Introduction to DEIA in OER for Social Justice
1.5 It Starts With the Objectives
Theresa Huff
Learning Objectives
- Create measurable learning objectives for your OER using a DEIA lens
- Organize objectives into a meaningful structure for instruction
- Create a workable Table of Contents
- Assign creation of OER chapter portions to team members.
Creating Measurable, DEIA-infused Objectives
It’s tempting to dive right in and begin writing our OER. However, without clarifying the goal and scope of the OER first, we risk missing key competencies our learners need, overlooking opportunities for DEIA integration, wasting our valuable resources of time and energy, and feeling uncertain about what exactly our content should include. Ensuring we start with clear, measurable objectives (the goal) and an organized Table of Contents (the scope — covered in the next section) will mitigate these risks and effectively plan our OER creation.
In this section, we will take some time to clarify the objectives of the OER being created. Objectives are the foundation or the backbone of instruction from which all the parts of your OER and your instruction emerge. By the end of this section, you will have created a solid list of DEIA-infused, measurable objectives from which everything from your Table of Contents to your Content and Assessment Map to your Project Timeline will be based. A bonus of this process is that while you are mapping the content of your OER, you are simultaneously creating a course map for creating a course, should you need it. Either way, it all starts with the objectives.
Start with your current objectives
The first stage of Backward Design (Wiggins, & McTighe, 2005) is to identify what the result are that you want. Before you decide what content your OER will need to include, you will need to find and identify the objectives of the course(s) in which it will be used. Whether you are creating this OER for use in one course or several different courses, start by finding a list of the course outcomes.
Example: Course Outcome
By the end of this course, students will be able to…
Course Outcome 1 (CO-1): Research, organize and develop informative speeches that are adapted to specific audiences.
Since Course Outcomes are by nature written with a broad view, they do not give enough detail to help clarify what our content needs to cover. Therefore, we need to create a list of module-level or weekly objectives for the course(s). If your course for which the OER will be used is already built, you will likely have a list of objectives for each week or module of work within the course. If not, or if you are building the course for which the OER will be used, you will need to create a list of objectives for each module or week of the course. These module or weekly objectives should align with and support the course outcomes, be more specific, and written from the point of view of the student.
Example: Module or Weekly Objective That Supports the Course Outcome
By the end of this course, students will be able to…
CO-1: Research, organize and develop informative speeches that are adapted to specific audiences.
Module 1 Objectives:
By the end of this module, students will be able to…
MO-1 Identify the five persuasive strategies.
MO-2 Adapt verbal messages to persuade specific audiences.
The Your Turn boxes throughout the rest of the handbook signal application of the information provided. Each Your Turn box includes directions (which are repeated on each deliverable’s Directions sheet), guidance and examples. Of course, if you have questions or need clarification, please reach out to OERFSJ@lmu.edu.
To see an example of a completed OER Objective Worksheet, take a look at the OER Objective Worksheet tab of the Completed OERFSJ Deliverables 1-5 spreadsheet.
Your Turn: Step 1 – List your objectives.
Using your team’s OERFSJ Deliverables 1-5 spreadsheet in your team’s Google folder, find the OER Objective Worksheet tab.
- Follow the directions on the 1. Directions – OER Objectives Worksheet to 1) List your Course Outcomes and 2) List your Original Weekly or Module Objectives.
- It may take a bit of time to list all of the objectives for an entire course(s). Work as a team to ensure all of the objectives are listed.
Note: Though you may choose to list the Module or Weekly Objectives in the order in which they fall in your current course, the order of the objectives is not the focus of this step. The important thing is to list them all here. Organizing the order in which you will cover them will come later.
Revise objectives using a DEIA lens
Once you have created your list of objectives, we need to take a step back and think about the goals of the OER for Social Justice project. In the previous sections, you read about creating OER through the lens of DEIA. It is vital to ensure those goals are reflected and infused into the foundation of the OER – your objectives.
Warm Up
Let’s practice adapting learning objectives to ensure they incorporate DEIA principles.
Your Turn: Step 2 – Revise or add DEIA objectives.
Take another look at the list of Original Weekly or Module Objectives in your OER Objectives Worksheet tab. Look for DEIA objectives. You may already have some objectives that specifically address DEIA. If not, create some objectives or adapt some of your current objectives to include your DEIA goals in the Original Weekly or Module Objectives column.
Using the tool below, take some time to reflect on the questions provided while you consider objectives that could be reframed. This reflection process can be done individually and/or as a team.
What's This Tool? - Documentation Tool
Consider reviewing Lambert’s 3 R’s and the OERFSJ Evaluation Rubric to further guide you in your adaption or creation of DEIA-centered objectives.
Now that you have ensured your objectives are reframed through a DEIA lens, you will need to make sure that your objectives are measurable, student-centered, and aligned with your course outcomes. The next section will guide you through these revisions and to completion of your first Deliverable.
Resources
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. ASCD.
Licenses and Attributions
“It Starts with Objectives” by Theresa Huff is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Course Outcomes or Course Objectives are what the student will be able to do by the end of the course. They are usually broad outcomes for the entire course. These may be given to instructors by the institution, and they are typically listed in the course syllabus.
Specific objectives (competencies, skills, or knowledge) that students will demonstrate at the end of shorter segments (weeks, modules) within a course.
This is an H5P Quiz. This H5P type allows creators to add a set of different types of quiz questions such as multiple choice, drag and drop, or fill in the blank questions.
H5P is a free, open-source interactivity building tool built into Pressbooks. The H5P Quiz is one of over 50 different types of H5P interactives.
This is an H5P Documentation Tool. This H5P type allows creators to create guides for structured writing processes (outlining, setting goals, reflection, etc.) which can then be downloaded or copy/pasted by the individual reader.
H5P is a free, open-source interactivity building tool built into Pressbooks. The H5P Documentation Tool is one of over 50 different types of H5P interactives.
