Docs:Outcomes and Objectives

Learning Outcomes and Objectives serve numerous important purposes. In particular, they allow the course writer to plan out the contents of their material more efficiently, and provide a useful list of the knowledge and skills the student is expected to have attained while studying the material.

A full discussion of outcomes and objectives is beyond the scope of this document, not only because the subject is itself quite complicated, but because it has been a matter of heated discussion in the pedagogical community for decades. For the purposes of this discussion, we will be using the following definitions of objectives and outcomes, while recognising that such definitions may not be entirely uncontentious:

Outcomes

Broad statements that describe the knowledge and skills that a student should attain while studying the material. Individual outcomes may encompass multiple discrete concepts, and generally describe what the student should be able to do in practice. One way to view these is via the statement "We are learning to...", in that outcomes describe the higher-level targets for students.

Objectives

More focused on individual aspects of learning, and state the observable and measurable behaviours that learners should exhibit after studying material. Objectives generally specify the discrete concepts the student must understand, and are usually things that may be tested for directly and specifically. A way to view these is via the statement "What I'm looking for..." when applied to the things you expect students to learn from your material - the learning points they should cover and the conceptual understanding they should obtain.

In order to support the inclusion of both objectives and outcomes in course material (and include them in the processed courses so that students may read them), the processor toolchain provides a number of outcome and objective related metadata elements.

The objectives element

The objectives element acts as a container for objective elements. It may be placed inside a theme element (in which case it contains theme-level objectives), or inside a module element, in which case it contains module-level objectives. objectives may not be placed in a course element (ie: the specification of course-level objectives is not supported at this time). Each theme or module element may contain at most one objectives element at any given level (ie: you may have one in the module element for 'module 1', another in the module element for 'module 2', and one in the theme that contains those modules, but you may not have two separate objectives elements inside the theme element.

The objectives element must contain at least one objective element. An objectives element without any objective elements will cause the processor to halt with an error.

Attributes

None. This element is a container only.

Example

<theme ...>
    ...
    <module ...>
        ...
        <objectives>
            <objective>A learning objective for the module it is defined within.</objective>
        </objectives>
    </module>
    <objectives>
        <objective>A learning objective for the whole theme. Will be listed separately from module-level objectives</objective>
    </objectives>
</theme>

The objective element

The objective element is a required child of the objectives element (meaning that, if you specify an objectives element, it must contain at least one objective). Each objective element should contain one learning objective for the theme or module it is defined within, and each learning objective should have its own objective element. The contents of the element may include HTML (in which case, you must be sure to enclose the element's contents in <![CDATA[ ... ]]> to prevent parsing problems), but you are strongly advised to restrict the HTML to basic formatting (em, strong, etc) if you use it.

When generating the objectives list for a theme or module, the processor toolchain will include an introductory message like "On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:" and you should phrase your objectives accordingly.

Attributes

None. This element is a container only.

Example

<objectives>
    <objective>Describe the important features of a Dhole.</objective>
    <objective>Identify the Sign of Koth and explain its meaning.</objective>
</objectives>

The outcomes element

The outcomes element acts as a container for outcome elements. It may be placed inside a theme element, in which case it contains theme-level outcomes, or inside a module element, in which case it contains module-level outcomes. outcomes may not be placed in a course element. Each theme or module element may contain at most one outcomes element at any given level (ie: you may have one in the module element for 'module 1', another in the module element for 'module 2', and one in the theme that contains those modules, but you may not have two separate outcomes elements inside the theme element.

The outcomes element must contain at least one outcome element. An outcomes element without any outcome elements will cause the processor to halt with an error.

Attributes

None. This element is a container only.

Example

<theme ...>
    ...
    <module ...>
        ...
        <outcomes>
            <outcome>A learning outcome for the module it is defined within.</outcome>
        </outcomes>
    </module>
    <outcomes>
        <outcome>A learning outcome for the whole theme. Will be listed separately from module-level outcomes</outcome>
    </outcomes>
</theme>

The outcome element

The outcome element is a required child of the outcomes element: if you specify an outcomes element, it must contain at least one outcome. Each outcome element should contain one learning outcome for the theme or module it is defined within, and each learning outcome should have its own outcome element. The contents of the element may include HTML (if you use HTML, enclose the element's contents in <![CDATA[ ... ]]>), but you are strongly advised to restrict the HTML to basic formatting (em, strong, etc) if you use it.

When generating the outcomes list for a theme or module, the processor toolchain will include an introductory message like "On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:" and you should phrase your outcomes accordingly.

Attributes

None. This element is a container only.

Example

<outcomes>
    <outcome>Recall the various denizens of the underworld.</objective>
    <outcome>Navigate the regions of the Great Abyss.</objective>
</outcomes>