Discussion: The Art of Crafting Meaningful,
Measurable Learning Objectives
In this Discussion, you gain experience in crafting learning objectives that are both meaningful to the learning activity and also measure the learning that is taking place. To begin, consider the following scenarios:
Scenario 1: In-service for nursing staff
Orange City is a mid-sized town comprised mostly of elderly and retired Caucasian adults. Since the addition of a new highway, shopping mall, and various other small businesses, Orange City has seen a recent explosion of families moving into the area. Many of these families come from diverse backgrounds adding a new layer of cultural diversity to the city. Because the nurses at Orange City hospital have traditionally worked with the same type of clientele, many have been taken off guard when individuals deny certain health care measures due to religious or cultural beliefs. One day the nursing manager approaches you, the nurse educator, and asks if you could create an in-service that highlights the ways culture and religion can impact patient responses to medicine, preventative care, and treatment options.
Scenario 2: Patient training session
As a patient educator at an endocrinologist’s office, you have the important responsibility to educate patients on health management. The lead physician at your office explains that she would like to see all Type 1 and Type 2 insulin-dependent diabetes patients use the insulin pump instead of insulin injections. You know that many patients tend to shy away from the pump system because of initial discomforts and worries. However, you agree that the insulin pump helps patients to receive a steady basal rate into their system. The advantages of using the pump as a replication of the pancreas definitely outweigh the act of giving injections after food consumption. Now you must figure out how to communicate and motivate patients towards this way of thinking.
Scenario 3: Educational leadership course
As an experienced registered nurse and full-time faculty at Bay Area University, you know how important it is for nursing students to develop effective leadership skills. You also know that becoming a leader in the nursing profession involves the ability to effectively manage colleagues who initiate conflict in the workplace. In reading students’ reflections, you see that many note a level of discomfort in working with conflict-prone colleagues. You realize that you need to engage students in a learning activity that will increase their acumen in managing conflict situations in the workplace.
To prepare:
· Reflect on this week’s Learning Resources, paying specific attention to the alignment between learning activities and learning objectives.
· Review this week’s media, Crafting Learning Objectives, to examine an effective approach to crafting meaningful, measurable learning objectives.
· Using your answers to the questions above, create learning objectives and a learning activity applicable to your scenario.
Posting Directions: When creating your post, use the title: “Learning activity for Scenario _____.”
Questions to be addressed in my paper:
1. Select one of the scenarios above for your posting. Then, consider the following questions:
What are the learning needs illustrated in the scenario?
What meaningful learning objectives could you craft to address these learning needs?
How could you use the learning objectives to create an educational, learner-centered activity?
What type of activity might you create to help your learners achieve the learning objectives?
How can you use the learning objectives to measure if learning has taken place?
2. A list of the meaningful, measureable learning objectives you constructed and a thorough description of your learning activity.
3. Explain how this activity aligns to the learning objectives and justify how each of those objectives can be used to measure student, staff, or patient learning.
4. Conclusion/Summary of The Art of Crafting Meaningful,
Measurable Learning Objectives
Reminders:
1. Put APA citations and references 2011 – 2016….
2. Put headings on each addressed question.
Required Readings
Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2016). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Chapter 6, “An Introduction to Curriculum Development”
Chapter 6 consists of many examples educators can use to better understand the process of writing outcomes and competencies. [Review]
Candela, L. (2011). Taxonomies and critical thinking in curriculum design. In S. B. Keating (Ed.),Curriculum development and evaluation in nursing (2nd ed., pp. 71–86). New York, NY: Springer.
The connection between educational taxonomies and critical thinking to curriculum design is explored in Chapter 4. Taxonomies are identified as a way to develop and evaluate learning objectives. Critical thinking is then necessary to determine the degree to which the student engages with the content.
McKimm, J., & Swanwick, T. (2009). Setting learning objectives. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 70(7), 406–409.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
The relationship between learning outcomes and educational activities is emphasized in this article. For students to gain the most from their education and training, clinical teachers must be aware of the planning and delivery of educational activities.
Nemec, P. B., & Bussema, E. (2010). Learning objectives. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 33(4), 328–330.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
This article provides an in-depth overview of learning objectives.
Noone, J. (2009). Teaching to the three apprenticeships: Designing learning activities for professional practice in an undergraduate curriculum. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(8), 468–471.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
When managed effectively, apprenticeships can be a valuable learning experience. The author of this article shares a successful design of learning objectives and activities that effectively integrates apprenticeships into professional nursing.
Wittmann-Price, R. A., & Fasolka, B. J. (2010). Objectives and outcomes: The fundamental difference. Nursing Education Perspectives, 31(4), 233–236.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
The authors of this article identify the differences between educational objectives and outcomes. They support their discussion with historical explanations of each. At the end, they provide formats for developing outcomes.
Walden University. (n.d.b). Program outcomes. Retrieved November 27, 2012, from http://www.waldenu.edu/about/who-we-are/data/program-outcomes
Required Media
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012a). Crafting learning objectives. Baltimore, MD: Author.
The act of writing objectives can be both tedious and exhausting. Their construction, however, is crucial to the learning at hand. Among colleges, universities, and educators themselves, there is much debate about the format to use for learning objectives. This media introduces you to one specific format and also gives in-depth examples of how to write learning objectives that are both meaningful and measureable. You will use this format to create your learning objectives in this week’s Discussion.
Optional Resources
University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Teacher & Educational Development. (2005). Effective use of performance objectives for learning and assessment. Retrieved from http://ccoe.umdnj.edu/forms/EffectiveUseofLearningObjectives.pdf
University of Texas at San Antonio. (n.d.). Action verbs for writing learning objectives. Retrieved November 27, 2012, from http://provost.utsa.edu/vpaie/assessment/Academic_Programs/Action_verbs.pdf
