Meaningful and Measurable Learning Objectives

Crafting Meaningful and Measurable Learning Objectives

Learning objectives lay the foundation for a lesson. As the quote above alludes to, they (learning objectives) provide not only a starting point, but also a destination. When crafted meaningfully, learning objectives can provide nurse educators with measurable and observable behaviors. In addition, when communicated early, often, and clearly, learning objectives can better address student, staff, and patient learning needs.

Learning needs, or gaps in knowledge, range from concepts and attitudes to psychomotor skills. In addition, the learning needs of baccalaureate nursing students will differ greatly from the learning needs of doctoral nursing students. Likewise, the learning needs of cardiac patients will differ from those of diabetic patients. In effect, the learning experiences in which each audience engages must be carefully and meaningfully tailored towards their specific needs.

 

To prepare

·         Select an audience of learners (nursing students, nursing staff, or patients) that you are interested in teaching.

·         Reflect on the diverse learning needs of this specific audience and select one to further investigate for your Discussion*.

·         Review the article, Writing Learning Objectives that Help You Teach and Students Learn (Part 1), and the links to the Lesson Plan Tutorials, which are located in this week’s Learning Resources. Reflect on the examples and non-examples of action verbs. Then, consider the action verbs that you might select to address the identified learning need.

·         Review the Crafting Learning Objectives document, which is located in this week’s Learning Resources. Then, craft at least two learning objectives—relevant to the learning need that you identified, which follow the format required of the Nursing Education specialization.

·         Consider learning activities that might align to these learning objectives. For example, if the learning objective is to demonstrate the ability to accurately take a patient’s blood pressure, the activity should involve students practicing the process of blood pressure readings; if the learning objective is to compare learning theories, the activity may include a small group discussion.

·         Consider how each activity could be used to meaningfully assess student, staff, or patient learning.

·         Keeping the audience and learning need in mind, create a description of a learning activity that aligns to the objectives.

* Select an audience and learning need about which you are genuinely interested. You will keep this focus (audience, learning need, learning objectives) and expand on it over the next three Discussions.

 

Questions to be addressed in my paper:

 

1.      the audience and learning need that you have selected.

2.      Describe the learning activity that you might use to address this need and identify at least two appropriate learning objectives.

3.       Explain how each objective aligns to the learning activity, as well as how each objective can be used to meaningfully assess student, staff, or patient learning. Justify your response with references to this week’s Learning Resources and current literature.

 

REMINDERS:

1)      1-2 pages (addressing the 3 questions above excluding the title page and reference page).

2)      Kindly follow APA format for the citation and references! References should be between the period of 2011 and 2016. Please utilize the references at least three below as much as possible and the rest from yours.

3)     Make headings for each question.

 

References

 

Bradshaw, M. J., & Lowenstein, A. J. (2014). Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions (6th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

• Chapter 2, “Diversity in the Classroom”

 

This chapter presents a brief historical overview of diversity in the United States. Strategies and considerations for working with diverse learners are also included.

 

• Chapter 3, “Strategies for Innovation”

 

Nurse educators can utilize innovative strategies such as art, literature, storytelling, humor, and technology to engage learners. This chapter reviews these strategies and also provides authentic examples of their use.

 

Bristol, T. J., & Zerwekh, J. (2011). Essentials of e-learning for nurse educators. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis Company.

• Chapter 10, “Learners’ Special Needs and Considerations” (pp. 181–194)

 

Chapter 10 introduces considerations for creating universal designs for learning (UDL) that fit the needs of all learning styles and abilities.

Shank, P. (2005). Writing learning objectives that help you teach and students learn (Part 1). Online Classroom, 4–7. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

 

This article describes how educators can write effective learning objectives and it provides detailed steps and examples.

 

Overview of the ASSURE MODEL. (2014, September 9). Retrieved September 23, 2015 from https://idtassuremodel.wordpress.com/about/

This website provides a basic explanation of the ASSURE model of instructional design.

The Center for Teaching and Learning. (2014). Writing objectives using Bloom’s Taxonomy. Retrieved January 21, 2015 from http://teaching.uncc.edu/learning-resources/articles-books/best-practice/goals-objectives/writing-objectives

A guide from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for writing objectives using Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2015 from http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/effective-teaching-practices/revised-blooms-taxonomy

ISU Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. A model of learning objectives based on a taxonomy for teaching, learning and assessing.

Writing Measurable Learning Objectives – TeachOnline. (2012, July 2). Retrieved January 21, 2015 from http://teachonline.asu.edu/2012/07/writing-measurable-learning-objectives/

A tool for writing objectives from the Arizona State University.

Document: Crafting Learning Objectives (PDF)

In previous Nursing courses, you should have been introduced to a specific two-part format for creating learning objectives. As mentioned in the media and content for those courses, you are to use this format for all learning objectives that you create in your MSN Nursing Education Specialization. Failure to use this format will result in point deductions for each of the Lesson Plans and activities that you create. Review this document carefully when creating your learning objectives.

Document: Lesson Plan Job Aid (Word document)

This document briefly describes each section of your Lesson Plan. It is highly recommended that you review this document before you begin creating your first Lesson Plan in this week’s Assignment.

Document: Lesson Plan Template (Word document)

Nurse educators can create, adapt, and mold Lesson Plan Templates to fit the needs of their specific learners and learning environment. For example, this Lesson Plan Template was created specifically for the learning needs of this course. Throughout this course, you will use this Lesson Plan Template for each lesson that you create.

Document: Virtual Lesson Plan: An Example (PDF)

You can use this Lesson Plan example* to help guide the creation of your own virtual lesson. Dr. Tim Bristol, the nurse educator featured in this week’s media presentation, created this Lesson Plan.

* Note that this Lesson Plan exemplifies average to above-average work. If an Instructor were using the Creating a Video Presentation for a Virtual Lesson Rubric (located in the Course Information area), this Lesson Plan would earn points in the Exceeds Standards and Acceptable grade ranges. To submit your best work, pay careful attention to the guidelines in the Assignment Planner document, the in-course directions, and the expectations listed in the rubric.

Optional Resources

Hauer, J., & Quill, T. (2011). Educational needs assessment, development of learning objectives, and choosing a teaching approach. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 14(4), 503–508. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

McKimm, J., & Swanwick, T. (2009). Setting learning objectives. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 70(7), 406–409. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Clark, D. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning domains: The three types of learning. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html

Goodwill Community Foundation. (2013). Word 2003: Tracking changes. Retrieved from http://www.gcflearnfree.org/word2003/28.1

Microsoft. (2013). Audio course: Revise documents with track changes and comments. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/overview-RZ001160037.aspx?section=1

Microsoft. (2013). Revise documents with track changes and comments in Word 2007. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/revise-documents-with-track-changes-and-comments-in-word-2007-RZ010235968.aspx