How to Craft Student Learning Objectives

The following information was previously included in a January 2025 Teaching Bulletin created by the Teaching and Learning Center.

Student learning objectives are a foundational element in course design, providing a roadmap for both educators and students. Using learning objectives allows instructors to articulate the knowledge, skills, and competencies that students are expected to acquire during a course, and help establish learning experiences critical for student success. This resource provides an overview of how instructors can craft learning objectives for their upcoming courses.

Learning Objectives: An Overview

Learning objectives are typically determined at the start of the course design process. They are used to determine the course’s assessments and then its activities and materials in a process called Backwards Design. 

Learning objectives in higher education describe to students the scope and boundaries of their learning in your particular course context. For example, learning objectives related to research skills might state that “students will differentiate between quantitative and qualitative research methodologies” or “students will critically evaluate the methodological soundness of published research articles.” Note that these examples articulate what students will learn by the conclusion of the course, rather than the content to be covered throughout the course. These objectives are also specific (going beyond vague words such as ‘understand’ or ‘learn’); therefore, learning objectives not only center student learning, but they are measurable: they can be evaluated through measuring student learning with assignments, exams, papers, and other course assessments. 

Crafting Student Learning Objectives for Your Course

As a starting point for creating learning objectives, consider situational factors for your course, including:

1. Student, departmental, and institutional expectations, as well as expectations of the profession for which students are being trained, and expectations of the broader society. What do these constituencies believe students who complete this curricular program should be able to know and do? 
2. The relationship between your course and the broader program. For example, at what point in a student’s academic trajectory does this course fall? What, if any, academic experiences might the students have coming into this course and what classes will they take after your course?

Respond to this simple prompt to identify three to five learning objectives

“By the end end of this course, my students should be able to (know) ___________; (do) ______________; and/or (feel) __________.” 

In responding to this prompt, consider not only content-based knowledge students should acquire, but also any additional skills or dispositions that are relevant to the field or profession, such as evaluating evidence, applying chronological reasoning, persuading, etc.

Here is an example of learning objectives from an introductory education course on the history of public schools:

 By the end of this class, you should be able to:

1. Describe the relationship between schools’ contradictory purposes and their structural organization.
2. Articulate a critique of commonly-given reasons for differential academic outcomes and opportunities among students.
3. Advance a research-based argument to support your beliefs about quality teaching and learning. 

Note that the objectives all start with a specific verb and are accompanied by a stem that details the intended knowledge, skill, or competency. In addition, the instructor uses the second person when introducing the objectives, speaking to students, and focusing on their learning. Also, observe that these are not tasks (e.g., read two papers that provide common reasons for differential student outcomes and opportunities), but are instead takeaways, or competencies the students should attain. Finally, note that the objectives address skills pertaining to students’ facility with the course material as well as argumentation skills. 

Check that your learning objectives are SMART

SMART learning objectives are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. In crafting SMART learning objectives, you specify who should do or know what, to what extent, by when (Chatterjee & Corral, 2017, p.1):

1. Specific: You use clear, direct language to identify the outcome and who will achieve it. 
2. Measurable: You are able to observe and assess the specified action or skill.
3. Attainable: You articulate learning objectives students may achieve within the available time frame and with available resources.
4. Relevant: You have aligned the learning objective with applicable course assessments and/or with broader expectations (by the course, department, profession, and student). 
5. Time-bound: You specify the time by which students should be able to demonstrate the desired competency (e.g., at the end of a unit, at the end of a term, etc.). 

As you review your learning objectives to determine whether they are SMART, also consider:

1. Have you chosen observable verbs? (Verbs such as learn, understand, be familiar with, and appreciate are not observable.)
2. Have you separated each learning objective? (Do not conflate verbs or topics. For example, a statement such as, “Articulate common arguments against congestion pricing and provide counter-arguments for these positions” contains two objectives, articulate common arguments and provide counter-arguments, and should be separated.)
3. Have you identified the specific content areas that students will learn?
4. Have you focused on your students? (A statement such as, “The instructor will provide analytical tools to compare Shakespeare’s prose to Johnson’s” focuses on the instructor’s work, not on students’ learning.)
5. Have you identified which students should attain these objectives? Some learning objectives apply to all students in your course, but some may be for specific students (E.g., “By the end of this unit, students who have yet to submit their research proposals will articulate the relevance of their chosen theory to their problem of practice.”) 

Campus Resources

UCLA Registrar’s General Catalog: This site offers program-specific learning objectives for select UCLA majors. Please note that not all departments or programs have articulated learning objectives, and learning objectives are not available for minors. In addition, some areas of the undergraduate curriculum overseen by shared governance–such as General Education, Diversity, and Writing II courses–have their own learning goals and/or objectives.

UCLA Policy on Syllabi: Created by the UCLA Academic Senate, this document outlines syllabi requirements, including the inclusion of learning objectives.

UCLA Learning Outcomes Assessment: This website provides guidelines on how to create an assessment plan based on learning objectives, including information on the WASC-aligned UCLA assessment framework.

UCLA Graduate Programs Learning Outcomes for Graduate Programs: Table detailing program requirements and objectives for UCLA’s master’s degree programs.

UCLA CEILS Teaching Guide: Communicating Course Goals & Learning Outcomes: Provides a helpful checklist to assess whether your learning objectives are effective. 

The UC San Diego Course Map Guide: This resource provides additional guidance on how to write learning objectives.