Acquire a copy of Bloom's Taxonomy. Bloom's Taxonomy is an educational handbook that outlines the basic types of learning objectives that apply to all subjects. Bloom's Taxonomy divides learning into three domains: affective, psychomotor, and cognitive. Affective learning objectives deal with learning behaviors and habits, like responding and organizing. Psychomotor learning objectives deal with physical skills, such as complex responses and adaptation. Cognitive learning objectives relate to knowledge and critical thinking skills, such as memory and interpretation.
Write a list of Bloom's Taxonomy objectives that pertain to criminal justice. Not all Taxonomy domains are relevant to courses in criminal justice. The entire domain of psychomotor skills is irrelevant to criminal justice, because criminal justice curriculum does not have a physical component. Whether or not all or some affective and cognitive objectives pertain to your course, will depend on the nature of the particular course you teach. If you teach an introductory overview course, affective criteria like valuing and characterizing may not pertain.
Break the course down into chronological segments. Segments are sections of course time, and consist of units, sections, and lessons. A unit is a large chunk of a semester that covers a broad course subject and ends with a test. A section subdivision of a unit that deals with specific course topics. A lesson is a single session of the course, and usually deals with a single concept or idea.
Make a list of topics to be covered in each segment. Topics do not necessarily need to correspond to chapters in the course textbook. Take, for example, a course text that deals with policing in Chapter 1, trial procedure in Chapter 2, and sentencing in Chapter 3. For this book, it might be logical to break Chapter 1 into arrest and investigation guidelines, Chapter 2 into defense, prosecution, and judge roles, and Chapter 3 into sentences and appeals.
List the specific learning outcomes for each course segment. There should be distinct outcomes for units, sections, and lessons. Outcomes should emphasize course content with reference to Bloom's Taxonomy criteria. Unit outcomes should be based on higher level Bloom's Taxonomy criteria (i.e. "analyze the strengths and weaknesses of judicial warrants for police searches), while topic and lesson outcomes should deal with lower level taxonomy criteria (i.e. "organize sentencing principles as they pertain to doe v. doe"). Outcomes should be constructed as a verb followed by a specific behavior, such as "after this unit, students should be able to analyze the appeals process in the United States."