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Objectives describe what learners will be able to do at the end of instruction, and they provide clear reasons for teaching. When writing objectives be sure to describe the intended result of instruction rather than the process of instruction itself.
Objectives in teaching is essential because of these reasons: in order to select and design instructional content, materials or methods and have a sound basis by which success can be measured; to give designers and instructors an objective method to determine how successful their material has been; by clearly stating the results we want the learners to accomplish, instructors can identify whether students have gained the appropriate skills and knowledge; and because objectives should be stated before learners begin their instructional materials, they provide students the means to organize their efforts toward accomplishing the desired behaviors.
Audience (The -Learners)
Identify whom it is that will be doing the performance (not the instructor).
Behavior (performance)
What the learner will be able to do. Make sure it is something that can be seen or heard.
Condition
The conditions under which the learners must demonstrate their mastery of the objective.
What will the learners be allowed to use?
Degree (or criterion)
How well the behavior must be done.
A common way to categorize learning is by the domain in which it occurs. These are:
| Cognitive | Thought or knowledge
Objectives describe: "what the student is able to do" (an observable). |
| Affective | Feelings or choices Objectives describe: "how the student chooses to act” |
| Psychomotor | Physical skills Objectives describe: "what the student can perform" |
Goals and objectives are at the heart of whatever a teacher does in the classroom. Goals and objectives provide structure to the learning process.
Goals are general statements that reflect what teachers want students to learn from the subject that they teach. They are the final outcomes of what is achieved at the end of the teaching-learning process. Goals are global and broad in nature and serve as long-term targets for both the learner and the teacher.
Objectives are more specific statements about what students will learn as a result of instruction. They are identified by the use of action verbs which allows the teacher to observe student behavior for learning. They are short-term in nature and should be achievable at the conclusion of one teaching session or within a matter of a few days following a series of teaching sessions. These describe a performance learners should be able to exhibit before they are considered competent. They are the intended results of instruction.
A learning objective answers the question:
"What is it that your students should be able to do at the end of the hour that they couldn't do before?"
A learning objective makes clear the intended learning outcome or product of instruction, rather than what form the instruction will take. Learning objectives focus on student performance.
Objectives help reduce complaints because:
If the teaching-learning process is to be successful, the setting of goals and objectives must be a mutual decision on the part of both the learner and the teacher. Both must be clearly written, realistic, and learner-centered, and must be directed to what the learner is expected to be able to accomplish, not what the teacher is expected to teach. In the writing of goals and objectives, teachers need to take some important criteria into consideration.
What follows is an example of how you can do this:
Goals: by the end of this activity, participants will:
1.Understand the effects of high salt in a diet
Objective: by the end of this activity, participants will:
1.Avoid eating and preparing food high in sodium
The key difference is that objectives describe learning outcomes in terms of a student's behavior rather than state of mind, which is often the focus of goals. A goal may call for evidence of students' understanding of a principle, which can only be inferred from behavior
| GOALS | OBJECTIVES |
| Broad | Narrow |
| General intentions | Precise |
| Intangible | Tangible |
| Abstract | Concrete |
| Can't be validated | Can be validated |
Translating goals into objectives is essential for movement from curricular ideals to knowledge of results in terms of students' performance in the classroom and the workplace.
The format for writing concise and useful behavioral objectives includes these characteristics:
Behavioral objectives are statements that communicate WHO will DO WHAT under WHAT CONDITIONS and HOW WELL.
For example:
After the 30-minute discussion on hyperglycemia (condition), Mrs. Jones will b~ able to identify (performance) two out of three major symptoms of high blood sugar (criterion)
Here are some recommended verbal used to state objectives for classroom instruction:
| Apply | Explain |
| Choose | Identify |
| Classify | List |
| Compare | Order |
| Contrast | Predict |
| Construct | Recall |
| Define | Recognize |
| Describe | Select |
| Demonstrate | State |
| Differentiate | Verbalize |
| Distinguish | Write |
Benjamin S. Bloom developed Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as a tool for systematic classification of behavioral objectives.
This is a standard aid for planning and evaluating learning according to three domains of learning that were discussed from our previous topics. The objectives in each domain are ordered in a taxonomic form of hierarchy. The original purpose of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives was to provide a tool for classifying instructional objectives.
The Taxonomy is hierarchical (levels increase in difficulty/sophistication) and cumulative (each level builds on and subsumes the ones below). The levels, in addition to clarifying instructional objectives, may be used to provide a basis for questioning that ensures that students progress to the highest level of understanding.
Categories in the Cognitive Domain: (With Outcome-Illustrating Verbs):
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The affective domain addresses interests, attitudes, opinions, appreciations, values, and emotional sets. If the teaching purpose is to change attitudes behavior rather than to transmit information, then the instruction should be structured to progress through the levels of the affective domain:
| Objectives: listens attentively, shows sensitivity to patient's problems. Behavioral terms: asks, chooses, identifies, locates, points to |
| Objectives: completes homework, obeys rules, participates in class discussion, shows interest in subject, enjoys helping others. Behavioral terms: answers, assists, complies, discusses, helps, performs, practices; presents, reads, reports, writes |
| Objectives: demonstrates belief in democratic processes, appreciates the role of science in daily life, shows concern for other~' welfare, demonstrates a problem-solving approach. Behavioral terms: differentiates, explains, initiates, justifies, proposes, shares. |
| Objectives: recognizes the need for balance between freedom and responsibility in a democracy, understands the role• of systematic planning in solving problems, accepts responsibility for own behavior. |
| Behavioral terms: arranges, combines, compares, generalizes, integrates, modifies, organizes, synthesizes. |
| Objectives are concerned with personal~ social, and emotional adjustment: displays self-reliance in working independently, cooperates in-group activities, maintains good health habits. |
The measures of these outcomes will be choice of clinical practice location and practice style like when students work effectively with colleagues from other health professions disciplines, and work with them in an appropriate and respectful way. Some professionals would insist that attitudinal objectives be phrased in terms of such outcomes.
Examples of affective:
At the end of the learning activity, the student will be able to:
Instructional objectives and derived questions or tasks typically have cognitive arid affective elements, but the focus is on motor skill development.
Psychomotor skills generally require practice, and must be measured in a practical examination perhaps on a mannequin or in a clinical setting with simulated or real patients.
| Behavioral terms: assembles, builds, composes, fastens, grips, hammers, makes, manipulates, paints, sharpens, sketches, uses. |
Examples of psychomotor:
At the end of the learning activity, the student will be able to:
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affective:
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psychomotor domains:
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