Does Instruction Really Need Learning Targets? That’s Totally Up to you
I’ve started using the wording ‘learning targets’ to refer to what many typically call learning objectives or learning outcomes. Deciding what to call them is a controversial as the overall notion of purpose and value of learning targets.
On my walk today, I was listening to Charlie Munger, investor and long-time business partner of Warren Buffet, give a speech called the Psychology of Human Misjudgment. At one point he made a comparison between the human egg and the human brain, saying that once one idea enters the brain it tends to close off to all others — even in the most powerful and intelligent business moguls. This is an interesting comparison for sure. One I think that applies to today’s topic. People either seem to love the notion of learning targets or hate them and then that’s it.
What do you want to do with your target?
Yes, you can use a learning target for assessment and while that’s often the most common reason for using them, it’s not the only one.
Learning targets as statements of intent — Tell your learners that given the constraints of time here is what you believe are the most important things from them to be able to know, do and/ or value.
Learning targets as negotiation pieces — Take your learning target as a statement of intent one step further and invite your learners into the conversation. In doing so you are saying, here is what I think is important, now what do you think.
Learning targets as symbols for appreciation — Use your target to inspire and promote passion and awareness about the topic or concept.
These alternative ideas for learning targets come from Lauria Goggia who was a guest on this Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Who is your target for?
The next thing I would say you want to consider is to make sure you separate your learning targets intended for your learners from the learning targets you use to plan out your instruction.
Here’s an example. These are the learning targets I present for the workshop I deliver on this topic of learning targets:
In this workshop you will learn about:
· the positives and negatives of using targets for learning
· the difference between targets for learners versus targets for instructors
· an alternative to the traditional objective or outcome called threshold concepts
Now compare that to the learning target that I used to guide the design of this workshop on learning targets:
Given group discussion, lecturette, demonstration and practice; the learner will value starting the instructional planning process with a learning target; to the extent that a commitment is made in writing to implement one key element learned from the workshop in future instructional planning which is shared with the class; as evaluated by self, peer learners and facilitator.
The target I wrote for myself as the instructional designer of this workshop is based on the work of Robert Mager in the early 1960s. It includes the following four parts:
1. Conditions — Cite the activities/materials of learning. Asks the question: What learning activities — processes, materials — are needed?
2. Performance statement — One only, describes a specific knowledge, skill or attitude to be performed. Asks the question: The learner will do what?
3. Standard(s) — State how well/how much the particular knowledge, skill or attitude is to be performed. The standards are the pass marks of the performance. Asks the question: How well and/or how much is the learner required to perform?
4. Evaluator(s) — Judge whether the specific knowledge, skill or attitude is performed satisfactorily. Asks the question: Who is qualified/available to judge the execution of performance/standards?
This definitely makes my use of this learning target focused around assessment. Let’s look at it again with the four parts identified within the objective:
Given group discussion, lecturette, demonstration and practice; (CONDITIONS)
the learner will value starting the instructional planning process with a learning target; (PERFORMANCE STATEMENT)
to the extent that a commitment is made in writing to implement one key element learned from the workshop in future instructional planning which is shared with the class; (STANDARDS)
as evaluated by self, peer learners and facilitator. (EVALUATORS)
While it takes some getting used to, I find this to be a great way to make sure your assessment-focused learning targets are specifically written. Doing so helps you align the target with the assessment and the content, ensuring instructional congruency.
Focus your Learners
Attention is everything says Learning Consultant and researcher, Will Thalheimer. There are many things that compete for learners’ attention. When we use a learning target with words that are directly taken from the content to be studied, we are focusing the learner’s attention. They’ll be more aware of and vigilant for those words. This is what Thalheimer found through the research he did into learning targets. Targets written for learners, he says, should guide their attention towards what’s important for them to know. The downside of specifically worded targets is that content that isn’t specifically worded in the target won’t be remembered nearly as well. Here is Will Thalheimer’s video summary of his research into learning targets.
Try Threshold Concepts if you want something completely different
Created by Jan Meyer and Ray Land, threshold concepts refer to core concepts or key principles within a given subject that once understood by the learners completely transform their perception of that subject. Land and Meyer have proposed four common components to threshold concepts:
1. Irreversible — Once seen it cannot be unseen
2. Integrative — Connects something known with something previously hidden
3. Bounded — Defines a concept that is specific and therefore limited
4. Troublesome — Complex info that can seem alien or even counter-intuitive
Because they arise from troublesome knowledge, threshold concepts are transformative. Once you’ve crossed the threshold from unknown to known your perception is permanently altered. An expert, for example, often has a hard time explaining what it is they do or know that makes them an expert. And yet their ability to successfully cross the various complex thresholds of their domain is what has contributed to their expertise. Contrast this with the novice whose attempt at expertise often looks more like mimicry of what they believe expertise in that domain looks like.
Interested in learning more about threshold concepts? Co-creator Ray Land talks about them in this video as well as in this podcast.
