It's Not What You Teach, It's What They Learn

MASAGUNG1IT’S NOT WHAT YOU TEACH, IT’S WHAT THEY LEARNMASAGUNG2Shifting the Focus from Teaching to Learning: Learning Objectives for OR Course DesignThomas A. GrossmanMasagung School of ManagementUniversity of San Franciscotagrossman@usfca.eduMASAGUNG3How Do You Design Your Course?MASAGUNG4Challenges You Face in Course DesignMASAGUNG5Course Design Approaches•Bottom-Up–Start with components–Add/Subtract components until full•Top-Down–Educational Objectives: What student success looks like. (Goals)–Instructional Objectives: Observable student performance. (Components of Goals)MASAGUNG6Educational Objectives•High level goals in general terms–Think of this as the “elevator story” that captures the essence of your course•Each written as student behavior+ topic•Definition:–“An intended outcome of instruction that has been stated in general enough terms to encompass a domain of student performance” (Gronlund)•Examples (Anderson et al):–The ability to read a musical score–The ability to interpret various types of social dataMASAGUNG7Today’s Educational Objective•Educational Objective of this session (which includes the homework):–You will think about objectives when designing a course –You will be able to use Learning Objectives as a tool for course designMASAGUNG8What Are the Educational Objectives of Your Course?•Turn to your neighbor and discuss•Generate 2-5 Educational Objectives that might be suitable for each of youMASAGUNG9Instructional Objectives •Intermediate level: –More specific than Educational Objectives–More general than low-level “outcomes”•In aggregate, Instructional Objectives define Educational Objectives•Examples (with Educational Objective “the ability to interpret various types of social data”)–Recognize different types of social data–Perform appropriate analyses–Articulate results in plain English MASAGUNG10What are the Instructional Objectives of Your Course?•Turn to your neighbor and discuss•Generate 3-6 Instructional Objectives that might be suitable for your Educational ObjectivesMASAGUNG11Effective Instructional Objectives•Student Focused–What is to be learned•Not Instructor Focused–How it is to be taught•Do not constrain your teaching options in your Objectives!MASAGUNG12Effective Instructional Objectives•Concentrate on–the productof instruction–not the processof instruction•Example: –Product•Applies basic principles to new situations–Process•Gains knowledge of basic principlesMASAGUNG13Verbs to Avoid (at least for now)•Understand–Key question for an instructor: WHY do I want them to understand?•Appreciate•Increase•Gain•Acquire•Develop•Learn•RealizeMASAGUNG14Verbs to Use•Explain•Create•Determine•Make•Predict•Describe•(See Appendix for more)MASAGUNG15Effective Instructional ObjectivesToo NarrowLists of specific learning tasks students can do (“learning outcomes”)IdealDescriptions of expected student performance at the end of instructionToo BroadStatements of general goalMASAGUNG16Towards Instructional Objectives for Your Course•Individually•Write down 3-6 Instructional Objectives that might be suitable for your Educational ObjectivesMASAGUNG17“In Theory”•The “best” instructional objectives:–connect to the final exam–can be measured without ambiguityMASAGUNG18Putting Learning Objectives to Work•Course Design•Class session planning: –Provide (lower level) Learning Objectives for each class session•Assessment–Assessment should evaluate the Learning Objectives•If you assess anything that is not a Learning Objective, reflect on why•Communication with students–Start of Course•Present the Learning Objectives to students–Conclusion of Course•Evaluate how well you achieved the Learning Objectives. –Can have a dialogue with your students. MASAGUNG19Benefits of Learning Objectives•Clarity on purpose of course•Alignment with goals of the program•Better communication to students, colleagues, deans•Eases process of removing beloved content •Identifies content areas where new materials needed•(Personally) More effective course: –Grateful students–Multiple students use course content within a few monthsMASAGUNG20Homework•Write down the Learning Objectives of your course. –List of Educational Objectives–List of Instructional Objectives•Challenge: Don’t anchor on what you’re doing now. Instead, focus on what you want your students to be able to do. MASAGUNG21A Final Thought•Learning objectives: –Are a tool to make you a better teacher–Are not an end in themselves•The goal is effective learning–Think hard about goals in terms of what students can actually do–Think hard about the components needed to achieve those goals–Don’t agonize over structureMASAGUNG22Appendix: Verbs to Use (Claus, in Gronlund)•Analyze, Apply, Appreciate, Comprehend, Compute, Create, Demonstrate, Evaluate, Interpret, Know, Listen, Locate, Perform, Recognize, Speak, Think, Translate, Understand, Use, Write MASAGUNG23Appendix: Caveats•There is no standardized terminology •There are no useful definitions•Most of the action is K-12, where there are external standards. In higher ed, we set our own standards. •Conceptually, there is a continuum of Objectives of increasing specificity. •Objectives can be structured hierarchically: –Educational Objectives: Statements of general goals •Instructional Objectives: Statements about observable student performance–Class Session Objectives: Statements about low-level learning outcomes•Choose a hierarchy that works for you!MASAGUNG24References•N. E. Gronlund, How to Write and Use Instructional Objectives, MacMillan Publishing Company–Simple, clearly written–Good introduction –Tendency to focus at the level of class sessionsMASAGUNG25References•Anderson et al, A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Addison Wesley Longman–Much information on a taxonomy of different cognitive processes: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create–Useful for thinking about what you want your students to be able to do, and how to get them there.MASAGUNG26References•Judith S. Liebman, Omega Rho Plenary, “Teaching for Learning: Past Present and Future”, INFORMS 2003, Atlanta. –Summary: http://omegarho.informs.org/lectures/liebman.pdf–Copy available from INFORM-ED, http://education.forum.informs.org•Grossman, T.A. (2001), “Causes of the Decline of the Business School Management Science Course”, INFORMS Transactions on Education, Vol. 1, No. 2, http://ite.informs.org/Vol1No2/Grossman/