Learning Outcomes vs Objectives: Why Both Matter to Associations

Continuing education helps association members stay on top of emerging trends and gain a competitive edge amid changing workplaces. By providing learning opportunities, associations can remind their members of the need for lifelong learning and enhance engagement with association programs. A robust learning strategy helps associations recruit new members, retain current members, and educate all members.

Developing the right learning programs that members will embrace, however, requires tailoring course content to their interests. Associations need to clearly define learning objectives and outcomes to attract members and deliver on association goals.

While learning objectives and learning outcomes are closely related, there is a fundamental difference between the two.

Learning Outcomes vs Objectives: The Differences

Learning objectives are from the instructor’s perspective, while learning outcomes are more important to learners.

Learning Objectives Are Instructor Centered

Learning objectives include:

• What the instructor wants to accomplish
• The purpose of a course
• The questions being raised

Learning objectives are not necessarily measurable but help instructors determine specific learning outcomes.

Learning Outcomes Are Student Centered

Learning outcomes include:

• The skills that learners will get from taking a course
• The key learnings acquired
• Answers to questions raised during the course

Learning outcomes are essential for planning teaching strategies, materials, and assessments. They also play a big role in assessing whether courses meet their objectives and how a course potentially fits into a larger goal for a program or series of programs.

Why Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes Are Both Important

When it comes to learning outcomes vs objectives, both are important for associations to meet their goals of delivering valuable information to members, attracting new ones, and generating non-dues revenue.

By setting clear objectives and outcomes, associations can provide an understanding of what members get from participating, driving additional value to meet their needs. Also, by measuring the process, associations can quantify the impact and determine future resource allocation based on the learning objectives and outcomes to maximize programs.

When learning objectives and outcomes are focused, they help instructors, learners, and associations create better learning programs. They should also align with the association’s mission.

Learning Objectives for Instructors, Learners, and Associations

Learning objectives should explain what programs are attempting to do, providing benefits for instructors, learners, and associations.

For instructors:

• Content planning
• Content development
• Sequencing

For learners:

• Marching learning goals and interests
• Understanding learning styles
• Understanding what will be discussed

For associations:

• Delivering relevant, valuable content
• Generating signups
• Generating additional revenue streams

Learning Outcomes for Instructors, Learners, and Associations

Learning outcomes should explain what learners get from participation, with measurements to assess impact, providing benefits for instructors, learners, and associations.

For instructors:

• Create a clear sense of purpose
• Provide focus on delivery
• Provide a way to measure success

For learners:

• Have a clear sense of the desired outcomes
• Understand why content is relevant
• Acquire specific knowledge or skills

For associations:

• Determine the value of courses to members
• Evaluate the effectiveness of courses
• Gauge future interest

The development of clear outcomes and assessments to verify achievement can help elevate learning for members and keep members engaged with the association.

Elevate Learning Management System

Continuing education isn’t just about checking a box to meet requirements. Programs need to deliver tangible benefits for learners. When they do, associations benefit from increased engagement and member retention. However, before their members can benefit from the outcomes, associations must first provide the information needed to entice them to sign up.

Today’s professionals are busy. Without clear objectives and outcomes, association members may not be willing to invest the time or money to participate in programs. So, you will need to spend time crafting your statements and course descriptions, properly delineating your learning objectives and learning outcomes to encourage participation.

Delivering on learning outcomes vs objectives requires a robust learning management system (LMS) that enables associations to deliver relevant information, provide on-demand learning activities, connect members with subject matter experts, and provide professional development or certification programs for career advancement.

Elevate LMS for associations is the seamless solution that associations need to fulfill learning objectives and deliver powerful learning outcomes. Course creation is easy, even for those without advanced technical skills. Elevate includes all the tools that you need to create highly engaging courses, such as interactive elements like polls, quizzes, videos, and audio. You can also leverage chat, discussions, and collaboration areas to enhance engagement and encourage cohort learning.

The platform simplifies integrating webinars and webcasts and works for in-person, virtual, and hybrid events and conferences. Elevate can manage the entire learning management ecosystem, from registration and e-commerce to individual learning paths and assessments, all to ensure that you deliver on learning objectives and outcomes.

Elevate, the leading LMS for associations, enables professional educators to develop curricula, certifications, knowledge sharing, and social learning to help association members meet their learning objectives. Schedule a demo today to see how your association can use the platform to its advantage while delivering exceptional professional experiences.