February 9, 2015 12:33 pm
A few years ago my clinical colleagues and I started to jointly teach Orientation for all our clinic students. The Orientation is typically 3 days long (this semester it was only 3 half days) and is a mixture of joint classes and smaller individual clinic-focused sessions. The joint classes focus on topics that are relevant to all clinic students, such as Introduction to Client Interviewing, Cross-Cultural Lawyering, Clinic Procedures, Acting for Lawyers, Persuasion for Lawyers, Factfinding, Legal Research for Clinic and a class devoted to team-building. We also set aside time for each clinic to meet individually to discuss clinic-specific topics.
Now, we’re thinking about whether to convert the Clinic Orientation into a stand-alone, 2-credit module. To me, the process of developing a curriculum and course proposal for this new class provides an opportunity to start backwards – to incorporate some backward design techniques into the course structure and design. Backward design theory explains that while a syllabus can offer a roadmap to the schedule and assignments for a semester, it is far less useful for setting goals and assessing student outcomes. By contrast, articulating learning outcomes at the beginning of the semester enables us as educators to more effectively measure student progress and provides us with a basis of comparison. So, I decided to start this semester with an eye toward the desired outcomes. What did we want our clinic students to know and be able to do at the end of Orientation?
So, as I sat through the Orientation classes this semester, I focused on crafting a series of learning outcomes for our students. Shortly into it, I found that the most challenging part of creating learning objectives is finding the best wording. I wanted to say “understand” for each topic – students would understand the value of client-centered lawyering, for example. But I recalled an earlier post on this blog, by Barbara Glesner-Fines, in which she recommended avoiding vague verbs, such as “understand,” because they do not effectively measure achievement. Instead, we should focus on “action verbs” that clearly define our expectations for our students.
What were the right verbs for my list of learning outcomes? As students go through the curriculum, we expect them to improve and gain new skills. According to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956), there are six categories of cognitive skills that students pass through as they learn. At the basic level, students begin with knowledge skills and gradually acquire skills of comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The language we use for learning objectives should reflect students’ increased cognitive skills throughout the semester. For example, students at the beginning of the semester may be expected to “define,” “recognize,” or “state” the significance of a legal concept, showing their developing skills. By the end of the semester, they should be able to “evaluate,” “interpret,” and “investigate” the proceedings of the courtroom trial, moving into more advanced skills and knowledge.
Here are some more verbs to include based on Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives:
Knowledge level:
Comprehension level:
Application level:
Analysis level:
Synthesis level:
Evaluation level:
Knowing that this was a set of outcomes from Orientation and that our students were at the beginning of the learning process, many of the verbs I used are closer to the top of this list than they are to the bottom. At the end of the semester, I might expect to seek outcomes toward the bottom of the Taxonomy.
Here is my draft list of learning objectives for the Villanova Law Clinic Orientation. The process of crafting learning outcomes is still relatively new to me, so I’d love to benefit from the community and hear your comments/feedback on how this list could be improved upon.
Client Interviewing:
Professional Formation/Becoming a Lawyer:
Teamwork and Collaboration:
Advocacy:
Reflection:
Diligence and Hard Work:
What verbs do you use in assessments and learning objectives? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Posted by Michele Pistone
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Thank you for your post Michelle! this backward design in action is really helpful for those of trying to craft outcomes throughout the curriculum.
By Mary Lynch on February 9, 2015 at 12:42 pm
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By Articles Worth Reading | The Barrister on February 16, 2015 at 11:33 am
Thank you, Michelle, for a very helpful post. I understand why the shift from objectives to outcomes is so challenging. It forces us to shift from what we do which is within our control to what students learn which to a large extent, is outside our control. Nonetheless, I am a convert. Setting outcomes has focused my teaching and informed my assessment….even the traditional essay exam. While I still consider myself a novice, I think there is something positive in aligning outcomes, teaching and content, and assessment.
Cindy
By cbatt2014 on February 23, 2015 at 4:52 pm
Great post. Some good ideas for improve and gain new skills in advocacy.
By Vinícius Santos on March 6, 2015 at 7:35 am