Definition: A statement that specifies the intended learner outcomes.
Why use instructional objectives?
- better instruction occurs
- more efficient learning results
- better evaluation occurs
- students become better self-evaluators
At least these are the claims. The use of objectives is common place in education and IT, but there really is a conflict between the use of objectives, which is behavioral in origin, and constructivist (anti-objectivist) approaches to learning today.What are the components of an objective?
Condition: the setting in which the demonstration of learning will take place, including environment and materials, where appropriate
What are the domains of educational objectives?Behavior: a description of an overt (observable) behavior that may be measured (and from which one can infer that the learner has learned)
Performance:measurement criteria for achievement of the objective
Cognitive Domain knowledgeAffective Domain: attitudes, emotions, values
Psychomotor Domain: physical skills
Cognitive Domain Variables Affective Domain Variables Psychomotor Domain Variables
Knowledge: the recognition and recall of facts and specificsComprehension: the learner interprets, translates, summarizes or paraphrases
Application: using material in a different situation other than the situation in which it was originally learned
Application: using material in a different situation other than the situation in which it was originally learned
Synthesis: combining elements to form a new original entity
Evaluation: acts of decision-making, judging, or selecting based on a given set of criteria
Receiving: attending to stimuli; listening, looking...Responding: complies to given expectations by attending or reacting to stimuli; showing interest
Valuing: displays behavior that reflects a consistent belief or attitude; internal commitment consistent with external behavior
Organization: committed to a set of values as demonstrated by their behavior
Characterization: total behavior is consistent with internalized values (philosophy of life)
Perception: using senses to guide motor activitySet: readiness for motor activity
Guided Response: motor activity motivated by imitation & trial and error
Mechanism: motor activity becomes habitual and/or performance consistent with confidence and proficiency
Complex Overt Response: skillful performance of motor activities that involve complex movement; automaticity
Adaptation: ability to modify movements to fit new problems
Origination: creating new movement patterns to fit a particular situation
WRITING OBJECTIVES
To be honest, objectives are not as popular as they once were. Objectives became popular in education because of the influence of behaviorism, but behaviorism had lost ground in recent years to constructivism. Objectives take a lot of time to formulate, which discourages some teachers. Nonetheless, your degree program requires students to know how to state behavioral objectives.
Practical definition:
An objective describes the performance you want learners to be able to exhibit before you consider them to be competent. An objective describes an intended result of instruction, not the process of instruction itself.
Result = outcome, knowledge, skill, behavior, attitude
Process= teaching, learning experiences, instructional methods, materials, content
An example of the ordinary is taken from a course description:
A general survey of the organizing and administration of school libraries, with emphasis on methods of developing the library as an integral part of the school. Includes functions, organization, services, equipment, and materials.
What will the student be able to do?
What will the student know?
What level of proficiency will the student be able to do something?Obviously, we do not know much at all about this course in library science. Part of the reason is because of the verbs used.
Another non-example:
The student will develop a critical understanding of the importance of effective management.
What will the student do? Only the teacher knows, and we can't be sure of that. What will the student be doing? Write an essay on management? Answer multiple-choice questions on management? Draft a budget? Prepare a production schedule? Solve the national debt?
Most work in school and IT concerns the cognitive domain. In general, there are several types of knowledge recognized:
Declarative Knowledge: Knowledge that involves learning labels, names, facts, lists.
Procedural Knowledge: Knowledge of a series of steps that may be complete to achieve a certain goal.
Concepts: Knowledge of the shared characteristics of a set of objects, symbols, or events which can be referred to by a specific name or symbol.
Rules: Knowledge that involves the description of the relationship between/among various concepts.
Cognitive Strategies: Knowledge of mental tactics for attending to, organizing, elaborating, manipulating, and retrieving knowledge (metacognition), and/or knowledge of general problem solving strategies (domain general).
Problem-Solving: Knowledge of how to apply declarative and procedural knowledge, rules, and cognitive strategies to solve unique problems.
Attitudes: Knowledge of values and affect related to a behavior or practice.
Psychomotor Skills: Knowledge of coordinated muscular movements that are smooth and precise in nature.
words open to many interpretations words open to fewer interpretations
to know to write to understand to recite to really understand to identify to appreciate to sort to fully appreciate to solve to grasp the significance of to construct to enjoy to build to believe to compare to have faith in to contrast to internalize to smile Which words in the following list describe performance?
stating -Yes, you can hear it or see it written.
writing -Yes, its observable.
valuing -No. Impossible to observe.
drawing -Sure, this one is easy.
listing -Yes
appreciating -No
internalizing -No
smiling -YesThe student will understand World War II.- No
The student will solve linear equations.- Yes
The student will appreciate classical music.- No
The student will enjoy reading Keats.- NoAn objective has three characteristics (sometimes):
1. Performance. An objective always says what a learner is able to do.
2. Conditions. An objective sometimes describes the important conditions (if any) under which the performance is to occur.
