6.2 Course-Level Objectives and Bloom's Taxonomy
"Course Objectives" and "Student Learning Outcomes" are some of the hardest elements to write in a course design. At LSSC, "Student Learning Outcomes" are the same as what Quality Matters calls "Course-Level Objectives." Please keep that in mind--it can be confusing!
In order for course-level objectives to be considered valid, they must be measurable. They also must fit into one of Bloom's Taxonomy's categories.
In order for course-level objectives to be considered valid, they must be measurable. They also must fit into one of Bloom's Taxonomy's categories.
What is "Measurable?"
To make measurable course-level objectives, you must start by thinking about what you want your students to take away from your course... but you must also think about what your students will DO in your course to PROVE they have mastered the course-level objective. For example, one of the course-level objectives in Katie Evans' award-winning American Literature course is:
It's not enough that students read about the definitions of realism, modernism, and postmodernism. It's not enough that students watch videos about these topics. To be a measurable objective, there must be a measurement instrument. In most cases, that measurement instrument is an assignment, discussion, project, or test.
For the objective above, the measurement instruments are discussions and essays about the topics. The instructor measures student mastery by how well the student describes and identifies the Literary genres in their discussions and essays, based on a rubric that shows the benchmarks for levels of mastery.
So, when you are writing course-level objectives, always think about how you will measure the stated objective. If you cannot measure it in a precise fashion, it isn't a good objective.
For example, a non-measurable objective is:
Think about it--how will you measure "understanding?" What can a student do to demonstrate their understanding? You can almost name a way... but remember that objectives should be precise. What skill, precisely, is "understanding?" It's much easier for you to measure a student's ability to "identify," right?
Another non-measurable objective:
How would you measure appreciation? What instrument could you use to "prove" a student appreciates reading? It's nearly impossible.
- Identify and describe the characteristics of the genres of realism, modernism, and postmodernism.
It's not enough that students read about the definitions of realism, modernism, and postmodernism. It's not enough that students watch videos about these topics. To be a measurable objective, there must be a measurement instrument. In most cases, that measurement instrument is an assignment, discussion, project, or test.
For the objective above, the measurement instruments are discussions and essays about the topics. The instructor measures student mastery by how well the student describes and identifies the Literary genres in their discussions and essays, based on a rubric that shows the benchmarks for levels of mastery.
So, when you are writing course-level objectives, always think about how you will measure the stated objective. If you cannot measure it in a precise fashion, it isn't a good objective.
For example, a non-measurable objective is:
- Demonstrate understanding of Literary genres.
Think about it--how will you measure "understanding?" What can a student do to demonstrate their understanding? You can almost name a way... but remember that objectives should be precise. What skill, precisely, is "understanding?" It's much easier for you to measure a student's ability to "identify," right?
Another non-measurable objective:
- Develop an appreciation for reading.
How would you measure appreciation? What instrument could you use to "prove" a student appreciates reading? It's nearly impossible.
Bloom's Taxonomy
At this point, you may be asking yourself how you are going to determine what action verbs are measurable in an objective, and which are not. The best tool for determining measurability is Bloom's Taxonomy.
Bloom's Taxonomy was invented in the 1950's by a group of educators, whose chairperson was Benjamin Bloom. The taxonomy has been revised over the past 50 years, but ultimately, the idea is that there are six Cognitive Domains, with three that are lower-level, and three that are higher-level.
In the lower-level domains, students learn the basics of a subject area. We see lower-level cognition in "Introduction to" courses, where the idea is to give students an overview of a subject area without dipping too heavily into the specifics of any one part of the subject area. The three lower-level domains are:
In the higher-level domains, students learn the specifics about a subject area, or part of a subject area. Most of the time, we begin to see higher-level cognitive learning objectives in 2000-level or above courses. The three higher-level domains are:
As you can see, students need to have lower-level cognitive knowledge of a subject area in order to apply that knowledge in the higher-level domains.
Each cognitive level has action verbs assigned to it that can be used to create measurable objectives. For example, in the Knowledge level, where understanding in the most basic, verbs include:
Students are only expected to acknowledge and understand that concepts exist in the Knowledge level. So, the action verbs reflect that understanding.
When you are writing objectives, use verbs from this handy chart, which is labeled by cognitive level:
Bloom's Taxonomy was invented in the 1950's by a group of educators, whose chairperson was Benjamin Bloom. The taxonomy has been revised over the past 50 years, but ultimately, the idea is that there are six Cognitive Domains, with three that are lower-level, and three that are higher-level.
In the lower-level domains, students learn the basics of a subject area. We see lower-level cognition in "Introduction to" courses, where the idea is to give students an overview of a subject area without dipping too heavily into the specifics of any one part of the subject area. The three lower-level domains are:
- Knowledge
- Comprehension
- Application
In the higher-level domains, students learn the specifics about a subject area, or part of a subject area. Most of the time, we begin to see higher-level cognitive learning objectives in 2000-level or above courses. The three higher-level domains are:
- Analysis
- Synthesis
- Evaluation
As you can see, students need to have lower-level cognitive knowledge of a subject area in order to apply that knowledge in the higher-level domains.
Each cognitive level has action verbs assigned to it that can be used to create measurable objectives. For example, in the Knowledge level, where understanding in the most basic, verbs include:
- select
- label
- list
- identify
- locate
- define
- name
- recognize
Students are only expected to acknowledge and understand that concepts exist in the Knowledge level. So, the action verbs reflect that understanding.
When you are writing objectives, use verbs from this handy chart, which is labeled by cognitive level:
Supplemental Resources
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte has a great resource for understanding more about Bloom's Taxonomy. If you need help, try visiting this link:
Next Steps
When you are ready, continue to 6.3 Chapter 6 Activities.