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1 Focusing Your Adult Class with Learner Objectives Copyright © 2002, John E. Carpenter, all rights reserved. Licensed to About.com for Web publication, with worldwide electronic rights. Permission is gr anted to about.com users, to quote portions of this arti cle, with attributi on (academic footn ote) to the about.com Adult/Continuing Education Forum, Kimeiko Hotta Dover, Guide. This article is provided in three parts, published by About.com as a series. • Part I provides a background for understanding why learner objectives are important to the valid structure and content of any adult continuing education or in-service course. • Part II describes the domains and levels of learner objectives with attention to the cognitive domain, and offers a set of examples. • Part III suggests steps to implement this approach in your instructional program, and recommends references for ideas and further study. The purpose of this article is to enable instructors of adult and continuing education courses to structure and develop their courses to support valid learner objectives. This is not a comprehensive course, nor a “sure-fire recipe,” but it provides instructors with a starting point to plan or to re- evaluate a course from the learner’s point of view. Additional references are provided at the end of Part III. Part I. The Basics for Understanding and Writing Learner Objectives For many years, teachers were encouraged to describe their courses in terms of learner objectives. I learned how, and used the skill frequently during my fu ll- time teaching year s. But little did I know that every job since then would include a training component, probably because I could. In every one of those situations, t he skill of reducing a training requi rement to learner object ives has saved my professional bacon! Here’s a small capsule of how it has worked for me, and some suggestions of where to look so it will work well for you. The Objective Difference Teaching by objectives is a very Western, cause-and - effect style of instructio n. It focuses on specific skills rather than “appreciation” or t he “college experience.” In that way it is an ideal approach for adult and continuing education, because most adult ed students participate to accomplish a specific purpose, and have little patience for the generalities. That’s not to say that values, general information, dialog, discovery, and change in thinking style shouldn’t be part of your program’s general goals and your instructional practice. But if you can demonstrate to your students the efficient, results-oriented aspects of your program, they may remain long enough to obtain the more general benefits also. Teaching with objectives assumes that “to teach” is an active verb. The methods, materials, motivation, and enthusiasm you as the inst ructor bring to the class will shape the improvement in students’ knowledge and skills. By organizing your course by objectives you will provide focus, consistency, and clear evaluation criteria. Most course descriptions include a phrase of what th e class is intended to provide – that’s fine – it is a general goal or “program objective.” But to structure the lessons, materials, and methods of the course, you as the instructor must describe what the individual
