Aligning Learning Objectives with Classroom Activities and Assessments

When teaching literature, one of the most important ideas teachers need to keep in mind is a balanced approach of objectives, assessments, and strategies. In a short piece in Eberly Center’s TeachingExcellence & Educational Innovation, the author puts forward the case that the three “need to be closely aligned so that they reinforce one another.”

These three questions should help inform teachers of the interconnectedness of the three:

• 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?

Prestwick House’s Activity Packs provide educational objectives, activities to achieve them, and a short multiple choice test for assessing student knowledge of the literature they have read.