Students at higher levels could be involved in finalizing the learning outcomes, especially for needs-based curriculum. However, I do not think it is a good idea to leave it entirely to students. Instead, they could be made a part of this process.

If the problem is lack of knowledge, you can use this approach:

First, you can give them more specific example the usage of every concept in practical world.

Second step is you can stimulate them with contemplating question like, "If you think studying is time-wasting, imagine that you don't study in this age and spend your time with all social media and entertaining yourself all the time, which one is the most time-wasting?"

But in practical world, that expression can be from other factors like psychological condition or negative environment. If the case is about psychological things, we can't answer it with a mere discussion. We have to assist them with other approaches beside intellectual discussion.

Studies have proven the success of this method, and it had a great impact in raising the level of students

Students at higher levels could be involved in finalizing the learning outcomes, especially for needs-based curriculum. However, I do not think it is a good idea to leave it entirely to students. Instead, they could be made a part of this process.

Dear colleagues,

In my opinion the multiple courses cannot force students to be interested in all of them all since, even the educators, cannot be specialized to all scientific fields. However, multiple courses can build up students' creativity and support their personal development, enabling them to productively work on their learning outcomes. Learning should motivate students to be inspired by experiential learning, scaffolding teaching and online tutoring, in order to better develop their personal capabilities and to achieve the learning outcomes, thus, consistently follow their dreams and goals in life through persistent endeavours.

Yes, this is a characteristic of learner-centered education. Students should be taught the way they want to learn. Affective outcomes play a critical role in this regard.

Expectations can be written for tertiary level students.

Each program must have clear learning outcomes; defining outcomes is a framework for the college to base its assessment. However, students can define their learning needs as they study, compare their list with what the college has prescribed for them, and then identify the aims they missed out and covered them—the what and how of this process could vary. But the program outcomes must be clearly defined by the college.

Also, M. Sohaib Ali Siddiqui you may read my papers and books on curriculum design, creating programs, and medical education.

Knowledge is not a unique requirement in the student's education. They also need to learn other skills like achieving goals, coworking, etc. In this case you can trust in the student and let them make some of their own learning outcome in these issues. Besides the knowledge the student must learn how to be a responsible worker with critical thinking. Our role is to be very patience and guide their learning process 

At tertiary levels, it depends upon the level, the content, the student, the authenticity of any necessary assessment, and the criticality of error or failure. Self-assessment of performance is itself a skill that must be learned.

I always ask my students what they want to learn in a new class. However, those answers do not take the place of formal learning objectives. In fact, I will identify a link if one is there, and I do not reject any of the expressed needs. I do make it clear that the formal learning objectives take top priority and that their needs are also important.

"He who pays the piper calls the tune."! WHY is anyone learning anything? Different objectives will have different criteria of success. If you want to obtain a particular University "Degree" you will have to meet their requirements. If you want to learn something to some level, you decide what is enough and how to get it. If you want to work for some company or in a particular industry, you will need to know what THEY value in an employee (it may NOT be the degree!). We ALL ultimately do set our "Learning Outcomes" ourselves, even when they must incorporate the required outcomes of other people or institutions. It may be more important to first ensure that people know HOW to select realistic and relevant outcomes.

@Steven Cook. Well said Steven.

Now how can we know the 'How to select realistic and relevant learning outcomes' without ever being given the opportunity to decide for ourselves what we want our learning outcomes to be?

Do we empower our students/ place them in the 'write your own learning outcomes' position? That is the starting point.. The 'How' comes afterwards.

They can write broad aims, but it is hard for them to write specific learning objectives that are realistic. This is because they lack a metacognitive understanding of the material to be learned, and of what a sensible target might be. Teachers are pretty useful because they get this and can help learners to set targets.

I am aware of a college that allowed students to design their own programs and write their own learning objectives within their degree. This was before the attention to learning outcomes that we 'enjoy' today. Adult students, particularly those who had not been successful in traditional academic endeavors, flocked to the program initially. However, over time that interest declined. It is still in operation, but has been revised over the years. As a concept, however, it never did really catch on.

M. Sohaib Ali Siddiqui I agree with you. Learners need to take ownership of their own learning. Teachers must formulate learning targets instead of learning (or in most cases) teaching objectives. Learning targets, as described by Konrad et al., (2014), have various kinds. These include knowledge targets, reasoning targets, skill targets, and product targets. In my classes, I allow my students to identify their own learning targets before the start of a unit. I found this helpful in making students develop meta-cognitive skills and reflection.

Hi everybody,

I'd prepare writing assignments in which students had

to write about themselves, their lives, communities they are part of. Writing would then be used as a source of self-knowledge, aimed at provoking agency and concrete use for improving their writing and generate interest and commitment.

Louis, very good observation; i.e., are learning objectives and teaching objectives always the same? I usually ask my students at the start of class, after we review the class 'learning objectives,' what they would like to know or be able to do at the end of class. If it is something that is within the 'learning objectives,' I point it out. If it is not, however, I also point that out and tell them about other classes in their degree plan where they will learn about it. For example, when I teach a management class, students will often say they are looking forward to knowing how to do a budget. Budgeting is not included in my class, but will be in other financial classes that are required for the degree. I am happy to share that with them so that they can manage their learning expectations.

@Volne. Thats a good point. Perhaps making students write down their inclinations we make them more self aware? And what is better than motivating students to ask the difficult questions..to their own selves....have sufficent self knowledge...before jumping to get advice from outside?

There should be a formal written document whosecmain agenda should be to ask students:

What do you want from this course?

What skill set you want to enhance through this course?

At end of course:

Did you achieve those requirements?

If yes, what could have we done better?

If No, we (the university) should re-enrol the student and work together to check all the unchecked boxes?

That would be ideal?

Yes, Sohaib. It would certainly be worth a try. I use a similar process to help my students learn critical thinking. I will pick key chapters out of our textbook (management) and have them do a one-page paper on one area of management covered in the assigned chapter. They pick the area they expect to have the most trouble with. They then answer three questions: (1) What item in this chapter do you think you will have the greatest challenge with as a manager? (2) Why do you think it will be a challenge for you? and, (3) What can you do between now and the time you become a manager to be better prepared to handle a situation like this at work? The students I do this with are undergrad juniors and seniors. The first paper isn't great; they are just trying to bluff their way through. In the second paper, about half of the students are giving the assignment serious thought. It's only one page, so rambling on and on about just anything really doesn't work. By they get to the third question, I am seeing introspection (I don't like conflict and I need to learn to handle it better. or, I am really an introvert. I would have trouble sitting down and talking with each employee once a month. Maybe if I prepared some things to ask them about, it would be easier for me and them.) This is not high-level thinking and learning, but it is an effective way to get them to recognize what might be tough for them for whatever reason, and then developing a plan to manage it. I have seen some real growth in the papers. I would certainly consider using the structure you have created at the start of class to get them to think about what topics might be important or difficult for them, what they will be required to do to be successful with that topic, and a plan to master the problem.

That's a nice exchange of ideas. Thank you for considering and expanding the possibilities.