3. Criterion. Wherever possible, an objective describes the criterion of acceptable performance by describing how well the learner must perform in order to be considered acceptable.
An example:
Given all available engineering data pertaining to a proposed product, be able to write a product profile. The profile must describe and define all of the commercial characteristics of the product when ready for market, including descriptions of three major product uses.
What are the performance, conditions, and criterion parts? (Note: This is a trick. There is no criterion in this objective, but performance and conditions can be identified).
Performance objectives: (The student will...)
write a news article
sew a seam
split wood
add numbers less than ten
vaccinate hogs
stain slidesOvert - Can be observed.
You can see someone run, walk, jump, sing, speak, vaccinate, stain, split, and so forth.
Covert - Can't be observed (can be deduced) but can be indicated.
You can't see someone identify, solve, add, compare, contrast, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, discern, classify, but people do these things and you can use them in objectives if you use indicators to qualify your meaning in the performance statement.
You can't really tell when someone is adding or solving? Not by looking, but a mental or cognitive process can be examined or detected by looking at products, such as a list of addition problems.
To handle this in your objectives, you can always add an indicator to clarify meaning when covert problems crop up. The (indicators) are in parentheses and specify what you mean as the indication of performance. For example,
Add numbers (write the solutions) written in binary notation.
Identify (underline or circle) misspelled words on a page.
Print this section, if you want, and write the simplest indicator behaviors you can think of to clarify intent.
Play a piccolo. __________________________________________
Discriminate between
normal and abnormal
X-rays of teeth. __________________________________________Identify transistors on
a schematic diagram. __________________________________________Solve word problems. __________________________________________
Recall the procedure
for making a loan. _________________________________________Conditions
The student will solve problems in algebra.
This is a weak objective that can be improved with conditions:
Given a linear algebraic equation with one unknown, solve (write the solution) for the unknown without the aid of references, tables, or calculating devices.
In establishing conditions:
1. What will the learner be allowed to use?
2. What will the learned be denied?
3. Under what conditions will you expect the terminal behavior to occur?
4. Are there any skills which you are specifically not trying to develop?Given a list of thirty-five chemical elements, the student will be recall (write) the valences of at least thirty.
Criterion
The criterion is not always stated. If possible, it should be included. In using computer-assisted instruction and training programs, the criterion must be explicit. There are at least four ways to indicate a criterion.
1. Just put it in as a statement of speed, quality, or accuracy. e.g. Given a linear algebraic equation with one unknown, be able to solve (write the solution) for the unknown without the aid of references, tables, or calculating devices with 80% accuracy on problems of equal difficulty. Test: 2 + 4x = 12 (Student does ten, gets 80% and passes).
2. If criterion exists elsewhere, state it.....
...according to the Standards Chart, 1988 edition.
...according to the state/school curriculum guide.
...according to Hoyle, p. 10.3. If the criterion is a process,
...assemble a rifle within four minutes.
...complete pre-flight checkout.
...boot, load, and save a file.4. And, you may use a model or videotape.
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Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between a condition and a criterion:Execute thirty consecutive pushups, thirty sit-ups, ten pull-ups without mechanical aids while whistling Dixie.
What is the criterion? The number of acts or the part that delimits (without aids)?
Summary: A criterion can be how much, how fast, how well, how often, or like someone else.
From: Gagne, R., Briggs, L., & Wager, W. (1992). Principles of instruction design. (4th ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.From: Smith, P., & Ragan, T. (1993). Instructional design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
- Gaining Attention
- Informing the learner of the objective
- Stimulating Recall of Prerequisite Learning
- Presenting Stimulus Materials
- Providing Learning Guidance
- Eliciting Performance
- Providing Feedback
- Assessing Performance
From: Dick, W., & Carey, L. (1996). The systematic design of instruction. New York: HarperCollins.
- Activate Attention to Lesson
- Establish Purpose
- Arouse Interest and Motivation
- Preview the Lesson
- Recall Relevant Prior Knoweldge
- Process Information and Examples
- Focus Attention
- Employ Learning Strategies
- Practice
- Evaluation
- Summarize and Review
- Transfer Learning
- Remotivate and Close
- Assess Performance
- Evaluate Feedback and Remediate
For a great illustration of the use of objectives that is not so inflexible, sterile and boring, take a look at a site that is a follow up on a history unit taught by a teacher in the 7th grade and her reflections and the remarks of some students about 4 years later. Furthermore, it has almost nothing to do with technology.
- Motivation
- Objectives
- Entry Behaviors
- Instructional Sequence
- Information
- Examples
- Practice
- Feedback
- Evaluation
- Remediation
- Enrichment
- Memorization & Transfer
I am taking you to the reflections page but you may need to back track to get the whole picture.You can see how the unit was successful in 3 weeks and had long-lasting effects. A similar unit combining the new powers of multimedia would be interesting.
Source: Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook 1. Cognitive domain. New York: McKay.