What is the Point? Setting Clear Goals and Enabling Students to Reach Them

Written by Kelly Cara
Have you ever been to a conference where the speakers did nothing more than tell you what you already knew?  I have.  Twice in the last year, I spent hours preparing for conferences by reading all necessary materials, making notes, discussing the topics with others, and contemplating the readings until I fully understood the processes that would be covered.  With all of this preparation, which the organizers assured me was necessary, I was surprised and disappointed that at both conferences the presenters did little more than regurgitate everything I had been told to read.  What was the point?  Why did I travel more than 200 miles to be given a PowerPoint presentation on what I already knew?  I felt my efforts, my time, and my companies’ money had been wasted.

Leaving the last conference, which happened to be about improving student learning, I realized that all I had really learned was that I don’t have to read the materials they send because they’re just going to hand feed the information to me anyway.  It was apparent in the conference that the presenters did not trust us audience members to do our homework or to understand what it was that we read.

Is this how our students feel?  Are we hand feeding our students knowledge?  Is this why many of my students don’t read before coming to class (even though I emphasize that they do so with BOLD CAPS and italics in my syllabus)?  Am I asking them to read chapters and supplemental materials outside of class but offering little more than summaries or explanations about what they just read?  Is it their laziness or my lack of trust in their ability to follow-through that has stunted the learning process?

This is not any easy question to answer.  It requires a real honest look at my classroom practices, the spoken and unspoken messages I send my students, the expectations I uphold for them, and whether or not I actually allow them to meet those expectations.  I know I am an effective teacher, and I know that the majority of my students learn something from my classes, but the point (since that’s the question at hand) is that I want them to learn as much as possible and to grow intellectually and individually when they are under my supervision.

To increase the effectiveness of course delivery, we must begin by asking some important questions:  What do my students need?  What, from this material, is truly relevant in today’s world?  How can I help my students?  How can I be useful to them as they try to transition gracefully into the world?  And how will I know when I’ve achieved these goals?

In essence, if we want to be effective educators, we really need to have strong plans for addressing each of these questions, and that is where the Assessment Cycle comes in.  Though I dislike this title (Growth Cycle or Learning Cycle might be more appropriate), I believe very strongly in the process.  As seen below, the cycle begins by clearly defining and planning realistic learning outcomes or goals.  At the University of Northern Texas, instructors who are working through their Next Generation Course Redesign™ Project are required to spend three months crafting these outcomes!  The reason for this is that pinpointing appropriate goals is a very serious business that takes a lot of time, dedication, planning, and patience to accomplish.  And that’s just the first step!  From there, teachers must determine whether students are meeting the goals, whether students even can meet the goals (we get pretty lofty sometimes), and where adjustments can and must be made in order to help them succeed.  There are many resources available at the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning to assist with this process, as it is our goal to help strengthen the teaching and learning process at Missouri State University.

Students come to our classrooms eager and excited on the first day.  We can either foster that excitement by directing it toward the wonders of our disciplines, or we can stamp it out by reading off of PowerPoint slides day after day and stating expectations for genuine learning that we do not then support with our actions.  So before entering the classroom, before preparing a lesson plan, and before telling a student to read a text, ask yourself, “What is the point?”  If we are serious about asking this question (and answering it), our students shouldn’t have to.