Although a purpose is an overarching drive, goals are the concrete results you are trying to reach. Identifying learning goals is becoming increasingly important in higher education with the rise of assessment and accountability mandates, and thus it most often refers to what you hope to achieve regarding student learning. This focus has typically been on setting learning goals for a full course, but it is also helpful to identify learning goals for each class session and each lecture presentation. The acronym SMART provides a useful structure for the process of articulating goals, standing for the following concepts:

Setting SMART Lecture-Learning Goals can help you determine what knowledge students need to acquire, which can guide you in crafting lecture content. The goals can help you establish a direction for a lecture presentation by suggesting what content is most essential and what is detail. It can also help you spot potential distractions in content that can lead you astray or, worse, lead students astray as they seek to understand your message.

The primary advantage of setting SMART Lecture-Learning Goals is that they are easy to understand, and it is likewise easy to determine when they have been accomplished. With clearly defined SMART Lecture-Learning Goals, you can see and take pride in student progress and goal achievement over time. SMART goal setting can also improve your self-confidence as an instructor as you recognize your own ability and competence in helping students to achieve the learning goals.

S—Significant

This criterion suggests that learning goals should be important and worthy of the time and attention that it will take for students to achieve them. Setting SMART Lecture-Learning Goals is about identifying the most important ideas, concepts, and facts of a given lecture. To begin thinking through significant learning goals, we recommend taking our LGI, which is based on Fink's “Significant Learning Taxonomy” (2013). The LGI provides faculty members with a tool to self-assess their learning goals. It has broad goals and more-specific objectives. For example, within the taxonomic domain of “foundational knowledge,” there are broad goals, such as helping students to understand and recall key facts, principles, ideas, and concepts, as well as more specific goals, such as helping students to recognize the difference between fact and opinion related to the subject area. Thus this is a useful starting place for considering goals.

The LGI is available in several formats:

• To see the LGI in print, along with information about survey validation, see our book Learning Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty (Barkley & Major, 2016).
• To download a paper copy of the LGI, sign up for supplemental information at www.collegeteachingtechniques.com/learning-assessment-techniques/ (e-mail address required).
• To take the inventory online, go to https://bit.ly/CTTLGI.

From the LGI results, you can develop a significant and specific goal for a single lecture. This means the goal is related to your broader, more noteworthy learning goals and it is also clear and unambiguous. For example, you might have the significant learning goal of developing students' critical thinking skills while having a specific lecture goal that focuses on helping students to distinguish between fact and opinion in a given text. This more-specific goal addresses exactly what students should master as a result of listening to that particular lecture.

M—Measurable

The second criterion in the SMART acronym recommends identifying tangible criteria for measuring student progress toward goal attainment. The underlying idea is that if a goal is not measurable, it is impossible to know whether students have achieved it. For example, verbs such as understand, know, and comprehend are vague and difficult to observe or measure. Measurable goals typically involve something the learners can do as a result of having listened to the lecture. The following list presents selected examples of verbs that typically are measurable.

A—Attainable

The third criterion of the SMART acronym stresses the importance of goals that are realistic and thus reasonable. For this criterion, consider students' characteristics, such as entering level of knowledge and skills, and strive to match the message to their level (see Tip 3: Student Characteristics Analysis for additional information). If learners are not ready, then no matter how good your lecture is, learners will not receive and understand it. This concept relates to Vygotsky's zone of proximate development (ZPD), which is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help. If you target content to students within the ZPD, it is hypothesized that students will be more ready and able to grasp it.

R—Relevant

The fourth criterion indicates the importance of choosing goals that are appropriate and pertinent. In considering whether the goal is relevant, you might ask whether the goal supports or aligns with other goals, such as the overall course goals, the program or department goals, and even the institution's goals. In considering whether the goal is relevant for students, you might consider whether it will be important to their future careers or responsibilities as ethical citizens.

T—Time-bound

The fifth criterion highlights the importance of grounding goals within a specific time. Commitment to a deadline helps students achieve the goals. To do a short-term goal, ask yourself, “What can I help students learn from the lecture today?” For a longer-term goal, you might ask, “What can students learn from this lecture that helps them achieve the learning goals for this module?”

Example

Key References and Resources