Clear goals and objectives allows the student to know what is expected of them. They know what areas in the text cover the material in those objectives and how knowing the material helps to meet any goals.
I too am a new instructor and found that having a syllabus with clear concise goals, does make things much easier. Not to mention, it culled much of the anxiety that come from day one class one.
Michael,
Great to hear because your comments reinforce the value of having something, in this case a well developed syllabus that you can be ready for your first class and that in fact you will survive meeting your students for the first time. I wish you continued teaching success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Natural progression and flow. How can anyone function properly without these two things. During most courses, there is more information then time, so infomation must be reviewed, and lesson plan developed in order to implement the instructors lessions and on what we hope to have learned once the class is completed.
Renee,
Well said because there seems to always be more content than there is time to teach as well as learn it. It is a matter of sorting through the essential information and selecting that which will most impact the career development of students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Clear goals and objectives are mandatory to successful academic and even real life endeavors. Laying the roadmap and following through the clearly defined goals is the most direct path to achieving the objectives of making it to the ultimate destination called "success."
We, the educators, want our students to succeed. Not giving them the needed tools to achieve (like a well develop course goals and objectives) is like setting them up for a rocky and bumpy road to success. It's a disservice to the academy. It's time consuming, futile and expensive in this very competitive, productivity driven global economics. Time is gold. I don't want my students to be wandering around the course which will most likely lead them to a longer and difficult path to success and very high probability of getting lost along the way.
This is the map, take it with you and use it along the way. I know that you will make it to your destination without getting sidetracked along the way. You will not get lost either because you have the map as your guide. That’s what I can see on my vantage point when it comes to the discussion of the importance of clear goals and objectives
Finally, developing clear goals and objectives, again, is a must have tool and skill to a successful career and life so to speak.
Austin,
Thank you for these well expressed comments about the need for clear goals and objectives. As you say we all need to have clear goals and objectives and to communicate them to our students. This sets the stage for the course to proceed with minimum misunderstanding and confusion. This helps to keep the students in a forward focus mind set leading to enhanced course success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Goals and objectives for an instructor to have to lead a class are essential in order to cover necessary information that the course is designed to instruct. This allows an instructor to be guided through what they consider to be a successful completion of the course, and without such set criteria the instructor could end up teaching at a lower level that is not both pushing the students to learn, but also the instructor.
Michael,
Right you are about the value of clear and concise goals and objectives. They are the road map that will be followed to arrive at the successful conclusion of the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Having clear goals and objectives is the most important thing before starting a course. First you get your students to understand what the will be learning in class and also you get to follow the list that you prepared and you don't get lost.
As an instructor I have found that having clear goals and objectives helps to set the tone for the class. If we as instructors explain to our students that goals are broad, generalized statements about what is to be learned at the beginning, he or she may have a better idea of what is to be expected of him or her throughout the duration of the class. In addition objectives are the foundation upon which I can build various lessons and assessments that I can prove meet my overall course or lesson goals. These objectives are the tools I can use to make sure students reach these goals. After reviewing the information within this course, I have gained a greater understanding of the reasoning behind the goals and objectives pertaining to each lesson taught.
Ynonnie Davis, MHAEd
It is important to have clear goals and objectives so that students can follow the stairs designed to reach the top of the mountain they want to conquer. It is with their determination that they can complete the path that their guide has marked for them to be able to reach it.
Maria,
Good point and one that needs to be considered as you do your instructional planning. Without clear goals and objectives the students will just be wondering around without an understanding of where the course is going to go and what the expectations are. This is when the course goes off the rails.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Having clear goals and objectives for a course can also encourge students to work hard to achive what they set out to study for.
Stephen,
Clear goals and objectives are essential if students are going to be able to see where the course is going to go and how they can attain success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It is important to have clear goals and objectives for your course because it gives the student a written and clear cut description of what is expected of them for the course as well as what to expect from the instructor.
It is important to develop clear goals and objectives so students will know what to expect from the class. It also helps them know how to prepare and what they will learn from the class.
Jamie,
So true. Without a clear understanding of the goals and objectives of the course students get very nervous and frustrated. No way to start a new course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It is important to have clear goals and objectives because the students you are trying to teach need a structured, precise, visible set of goals and objectives so that they can "see" the fruits of their labors at the end of each training session.
If students set through a class and cannot see what they have gotten out of the class, then they feel that they are wasting their time and are usually the first to complain that their educational needs are not being met.
If they cannot see, visually, what they are getting out of the training session then boredom sets in.
With clearly defined goals and objectives you as an instructor can keep the class engaged and learning.
Landis
Clear goals and objectives will lead the students to where they need to be. It will also give them a scent of having do something along the line of there chosen carreer.
