Jeff MacKie-Mason is our Dean of Academic Affairs at the UM School of Information and my boss. He is a cool dean and I really like his style – he has agenda which he does move forward firmly but take a really easygoing approach to things and always takes input along the way.
Recently we adopted a policy about requiring Learning Objectives in all syllabuses starting Winter 2009 – and in Dean 2.0 fashion – Jeff used his blog to host an open discussion about the policy.
Here is Jeff’s original blog post on the topic.
I tried and tried to resist commenting – but a lazy Saturday morning, a free keyboard, a fresh and warm cup of coffee, and the fact that it is really too cold outside to do anything but write blog posts – and I was hooked.
I reproduce my comments below (which will likely get me in trouble – but what the heck – Jeff asked…)

My Comments
I think that constant awareness of learning objectives is fundamental to being a successful teacher. I very much appreciated the Learning Objectives that I was given when I started teaching SI502 – they were detailed – they captured a wealth of thinking by smart folks on what SI502 needed to accomplish for the students. I also tried to derive some of the learning objectives of SI502 by looking at PowerPoint files, tests, and other materials from previous semesters. Using a combination of the Learning Objectives I was handed and learning objectives that I derived from the course materials – I was able to form a good set of learning objectives for the course and developed a course outline and course materials and approach to achieve those learning objectives.
Before I teach the course next semester, I will do an assessment of how well the students achieved my learning objectives as well as the Learning Objectives given to me. I may have found new Learning Objectives that should be added for the course or found that I felt certain Learning Objectives were not so valuable – so I might want to see them removed from the course. In any event, for the next semester I try make the course better by doing a better job of achieving my learning objectives and/or doing a better job meeting the Learning Objectives for the course – and then hopefully at the end of that semester – my experience further informs the Learning Objectives and learning objectives for the course.
This is a dynamic and agile process and is focused at all times on giving the students the best possible and most valuable learning experience as its highest priority