II.3 The learning objectives of the course are clearly stated and understandable to the student, and clear instructions are provided to students on how to meet them.
◉ REQUIRED STANDARD
Expectations
Avoid the use of jargon, slang, acronyms, etc. unless said items are clearly understood by students in that field of study.
Avoid the use of overly-technical terms or language.
Avoid the use of terms that students will learn in class, but may not know beforehand.
Use of an alignment table can be useful to illustrate this to students. In the example below (see Examples below), the learning outcome is stated along with how it will be assessed. If your department, school/college, university or accrediting organization requires specific outcomes—NCATE or AACSB, for example—those would be placed in the "Standards/Code" section.
Instructions to students can take various forms (e.g. narratives, bulleted lists, charts) and may appear at different levels within the course, such as module-based or weekly assignment sheets. Instructions should be clear and complete.
Information should indicate which learning activities, resources, assignments, and assessments support the learning outcomes (see Examples below).
Examples
CLEAR
UNCLEAR
"The student will learn to assess when applying CPR is necessary and will know how to do so effectively."
(CPR is a generally-understood term).
"The student will apply the appropriate cover sheet on all TPS reports concerning a project's PIR, PMM and evaluation."
(TPS, PIR, PMM are not generally understood acronyms).
"The student will be able to describe O(n2) and O(n log n) sorting algorithms, and select the best for various cases."
(This is an overly technical outcome, and can be simplified to: "The student will be able to describe various types of sorting algorithms, and select the best for various cases.")
Learning Outcomes
The student will identify the three different ways rocks are formed by learning methods and characteristics of each type.
Standards/ Code
Department of Geology: 24-1-2a
Assessment
Multiple Choice Identification Quizzes
Hands-on Fieldwork
Labs
References
QM FIPSE rubric II.3 and II.4