In this episode, Rob and Jared start a new series titled “Back to the Basics.” They begin this series by talking about objectives, providing an acronym to help instructors identify areas for improvement. Contact us at ctlpodcast@cedarville.edu with any questions. You can also visit our blog at cedarville.edu/focusblog for additional resources. We would love to get your feedback! Please fill out our survey to help improve our podcast and serve you better.

Objectives are the targets for every course. Jared and Rob provide an easy-to-remember acronym (DRIVE) to help instructors create or refine their course objectives.

Objectives must be:

Defined. The objectives of a course should provide students with a clear destination.
Results-oriented. Objectives must be focused on the results, not the process that students go through to get there.
Inspiring. Objectives paint a picture for students of the goals for the course which gives them a clear vision of what the course aims to achieve.
Valid. Objectives and course content must be aligned, and objectives must be assessable.
Evidence-supported. At the end of the course, all objectives have been achieved.

Designing courses with these steps helps instructors identify areas that need refinement and provide students with resources to ensure success in reaching their end goal.

Resources

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

How to Write Learning Objectives
EasyGenerator (Objective Generator)

Start with the End in Mind (Building SMART Objectives)

Back to the Basics - Objectives

Transform Your Teaching