We, as instructors, often have a good idea of what we want to accomplish in a given course:

We want to cover certain topics, or we want to teach students certain ideas and skills.

We should also think in terms of what we want the students to be able to do at the end of the course. It is very helpful to articulate learning objectives by completing this prompt:

“At the end of the course, students should be able to _____.”

Why should assessments, learning objectives, and instructional strategies be aligned?

Assessments should reveal how well students have learned what we want them to learn while instruction ensures that they learn it. For this to occur, assessments, learning objectives, and instructional strategies need to be closely aligned so that they reinforce one another.

To ensure that these three components of your course are aligned, ask yourself the following questions:

Learning objectives: What do I want students to know how to do when they leave this course?
Assessments: What kinds of tasks will reveal whether students have achieved the learning objectives I have identified?
Instructional strategies: What kinds of activities in and out of class will reinforce my learning objectives and prepare students for assessments?

What if the components of a course are misaligned?

If assessments are misaligned with learning objectives or instructional strategies, it can undermine both student motivation and learning. Consider these two scenarios:

Your objective is for students to learn to apply analytical skills, but your assessment measures only factual recall. Consequently, students have sharpened their analytical skills and are frustrated that the exam does not measure what they learned.

Your assessment measures students’ ability to compare and critique the arguments of different authors, but your instructional strategies focus entirely on summarizing the arguments of different authors. Consequently, students do not learn or practice the skills of comparison and evaluation that will be assessed.

Learning objectives should break down the task and focus on specific cognitive processes.

Many activities that faculty believe require a single skill (for example, writing or problem solving) actually involve a synthesis of many component skills.

To master these complex skills, students must practice and gain proficiency in the discrete component skills.

writing may involve identifying an argument, enlisting appropriate evidence, organizing paragraphs, etc.
problem solving may require defining the parameters of the problem, choosing appropriate formulas, etc.

Breaking down the skills will allow us to select appropriate assessments and instructional strategies so that students practice all component skills.