CUA Syllabus Guidelines and Planning for Instruction:

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CUA Syllabus Guidelines and Planning for
Instruction
Syllabus 101

• A Brief Guide to Writing Instructional Objectives
  The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music
• Michael V. Smith, Ph.D.

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Syllabus and Instructional Planning Why?

• Because it is mandated!
• Because it encourages us to think carefully about
  what students should know and be able to do and,
  in turn, can promote greater teaching creativity
  and satisfaction.
• Because thoughtful instructional planning is more
  likely to attract and maintain student attention
  and to facilitate learning satisfaction.
• Because it is common and best practice.

• Instructional planning is the process teachers
  use to decide how to best to select, organize,
  and deliver a learning experience to maximize
  both teacher and student achievement and
  satisfaction.
• Cruickshank, Bainer,Metcalf (1999)

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Syllabus and Instructional Planning What?

• Society
• Learners
• Subject

• There are three strong factors that influence
  curriculum. Filtered through the instructional
  lens, these three factors shape and create the
  curriculum content of any course of study.

The following page contains a diagram that looks
at these components of instruction and their
constituent parts more closely.
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Society
Standards, Protocols, Expectations What should
students know and be able to do?
Professor
Learner
Curriculum
Knowledge Skills Dispositions
Goals Objectives Methods Outcomes/Assessment
Subject
Music Sing, Play, Read, Create (Compose,
Improvise), Listen/Analyze, Move
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Curriculum

• Goals
• Objectives
• Methods
• Outcomes

• There are four components, then, to planning
  curriculum. The focus here will be on the first
  writing behavioral objectives.

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The Four Aspects of Instructional Planning Each
Defined

• Goal a statement of general purpose and
  direction. The goal is the accomplishment toward
  which all curricular effort is directed. A goal
  is often broad, overarching, and big picture.
• Instructional Objective a statement (strictly
  speaking, one sentence) that indicates what
  students should be represent, demonstrate, or
  produce as a result of what they learn. It
  describes an intended result of instruction,
  rather than the process of instruction itself.
  The objective is student-centered, specific and
  observable.
• Methods the process of instruction (e.g.
  lecture, rehearsal, project-based, etc.)
• Outcome Assessment the process of collecting
  information that will indicate whether
  instruction is having the desired impact upon
  learning.

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An instructional objective should be

• Specific
• Observable
• Measurable
• Attainable/achievable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

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When writing goals for student learning

• Avoid verbs difficult to measure objectively.
• The following verbs could be difficult to assess
  know comprehend understand appreciate
  familiarize study become aware of/acquainted
  with cover learn realize opine be exposed
  to etc. If you use them, be aware that you need
  to know how they can be demonstrated. Remember
  that the demonstration of the goal assists in
  determining if/to what extent the student has
  mastered the material of your course. The
  learning objective must arise out of a course
  goal/objective. It has to be observable and
  measurable it must focus on student behavior.
  Each course goal should be specific to one aspect
  of the course.

• (At the conclusion of this course, the student
  will be able to)

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Here are four steps to writing an Instructional
Objective

1. Audience
2. Behavior
3. Condition
4. Degree (Criteria)

A B C D Instructional Objective
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Four Easy Steps to Writing an Instructional
(Behavioral) Objective

• Audience The who. The student will be able
  to
• Behavior What a student is expected to be able
  to do or the product or result of the doing. The
  behavior or product must be observable.
• Condition The important conditions under which
  the performance is to occur.
• Degree (Criteria) The criterion of acceptable
  performance.

A B C D Instructional Objective
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Examples of Behavioral Objective Action Verbs
The student will be able to -

• Sing
• Chant
• Solfege
• Sight read
• Sight sing
• Play
• Perform
• Harmonize
• Compose
• Improvise
• Analyze
• Realize
• Identify
• Conduct
• Move to
• Dance
• Describe
• Evaluate
• Synthesize

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Here is an example of how to build an
instructional objective

• A (Audience) The student will be able to
• B (Behavior) perform a musical selection
• C (Condition) from Grade IV piano literature
  on a solo jury recital
• D (Degree/Criteria) with acceptable
  performance technique and musical style as
  determined by the provided rubric.

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Here is another example

• A (Audience) The student will be able to
• B (Behavior) analyze
• C (Condition) the musical form of Sing
  Joyfully Unto God, by William Byrd
• D (Degree/Criteria) with acceptable musical
  understanding and writing style, as determined by
  the provided rubric.

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Question Are the following three statements
acceptable instructional objectives?

• The student will know the four families of
  orchestral instruments.
• The student will appreciate the contributions of
  great composers in music history
• The student will be shown the proper way to
  restring a french horn rotary valve.
• Answer No, none are acceptable instructional
  objectives because none contain an observable
  student behavior as a result of instruction.

Soto, V.J., Writing Instructional Objectives.
(http//www.efc.dcccd.edu/Core/SLO-MVS.pdf)
Retrieved 12/5/11
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Use concrete action verbs in writing behavioral
objectives, since they are observable and
measurable. There are hundreds of them. Here
are yet more examplesTO KNOW articulate,
define, indicate, name, order, recognize, relate,
recall, reproduce, list, tell, describe,
identify, show, label, tabulate, quote, etc. TO
UNDERSTAND AND INTERPRET classify, describe,
discuss, explain, express, interpret, contrast,
associate, differentiate, extend, translate,
review, etc. TO APPLY CONCEPTS apply, compute,
give examples, investigate, experiment, solve,
choose, predict, translate, employ, operate,
practice, schedule, etc. TO ANALYZE analyze,
appraise, calculate, categorize, compare,
contrast, criticize, differentiate, distinguish,
examine, investigate, interpret, etc. TO
SYNTHESIZE arrange, assemble, collect, compose,
construct, create, design, formulate, manage,
organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up,
etc. TO EVALUATE appraise, assess, defend,
judge, predict, rate, support, evaluate,
recommend, convince, conclude, compare,
summarize, etc. 
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A few final words of guidance

• For assistance in creating/writing assessment
  rubrics (the next step in the instructional
  design process) , see Conway, C. and Smith, M.V.
  (2010). Handbook for the Music Mentor. Chicago
  GIA Publications. (An additional Powerpoint on
  this topic assessment rubrics - to be created
  soon.)
• A classic and complete instructional objective
  contains four components 1) audience, 2)
  behavior, 3) conditions, and 4) degree
  (criterion) in one single sentence. It may be
  helpful (and acceptable) to account for all of
  these components in the larger context of the
  entire syllabus.
• For further assistance, email smithmv_at_cua.edu.