Goals, Goals, Goals

“Developing Learning Goals” – Suskie

Early on in the article, the author states that goals “can describe aims outside the teaching and learning process as well as within in.” In reading this, I was reminded of various staff trainings that I have participated in and facilitated. There are usually certain group activities that have goals set out for the participants and the facilitators usually have their goals of how the activity will go as well as goals for what the participants will take away from the activity and experience.

The author also weighs out whether or not professors and educators should focus time and effort on material that can be quickly lost or should the focus be on the development of thinking skills so that they can master new concepts post graduation. I have two thoughts on this:

1.     This should be reflected in any institution’s mission statement. Most schools do not solely focus on major competency, let along mention memorization. To effectively create global citizens or have a holistic, student-centered approach, there needs to be a focus on the future.

2.     Department chairs as well as the head of each major should sit down with faculty and discuss the focus of each degree, noting what each course should highlight so that students move through the program retaining the most important information, topics, and skill set.

On the very first page of the article, there was bullet point that jumped out at me. “Employers, policymakers, and other higher education audiences increasingly value three skills: communication, information literacy (research and problem solving), and interpersonal skills. I think it spoke to me considering the current process I am in of searching for a summer internship. In speaking with all potential employers, I’ve noticed that these are the areas of focus. My ability to answer these questions has come from the transferable experiences I’ve encountered in my undergraduate work and currently here at Pacific.