Fink divides learning goals into separate categories, as listed below It's a good exercise to develop learning goals for each of these categories that match the objectives of your course, although you may choose to use only a subset of them. Fink views the learning goals more in terms of the student than the course content. This is a significant shift from a teacher-centered model for course design. Here, students and learning are the core components.

Consider the following statement: "A year (or more) after this course is over, I want and hope that students will ___________________.” How would you complete this statement when focusing on each of the categories below? Use this information to inform your initial draft of your course learning goals.

Foundational Knowledge
What key information (e.g., facts, terms, formulae, concepts, principles, relationships, etc.) is/are important for students to understand and remember in the future?
What key ideas (or perspectives) are important for students to understand in this course?

Application Goals
What kinds of thinking are important for students to learn?
     Critical thinking, in which students analyze and evaluate
     Creative thinking, in which students imagine and create
     Practical thinking, in which students solve problems and make decisions
What important skills do students need to gain? Do students need to learn how to manage complex projects?

Integration Goals
What connections (similarities and interactions) should students recognize and make…:
     Among ideas within this course?
     Among the information, ideas, and perspectives in this course and those in other courses or areas?
     Among material in this course and the students' own personal, social, and/or work life?

Human Dimensions Goals
What could or should students learn about themselves?
What could or should students learn about understanding others and/or interacting with them?

Caring Goals
What changes/values do you hope students will adopt?
     Feelings?
     Interests?
     Ideas?

"Learning-How-to-Learn" Goals
What would you like for students to learn about:
     how to be good students in a course like this?
     how to learn about this particular subject?
     how to become a self-directed learner of this subject, i.e., having a learning agenda of what they need/want to learn, and a plan for learning it?