Objectives

How to Write Effective Objectives

Objective

• Upon completion of this presentation, you will be able to:– write effective objectives.

Guiding Questions for LZHS• What do we want students to

learn?• How will we know that students

have learned it?• How will we respond when

students don’t learn?• How will we respond when

students already know it?

– Course objectives help us answer the first question and guide us in developing assessments to answer the second.

Benefits for Students

• Clarity of destination– Learning objectives are brief

descriptions of specific things a learner will know or be able to do.

– Students will understand expectations.

– Assessment and grading are based on the objectives.

Purpose of Objectives

• Learning objectives put the focus on the student and learning rather than the teacher and teaching methods.

• Objectives answer:– What should students learn?– What is worth learning?– What are the key competencies

of the course?– What is the level of the course?

How to Write an Objective• The objective should describe what

the learner will be able to do after a period of learning.

• For the objective to be achieved, there must be a demonstrated behavior on the part of the learner.

• Objectives should:– be written in the terms of the learner

• What will the learner be able to do after instruction?

– identify the desired behavior by name and specify observable behavior

• It must be possible to assess the activity in some way.

How to Write an Objective• Objectives should:

– have a measurable, action verb• Verbs tell the student what is to be

accomplished.• Verbs tell the teacher what to look

for to see if the student has accomplished what the teacher specified.

– contain criteria for success or competency.

How to Write an Objective• Step 1: Pick an action verb

from the list provided by Bloom’s Taxonomy.– The level of thinking you want

from a student in an assignment is based on the level from which you select the verb to use.

• Step 2: Complete the sentence.– The more understandable the

sentence, the greater the chance that the student will do what is intended.

Example

– Step 1: Pick an action verb from the list provided by Bloom’s Taxonomy• List (from the Knowledge level of

Bloom’s Taxonomy)

– Step 2: Complete the sentence.• the parts of the IPDE process

– Objective:• List the parts of the IPDE process.

Example

– Step 1: Pick an action verb from the list provided by Bloom’s Taxonomy• Translate (from the Comprehension

level of Bloom’s Taxonomy)

– Step 2: Complete the sentence.• the words in a sentence.

– Objective:• Translate the words in a sentence.

Example

– Step 1: Pick an action verb from the list provided by Bloom’s Taxonomy• Dramatize (from the Application

level of Bloom’s Taxonomy)

– Step 2: Complete the sentence.• a scene from Romeo and Juliet.

– Objective:• Dramatize a scene from Romeo and

Juliet.

Example

– Step 1: Pick an action verb from the list provided by Bloom’s Taxonomy• Compare (from the Analysis level of

Bloom’s Taxonomy)

– Step 2: Complete the sentence.• the Holocaust to the genocide in

Darfur.

– Objective:• Compare the Holocaust to the

genocide in Darfur.

Example

– Step 1: Pick an action verb from the list provided by Bloom’s Taxonomy• Design (from the Synthesis level of

Bloom’s Taxonomy)

– Step 2: Complete the sentence.• an experiment to test Newton’s

Third Law of Motion.

– Objective:• Design an experiment to test

Newton’s Third Law of Motion.

Example

– Step 1: Pick an action verb from the list provided by Bloom’s Taxonomy• Rate (from the Evaluation level of

Bloom’s Taxonomy)

– Step 2: Complete the sentence.• the works of art in their use of

complementary colors.

– Objective:• Rate the works of art in their use of

complementary colors.

Benefits of Effective Objectives• Students can be in control

when they know what objective they are responsible to learn and how it will be assessed.

• When effective objectives are used, we create continual learners that are responsible, caring citizens in a global community.