Learning Goals

As professional scholars, college faculty develop learning goals for their fields, programs, and courses. These goals outline an academic discipline's contribution to the education (and lives) of students. These goals should contribute to a department's program or plan for the major (or minor) field of study. In lower level courses, these goals should describe some basics of a discipline for students pursuing other career directions, so that they come away from the course with a basic understanding and respect for that discipline's contribution to society.

Learning goals should be as specific, and measurable, as possible. To state learning goals plainly in a course is to make students aware of what they are learning. The goals can form the basis of assessment: how well students have learned, and how well you have taught. Accordingly, assessments should be tailored to course learning goals.