING OUTCOMES: A COMPARISON

CRANTON (2000)	MORRISON ET AL (2013)
Cranton defines objectives as a statement of what participants are expected to learn or be able to do after instruction	Morrison et al describe learning objectives as a clear statement of intent of what the learner is to accomplish.
What they can do for students:   -Clarify expectations. -Act as a guide for focussing attention. Increase motivation -Help students determine how well they are prepared for tests.	-Morrison et al describe instructional objectives as essential for selecting the optimal instructional strategies to facilitate the learner's achievement of the objectives. -The benefit of instructional design are indicated in the facilitation of the learners accomplishment
What they can do for instructors:   -Help to organize instruction. -Selection of teaching materials is facilitated by clear statements of expected learning. -Feedback and evaluation is clearer when everyone knows where they are going. -Objectives enhance communication with other colleagues. -Instruction can be coordinated within and across programs.	-Without objectives, the instructional designer will not know what to include in the instruction. -Objectives offer a means to create highly focussed units of instruction. -Objectives provide a framework for devising ways to evaluate student learning. -Without a clear statement of intent, the desinder will have difficulty measuring the specific learning achieved.
What they can do for the community and professional groups:   -Groups can get a clear picture of what our students are doing in our programs. -Objectives can be shared with other teachers in other institutions.	-Understanding how to develop objectives will help you to assisting subject matter experts in writing instructional objectives.
Concerns:   -Students may feel overwhelmed by the objectives. -Students may worry that objectives will stifle their creativity. -Students need to see that the objectives are followed in the instructional plan. -Teachers may be concerned that objectives stifle creativity, independent thinking and critical questioning and lead to a rigid instructional approach.	-Some designers may think that objectives must be defined immediately after formulating the goals or statement of purposes for a topic. This is not always feasible and a task analysis should precede the instructional design. -Instructional objectives should focus on outcomes rather than process.
Other points: -Objectives may be written for high level, creative and critical thinking skills. -Potential employers should be consulted to reflect the hiring expectations for graduates. -Good communication must exist between those writing the objectives and those doing the teaching.	-Objectives are typically grouped into three domains: cognitive, psychomotor and affective. -Objectives are based on the results of the task analysis.

 My own experience with outcomes and objectives are based on my experiences working with them at the college where I teach. We call our objectives "outcomes" and then create objectives based on these outcomes. In my course outlines, the outcomes are the outcomes and the objectives are the process. Confusing. I have been a little confused by this as I worked through the readings. However, I do understand the concepts and the process behind creating solid objectives so that designing materials for the courses can be facilitated and the objectives for learning are clear. Both Cranton and Morrison et al are on point with this. As well, they refer to the development of relevant assessment stratgeies based on the objectives. This is also very pertinent. It is very important to test to the level of expectation which is laid out tin the wording of the objectives. Lower level competencies should not be assessed at higher levels of expectation. Understanding Blooms taxonomy has been a very useful tool for me as I design instruction and evaluations..
In my experience, students (and learners in general) respond best to a well laid out curriculum with relevant resources and assessments. It is so easy to lose credibility without a well developed plan.
:)
C.