Formulating Significant Learning Goals

Questions for Formulating Significant Learning Goals

“A year (or more) after this course is over, I want and hope that students will be able to apply basic psychological concepts in their daily lives.

My Big Harry Audacious Goal (BHAG) for the course is:  

Students will be able to create an understanding of how psychology can be applied in everyday life.  They will apply this understanding throughout the course by applying concepts to real life experiences.

Foundational Knowledge

• What key information (e.g., facts, terms, formulae, concepts, principles, relationships, etc.) is/are important for students to understand and remember in the future?
• What key ideas (or perspectives) are important for students to understand in this course?

Be able to identify early founders of psychology and their concept contributions to the field of psychology.

Be able to recall concepts like Behaviorism, Gestalt Principles, Sensation, Perception, Cognitivism, Nature vs. Nurture, and Functionalism.

Application Goals

• What kinds of thinking are important for students to learn?
• Critical thinking, in which students analyze and evaluate
• Creative thinking, in which students imagine and create
• Practical thinking, in which students solve problems and make decisions
• What important skills do students need to gain?
• Do students need to learn how to manage complex projects?

Students will be asked to think critically as to how psychological concepts can be applied to their everyday life.

Students will be able to use creative thinking by showing learning of psychological concepts through complex projects.

Students will also develop important skills through the use of technology. 

Integration Goals

• What connections (similarities and interactions) should students recognize and make…:
• Among ideas within this course?
• Among the information, ideas, and perspectives in this course and those in other courses or areas?
• Among material in this course and the students’ own personal, social, and/or work life?

Students will be able discuss how cultures can impact a person’s psychological makeup and understanding.

Students will be able to make connections to their own personal and social lives. 

Human Dimensions Goals

• What could or should students learn about themselves?
• What could or should students learn about understanding others and/or interacting with them?

Students will develop a deeper understanding of their own psychological thinking.

Students can have deeper individual meaning to how they think, feel, and socialize in everyday life.

Caring Goals

• What changes/values do you hope students will adopt?

            Feelings?

            Interests?

            Values?

It is my hope that students will develop a sense of compassion and empathy for all humans and all human differences.

It is my hope that students will see potential in psychology and its importance in their future.

“Learning-How-to-Learn” Goals

• What would you like for students to learn about:
• how to be good students in a course like this?
• how to learn about this particular subject?
• how to become a self-directed learner of this subject, i.e., having a learning agenda of what they need/want to learn, and a plan for learning it?

Being a good student is not about getting good grades but showing learning in an authentic way.

Students can learn how they see best fits their learning style.  They should venture into a wide range of primary and secondary sources to develop their learning.