Pearson's Learning Foundations describe the optimal conditions for learning and reflect the learner experience Pearson hopes their products will create. Pearson does this by incorporating the Learning Design Principles. Each of the Learning Design Principles goes into detail about a key principle, supporting product design and marketing by…

The Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS) has published a set of learning outcomes to be used for curriculum design of a one-semester introductory physiology course. The outcomes are competency-based and are mapped to core concepts and skills students should develop as undergraduates. This paper is an introduction to how the physiology…

Large introductory classes, with their expansive curriculum, demand assessment strategies that blend efficiency with reliability, prompting the consideration of multiple-choice (MC) tests as a viable option. Crafting a high-quality MC test, however, necessitates a meticulous process involving reflection on assessment format appropriateness, test…

Self-directed learning is a core theoretical construct of adult learning. Importantly, self-directed learning represents a fundamental meta-competence for living and working in our increasingly complex and unpredictable world. Nonetheless, the construct of self-directed learning has become obfuscated. In order to redress this concern, this…

Instructors who teach introductory art studio courses face the task of covering large quantities of diverse content in a short amount of time. Developing material and technical knowledge requires time-consuming practice. Yet these courses are essential for launching a relational studio practice embedded in critical thinking. The awkward leap from…

The Adult Tutoring Program within the Literacy Center of West Michigan has been running monthly professional developments (PDs) (known as tutor in-services) for volunteer tutors since early 2021. All in-services fit into at least one of the categories of strategies, life skills, civics, next steps, or digital literacy. The team has been able to…

According to the American Counseling Association and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, social justice advocacy is an ethical imperative for counselors and a training standard for counseling students. As a group of socially conscious mental health counseling students and faculty, we developed and…

On their own, student learning and development outcomes assessment data have limited utility for improving programming. We believe outcomes data should not be collected until two fundamental questions can be answered: "Why should this programming result in the desired outcome?" (i.e., program theory) and "Was the intended…

The effects of focusing on learning objectives--not instructional objectives--and of viewing each objective as a unit of instruction can be significant, both for the students and for the instructor.

Preparing elementary students to think and communicate like an engineer is possible, but requires a sequence of lessons spanning multiple classroom experiences that are aligned to multiple performance expectations (PEs). This article identifies how multiple PEs can be clustered to meet the instructional goals set forth in the "Next Generation…

Learning objectives (LOs) are used to communicate the purpose of instruction. Done well, they convey the expectations that the instructor--and by extension, the academic field--has in terms of what students should know and be able to do after completing a course of study. As a result, they help students better understand course activities and…

The holistic module learning and protocol-guided learning concepts underpin 271 Education Group's learning protocols. This article discussed the history of learning protocol development and its significance. Using the experience of 271 Education Group as an example, we attempted to illustrate the fundamental structure of learning protocols. It is…

This case study advances two primary arguments about the relationship between experiential learning and social justice-oriented learning objectives: 1) a first step toward developing strategies and practices that foster justice-related learning outcomes is to partner with organizations that pursue social justice, and 2) effectively teaching social…

This essay discusses an integrated process of assessing learning outcomes that can be adapted to a variety of undergraduate teaching assistant and peer mentor applications. The three-element regimen includes a programmatic statement of learning objectives, student-reflection in both initial work plans and final reflections, and targeted assessment…

Constructive alignment is a learning design approach that emphasizes the direct alignment of the intended learning outcomes, instructional strategies, learning activities, and assessment methods to ensure students are engaged in a meaningful learning experience. This pedagogical approach provides clarity and coherence, aiding students in…