Who Reads Learning Outcomes?

If you do a search online, you’ll find plenty of resources on how to write good learning outcomes, and how not to confuse learning outcomes with learning objectives. “Outcomes” or “objectives”, the reality is your learners seldom pay attention to them. They skip this screen. They fast forward. So for whom are learning outcomes really written?

Don’t get me wrong. Learning outcomes are written for the learners. But they seem to be there as a reminder to the instructor and instructional designer of what the focus of the training should be, like how PowerPoint is often misused as the presenter’s teleprompter.

So should you skip learning outcomes all together? Not at all. There are ways you can state learning outcomes that are informative and actually get your learners’ attention. Here are some strategies.

1. Pose learning outcomes as questions

Rather than telling your learners what they should be able to do at the end of the lesson, consider asking them a series of open-ended questions for which they don’t yet have answers until they complete the lesson. These questions are intended to raise the learners’ curiosity and get them to want to learn more.

2. Use a pre-test to frame learning outcomes

An alternative to the first strategy is using a pre-test. The test should be short and fun. In fact, it should not look like a test. As with the first strategy, the intention of the test is to get your learners to realize what they don’t know from the cues to the key points of your lesson.

WordPress Tip: If you’re not grading pre-tests to support Level 2 evaluation, LearnDash and other LMS quizzes can be heavy for this type of pre-test. Consider an H5P element or simple text questions instead.

3. Use a case scenario to model learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are meant to describe desired behaviour. So, why not present a case scenario that models the intended outcomes? The learners get to see what they will be able to do at the end of the lesson. Have them buy into what they can achieve will increase their motivation to learn.

4. Use a short introductory video to tell a story

Contrary to the previous strategy, a story that makes personal connections will warm up the learner. On the other hand, a story that describes a problem causes tension; it will make the learner want to resolve it. Either way, your introduction will engage the learner and make the content more relatable.

Learning outcomes don’t have to be boring. If you take care of the presentation of your learning outcomes, your learners will be less inclined to skip them.