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Posts Tagged ‘assessment’

Adult learners want to know "what's in it for me?" The course objectives are not much more than statements of what the course intends to teach, along with stated learning of skills-acquisition goals. What the the adult also wants to know is this: "After I pay my tuition, buy the book, and do the work, will it be worth it?" It is important, then, that the course objectives be honest and achievable. Here are some steps:

1. Do not "reinvent the wheel." Somewhere there is a well-crafted course objective for a similar course. Check around. Your Dean's or Director's assistants are vast resources of "corporate memory" when it comes to defining new or updating existing course objectives. Reading similar course outlines that have been approved by your Curriculum Committee sets in motion a process of synthesis that will lay out the path for defining your own course objectives.

2. Write out as clearly as possible your educational goals and objectives.

Goals

Your goals are the broad themes that will guide your instruction. For example, in teaching adults how to use a database application you might want to bear in mind the need to keep the level of instruction geared to the inexperienced end-user. One of your goals would be that at the end of the course everyone, regardless of experience level, will have a good knowledge on how to operate the software.

Objectives

Your objectives are statements that tell your students exactly what you expect them to learn. They also let the students know what skills you hope they will acquire during your course. An example objective statement for a database software course might be, "Students will become thoroughly familiar with techniques for navigating (i.e., moving through) the database application."

3. Goals come first.

Write out your educational goals first, and your objectives will pretty much naturally follow. Your goals, naturally, will depend on the subject matter, how difficult course is - and most importantly - your own scope of experience and personal interests. Returning to the database course example, course goals written by an adjunct instructor to teach a night course for adults would be geared towards enhancing workplace computer skills. The goals should clearly state that taking this course will make the adults more competitive by adding database skills to their repertoire of qualifications.

4. Objectives follow as "statements of expectation."

Applying Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy, there are three learning categories: cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Read more about these skills at the Center for Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning. The skills charts shown on that site are basically a listing of verbs that describe learning skills in each category. They are sort of "concrete guideposts" in helping to formulate course objectives. Let's apply a few examples in our night school database course for adults:

Course Objectives: Database Applications

This course will introduce the adult student to the computer database. It is designed for the beginning student who has little or no experience with databases. The objective is to introduce the student to the concept of data entry, manipulation of data through database objects (tables, queries, forms, reports, etc.). By the end of the course, it is expected that every student will:

* Be familiar with database structure and purpose.

* Know the techniques of data entry through structured tables and forms.

* Be able to produce basic business-oriented reports from a database.

* For foregoing example relies heavily on the cognitive skills of recall, comprehension, and application. (See the table in the website referred to above.) It states up front that the course is entry level and geared to the inexperienced database end-user. More experienced students will probably want to enroll in another more advanced advanced course.

So defining instructional objectives is really a matter of research, synthesizing, and stating what you will teach. Your objectives are a list of expected outcomes that are achieved by your lesson plans and the work the students do. Well-defined and realistic course objectives also have the benefit that your adult students' expectations will match the instruction you provide. They will also produce "happy customers," who will praise you, your course and the organization you work for.

Math gets renewed focus at FUSD

With AIMS scores below the state average, FUSD has gone to a uniform curriculum, more testing and remedial help.

Question: Has anyone been turned down by SBBT for a RAL this tax year (2008)? If so why?

We were denied for the same reason. It said that our refund might be delayed by the IRS. I will receive my refund this week and so will my friends. SBBT could not give me an explanation why they thought my return would be delayed.

Answer: Yes I was denied this year, so was almost everyone I know that opted for the RAL Loan, I filed on the 16th and I'm supposed to receive my refund 1/30/09 but now SBBT says that it might be 3 business days after the 30th, they receive it from the IRS on Fridays and it may take up to a week for them to deposit it, check the status of your RAL with this link and find out

https://cisc.sbbtral.com/

What lies ahead in 2010

NEW YORK: If the stock market holds to a pattern it has followed for most of the past 40 years, 2010 could be a big year for investors. Since 1973, a big advance on the first trading day of January ha...

President Obama's Pledge Never to Raise Taxes on Anyone Making Less Than $250,000 a Year