Align Assessments to Learning Objectives

A learning objective describes the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors you want students to gain from an activity, unit of instruction, or course. Well-written learning objectives are:

Centered on students, rather than instructors (Students will be able to…).

Focused on the specific learning that results from an activity.

Worded in clear, concise, and concrete language about learning.

Focused on learning that can be measured and assessed.

Here is an example of a well-written learning objective: Given a diagram of an animal cell, students will be able to identify the various parts of the cell.