Learning objectives define what you want your students to learning during the course. Learning objectives have to be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable during the course, relevant and timely.

Objectives should not only include the content you want students to learn, but also the skills they should develop. Clear learning objectives help your students determine what is most important during your course when studying.

Use the tips in the step-by-step guide to formulate SMART learning objectives for your course, lecture or assignment. 

Once the learning objectives of a course are clearly defined, you can think about what you want to do during the course to help your students achieve those objectives. What will you do during the classes? And what should students do during workgroups, practicals or assignments to develop their knowledge and skills throughout the course?

The teaching and learning activities should also prepare students for the assessment.

Use the tips in the step-by-step guide to select teaching and learning activities that help students achieve your learning objectives.

Different types of assessment are suitable for different levels of learning objectives. If you want students to be able to apply their knowledge to a novel context after a course, you should not only test their knowledge with some factual multiple choice questions.  

Providing regular feedback is also beneficial to students’ learning process. You can provide feedback yourself or use peer-feedback activities to stimulate students’ critical thinking.  

Use the tips in the step-by-step guide to select suitable assessment forms and feedback methods to test whether students achieved the learning objectives of your course.