Objective
What do I want my students to be able to think and do by the end of this course?
Let’s begin with understanding the broader educational framework set forth by your institution. At Hostos, course descriptions and learning objectives are established by academic departments and approved by the Senate, providing instructors with a structured foundation for their courses. However, instructors often face the challenge of aligning their teaching strategies, assessments, and activities with these predetermined objectives. This is where the principles of Backward Design can be especially valuable.
In this first unit, we will explore how to identify and prioritize the desired results of your course by interpreting the Senate-approved descriptions. You will also learn how to use Generative AI (GenAI) tools, such as ChatGPT, to assist in the process of making sense of these outcomes without altering them.
1 Use the Senate-approved Course Objectives
The senate-approved course objectives should not be changed, but teaching, assessments, and instructional activities should be aligned with them. The first step in this alignment process is to fully understand the objectives provided in the course description and to analyze how these objectives can be operationalized in your classroom.
The course description can be interpreted with the help of Bloom’s Taxonomy a framework for categorizing educational goals into different levels of complexity and specificity. Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of six levels: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. These levels help instructors determine the cognitive depth required for each learning objective, attesting that students engage with the material in a meaningful way. For example, if a Senate-approved course objective states, “Students will learn about the basic principles of economics,” your role is to determine how “learning about” can be applied in your course. Does it involve students explaining key principles (Remembering, Understanding), applying them to case studies (Application), or critically analyzing their implications (Analysis)? The key is to interpret these objectives in a way that informs your teaching and assessment strategies.
2AI Prompt for Aligning Course Goals with Bloom’s Taxonomy
Paste your course description (from the course catalog) into the prompt below between the curly brackets. The AI will analyze the description and provide suggested Bloom’s Taxonomy levels for each key objective or outcome within the course description. The output will help you identify where each objective falls within the cognitive hierarchy (e.g., Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create), allowing you to interpret the learning demands and select appropriate assessments.
The prompt below is based on the C.R.E.A.T.E. Prompting Framework by Dave Birss.
Replace content within curly brackets { }. Adjust as needed.
Character:
“You are an experienced instructional designer working to align course objectives with Bloom’s Taxonomy.”
Request:
“Please analyze the following {paste course description here} and map the key learning outcomes to the appropriate Bloom’s Taxonomy levels (Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create).”
- If a user does not provide a course description, respond with the following:
“It looks like you haven’t provided a course description. Please visit this URL: Hostos Course Descriptions, and locate your course description in the catalog. Once you find it, kindly paste the course description in the chat window below.”
Steps:
- Identify the key verbs or phrases in the course description that represent the desired learning outcomes.
- Map each learning outcome to the corresponding Bloom’s Taxonomy level using the identified verbs or actions.
- If an objective doesn’t clearly align with a Bloom’s level, notify the instructor in a succinct manner by marking the objective as Not Determined (ND) and provide a brief suggestion, if possible.
- Provide a concise explanation of why aligning course outcomes with Bloom’s Taxonomy is important for structuring effective assessments.
Output Example 1:
Thank you for providing the course description. This is my interpretation of your course description in the context of Bloom’s Taxonomy to help you align your assessments with the objectives:
- Objective 1: “Students will learn basic information about educational technology.”
- Bloom’s Level: Remember
- Suggested Assessments: Multiple-choice quizzes, basic recall exercises
- Objective 2: “Students will examine ways to apply their knowledge in classroom settings.”
- Bloom’s Level: Apply
- Suggested Assessments: Case studies, practical applications, lesson plan development
- Objective 3: “Students will prepare educational materials for different audiences.”
- Bloom’s Level: Create
- Suggested Assessments: Project-based assessments, multimedia presentations
- Objective 4: “Students will attain a basic level of instructional technology literacy.”
- Bloom’s Level: Understand
- Suggested Assessments: Concept maps, written explanations
Output Example 2:
- Objective 3: Not Determined (ND) – Does not clearly align with a Bloom’s level.
Adjustments:
“If any outcome does not clearly map to a specific Bloom’s level, notify the user and mark the objective as Not Determined (ND) or ‘Does not clearly align with a Bloom’s level.'”
Type of Output:
“Provide a list of learning outcomes from the {course description}, categorized by Bloom’s levels. Include succinct assessment examples and a short explanation of the alignment.”
Extra:
“Explain briefly why aligning course objectives with Bloom’s Taxonomy is important for effective course design. Keep the explanation concise, focusing on the importance of hierarchical cognitive skills.”
Important Note: Do not include ND in the final summary.
- Did the AI correctly identify the action verbs in your course description?
- Are the verbs aligned with Bloom’s levels (e.g., Remember: Define; Create: Design)? Check the GenAI output against this source Aligning Learning Objectives with Assessments ⤴️
- Does the AI cover a range of Bloom’s cognitive levels?
Key Takeaways
In Unit 1, you learned that course objectives approved by the Senate should be changed but your teaching strategies, assessments, and activities must be aligned with them. By applying Bloom’s Taxonomy, you can categorize learning outcomes into different cognitive levels, helping you understand the depth of learning required from the students. Generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, assist in interpreting these objectives, mapping them to the appropriate Bloom’s levels, and offering aligned assessments. Always check the output upholding the responsible use of AI, which serves as a helpful aid without replacing the critical judgment of instructors.
References
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