Currently most colleges collect information about the broad goals students hold for attending college as they enter, and the information is used for administrative planning or developing strategies to recruit and retain students. Some institutions also collect perceptions from graduating seniors and alumni about the extent to which they achieved their academic, personal, social, and vocational goals in college. Few institutions measure how student goals change from entrance to graduation or as a result of specific programs of study. Scholars have developed typologies related to student characteristics, which have been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes. New developments in social science can help guide development of a comprehensive course-specific goals inventory capable of illuminating the multidimensional goal patterns students bring to college and the classroom.
Faculty can use course-level goals to improve teaching and assessment.
An inventory will soon be available for use by classroom teachers and researchers. As the United States debates what it expects of college graduates and how to measure the achievement of these expectations, the goals of students frequently are overlooked. During discussions about higher education quality, activities such as promoting active involvement in learning, stating clear expectations, and assessing educational results have taken on increased importance for colleges and universities attempting to improve their programs. Yet in each of these activities, understanding students educational goals is important to ensure success. Helping students take active responsibility for their education, for example, may depend on how well educators link the classroom goals they set for their students with the goals that students hold for themselves.