Learning objectives are the foundation of any well-designed course. They define what we want our students to know and be able to do by the end of their learning journey. Think of them as the guiding stars of your course development—they help you make informed decisions about content, assessments, and instructional strategies.
For some educators, especially those accustomed to organizing courses around topics rather than competencies, writing learning objectives can feel a bit challenging at first. However, clear, skill-based objectives bring several advantages. They enable you to:
- Prioritize content and concentrate on the most critical elements
- Break down content into manageable, meaningful units
- Design assessments and activities that directly support your objectives
- Clearly communicate your expectations to students
- Provide clarity for colleagues who may utilize the same master course
- Help your department align courses within the program
You can develop learning objectives for any instructional unit—whether it’s a full course, a module, a lecture, or even a single assignment. Once you start thinking in terms of objectives, you’ll find this approach beneficial across all aspects of your teaching. Here are some tips to help you craft effective learning objectives.
What Learning Objectives Look Like
While there are various ways to structure learning objectives, a straightforward starting point is:
By the end of this course (or any instructional unit), students will be able to _________.
This sentence structure alone doesn’t make an objective effective, however. For instance, you could fill in that statement with something like “understand cheeseburgers” or “comprehend the English language,” neither of which would represent a strong objective. To ensure your objectives are powerful and meaningful, they should be:
- Student-Centered: Focus on the skill students will acquire, rather than what you will teach
- Active: Describe what students will be able to do as a result of their learning
- Observable: Focus on visible actions or behaviors, not inactive states like “understanding” or “learn”
- Specific: Clearly outline the information, skills, or behavior students will gain, avoiding broad or narrow terms
When developing objectives, consider the following questions:
- What are the key takeaways of the course?
- What essential skills or knowledge do students need in your field?
- What do you want students to remember long after the course ends?
- What practical skills do you want them to master?
The following chart gives some examples of weak and strong objectives (according to the above criteria) to explain why a strong objective is better for student learning.
| Weak Objective | Strong Objective | What’s the Difference? |
| This course will cover how to generate, evaluate, and document design decisions. | By the end of this course, students will be able to document how an organization or group determines design decisions. | The weak objective focuses on what the instructor will do and has multiple actions. The strong objective shifts the focus to what students will achieve. |
| By the end of this module, students will learn how cultures explain and treat illness differently. | By the end of this module, students will be able to document how cultures explain and treat illness differently. | The weak objective describes a passive action. The strong objective is active and emphasizes a skill students can apply beyond the classroom. |
| By the end of this lesson, students will be able to understand the political, economic, and social causes of the Six-Day War. | By the end of this lesson, students will be able to discuss the political, economic, and social causes of the Six-Day War. | The weak objective focuses on an internal state (understanding), while the strong objective outlines an observable action (discussion). |
| By the end of this course, students will be able to perform the duties of a nurse practitioner. | By the end of this course, students will be able to interpret a patient’s medical history. | The weak objective is not specific about the actions, while the strong objective is specific and achievable. |
Tips for Writing Your Learning Objectives
As an expert in your field, you can sometimes be so close to your subject matter that it becomes difficult for you to pinpoint the discrete skills and knowledge you want your students to gain. This phenomenon is referred to as expert blind spot, and it suggests that an expert in any given field can forget how difficult it is for a novice to initially learn the content. Given that we should ideally write learning objectives with novices in mind, identifying objectives can sometimes be challenging.
To help with this, consider employing Bloom’s Taxonomy, a framework for distinguishing different types of intellectual skills. Bloom’s Taxonomy identifies six cognitive domains, each of which maps to different action verbs that can help you identify the appropriate learning objectives for your course. The knowledge and comprehension domains, in particular, can help you identify the skills students need before advancing to more complex topics in your course. In this respect, developing your learning objectives based on Bloom’s Taxonomy can help you combat expert blind spot, as it will ensure that students progress sequentially from the novice domains to the expert ones.
Conclusion
Learning objectives are the roadmap to a successful and engaging course. By taking the time to articulate clear, actionable, and specific objectives, you set your students up for success and create a course that is both focused and effective. So, take a moment to think about what you truly want your students to walk away with, and let those goals guide your course design from start to finish.
