HOW TO WRITE USEFUL AND EFFECTIV EINSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

AND LESSON PLANSDR. ROBIN MAGRUDER

YOU ARE PLANNING A DINNER PARTY AT YOUR PLACE THIS WEEKEND. SELECT THE BEST SCENARIO FOR A SUCCESSFUL PARTY.

Scenario I

Go the store and pick up some things that look good

Put together some dishes -substitute or omit ingredients you do not have on hand

Ask people to come the day of the party

Decide to clean the house an hour before guests arrive

Scenario II

Invite friends one week before party

Select recipes

Make time table

Make grocery list based on recipes & shop

Clean

Prep food

Meet friends at the door

WHEN PREPARING FOR LESSONS OR A DINNER PARTY…

Have a purpose

Make a plan

Have an expected outcome

WHY WRITE INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES?

Jones (1997) – "Clear objectives can help the instructor design lessons that will be easier for the student to comprehend and the teacher to evaluate".

Lohr (no date) – "A properly written objective tells you what specific knowledge, skill, or attitude is desired and what method of instruction and criteria for learner achievement are required."

PURPOSE OF INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

To identify what to teach

To guide how to teach it

To guide what and how to assess it

TYPES OF INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

Affective

Relates to students’ attitudes, beliefs, and values about content

Psychomotor

Relates to motor skills and hand-eye coordination

Cognitive

Relates to intellectual abilities and skills

TYPES OF INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

In Environmental Education and your profession, what types of objectives might you include? Examples?

Affective

Relates to students’ attitudes, beliefs, and values about content

Psychomotor

Relates to motor skills and hand-eye coordination

Cognitive

Relates to intellectual abilities and skills

GUIDELINES FOR CREATING INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

Objectives are:

clearly written

descriptive of learning outcome(s)

measurable

observable

Understanding

GUIDELINES FOR CREATING INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

Objectives are:

clearly written

descriptive of learning outcome(s)

measurable

observable

Understanding

THREE COMPONENTS OF AN INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVE

Behavior/Performance - the observable behavior learners should exhibit (action verb!)

Condition –circumstances under which assessment will be given

Criterion- the acceptable level of performance learners are expected to reach

Adapted from Mager’s (1984) Objective Characteristics.

EXAMPLE OF INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVE

Given a balance and a set of objects, students will be able to measure the mass of a given object to the nearest gram.

Given a balance and set of objects: Condition under which students will be able to perform.

Students will be able to measure the mass of a given object: performance –what students will be able to do

To the nearest gram – criterion- expected level of success demonstrated

ANOTHER EXAMPLE

Given a set of objects, students will be able to correctly predict whether objects will sink or float, based on their data.

BIRDS AND WORMS (WORKSHOP ONE)

PLT (p. 111)

Students will demonstrate their knowledge of how camouflage is used for protection and survival.

After completing Birds and Worms, participants will be able to construct a bar graph to accurately display data.

After completing Birds and Worms, participants will be able to write an essay in which they conclude that camouflage is used for protection and survival with at least two examples.

SUPER BOWL SURGE (WORKSHOP ONE)

Students will illustrate how demands on some treatment plants cause overflow.

After participating in super bowl surge, participants will illustrate how demands on some treatment plants cause overflow and score a minimum of a three on a four point rubric.

Students will explain problems with sewage overflow.

After participating in super bowl surge, participants will explain problems with sewage overflow including at least four specific examples.

Students will generate solutions to a water management problem.

After participating in super bowl surge, participants will generate at least two valid solutions to a water management problem

COMBINING INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES AND BLOOMS TAXONOMY

Objectives should

include a variety of levels of Bloom’s taxonomy

Incorporate lower level thinking skills

Incorporate higher level thinking skills

Incorporate cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY OF COGNITIVE DOMAIN

Remembering

Understanding

Applying

Analyzing

Evaluating

Creating

Higher Order

thinking

skills

Lower order

thinking skills

DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE LEVELS

QUESTIONS?

YOUR TURN…

Create an objective for the following activities:

Group One: Energy Sleuth

Group Two: Tree Factory

Group Three: Sum of the Parts

Group Four: Drop in the Bucket

Group Five: Ethi-Reasoning

CONNECTING THE DOTS

Objectives – determines purpose & focus of lesson

Activities – learning situations that will help students develop the skill/knowledge

Assessment – Evaluates students’ mastery of objective

*Objectives, lesson activities, and assessment must match

QUESTIONS?

LESSON PLANNING

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

LESSON PLAN COMPONENT: LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Done!

BIRDS AND WORMS: LEARNING OBJECTIVE

After completing Birds and Worms, participants will be able to write an essay in which they conclude that camouflage is used for protection and survival with at least two examples.

LESSON PLAN COMPONENT: KENTUCKY ACADEMIC STANDARDS (KAS)

Next Generation Science Standards

http://www.nextgenscience.org/overview-dci

BIRDS AND WORMS: KENTUCKY ACADEMIC STANDARDS (KAS)

3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

LESSON PLAN COMPONENT: NAAEE GUIDELINES

https://naaee.org/sites/default/files/learnerguidelines_new.pdf

BIRDS AND WORMS: NAAEE GUIDELINES

Strand 2.2

C) Systems and connections—Learners understand basic

ways in which organisms are related to their environments

and to other organisms.

Describe ways in which an organism's behavior patterns are related

to its environment. Identify examples of environmental change and

discuss how these changes may be helpful or harmful to particular

organisms.

LESSON PLAN COMPONENT: MATERIALS

Include all links

Consider personnel needs

BIRDS AND WORMS: MATERIALS

60 small objects to represent the worms or bugs

Large piece of chart paper

Markers

Pencils or pens

LESSON PLAN COMPONENT: PROCEDURES

5Es

All good lessons start with a hook and end with a review

Think about higher-order questions you can ask as you prepare your lesson

BIRDS AND WORMS: PROCEDURES

Engage

Explore

Explain

Elaborate

Evaluate

LESSON PLAN COMPONENT: ASSESSMENT

Go back to your objective, how will you measure student learning?

BIRDS AND WORMS: ASSESSMENT

In their science journals, students will write about how animals use camouflage for protection and survival. They need to include at least two examples.

HOW CAN YOU ASSESS LEARNING?

HOW CAN YOU ASSESS LEARNING?

TIPS FOR WRITING A LESSON PLAN

Start with standard

Write assessment

This leads to objective

Figure out the procedures

This determines your materials

QUESTIONS?

YOUR TURN…

Create a lesson plan for the following activities:

Group One: Energy Sleuth

Group Two: Tree Factory

Group Three: Sum of the Parts

Group Four: Drop in the Bucket

Group Five: Ethi-Reasoning

QUESTIONS?