UTILITY OF EDUCATIONAL-OBJECTIVES - A STUDY OF LEARNER AND PROGRAM DIRECTOR PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR VALUE IN CLINICAL COURSES

Background: Educational objectives are widely regarded as valuable adj uncts to learning. Nevertheless, there is relatively widespread antipa thy to the use of objectives in clinical courses. Purpose: To assess h ow directors of clinical education programs and undergraduate and post graduate students in those programs perceive and use educational objec tives. Methods: We conducted intensive, semistructured interviews with directors and learners in three small and three large clinical progra ms at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. We sought information on the current status of objectives as guides of the educational process and on the perceptions of interviewees of the usefulness of and proble ms associated with educational objectives. Results: There were major d ifferences in how objectives are used and perceived across the sir pro grams. These differences were apparent in both the undergraduate and p ostgraduate programs. There were mismatches between learner and direct or perceptions of the status of objectives. There is little uniformity with respect to how objectives are used to define program content and to guide the evaluation process. Conclusions: There are significant p roblems with the way educational objectives are used and perceived by learners and directors in sir important clinical programs at our medic al school. Copyright 1998 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.