Introduction
Types of Objectives
Discriminating Between Learning Objectives and Similiar
Statements
Why Write and Use Learning Objectives?
Additional Resources on Writing Learning Objectives
When you purchase a new personal
computer, small appliance for your kitchen, bicycle for your child, etc. one of
the first things you probably do is read the owner's manual and/or the assembly
instructions. Reading these materials prior to using your new "whatever"
will help insure that you do not inadvertently push the wrong button, plug the
printer connection in the wrong port, or assemble a bike that looks more like
an abstract sculpture.
Just as the owner's manual
and instructions provide you with information which will help you learn to operate
your new computer correctly and in the most efficient manner, written objectives
for your course can help your students learn more and learn it more effectively.
Effective teaching depends upon (1) how clearly the students understand
what they are supposed to learn and (2) how accurately that learning can be
measured. Well-written objectives can give students precise statements
of what is expected of them and provide guidelines for assessing student progress.
|
Learning
can occur in
the absence of Teaching
but
Teaching has not occurred
if there is no Learning!
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Writing objectives to guide
and assess student learning is not considered by some instructors to be very
important. However, when you apply for a research grant, you must spell out
the general and specific goals of the research, indicate the methods you will
incorporate to reach those goals, and provide evidence that you are qualified
to conduct research in this subject. These then provide guidelines, for you
and the funding organization, upon which you will measure the success or failure
of your research study. In the same way, you can guide student learning by explaining
how this course relates to other courses given in the same department, why the
content of the course should be taught, what role this course might lay in the
student's general education and life, what particular interest and background
you have in the subject, and what they will learn and be able to do after taking
the course.
Think about one of the classes
you are currently teaching. What would you like for each student to be able
to do when he/she has completed your course?.....(Take a few seconds to jot
down some of your ideas.) Usually, at the university level we are not concerned
simply that the students learn a set of facts. Rather, we hope that they will
develop the skills and techniques which will enable them to begin a lifelong
learning process. To do this our courses must provide a base of knowledge and
skills that will facilitate further learning and present ample opportunities
for the students to practice using these skills.
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Types
of Objectives*
Instructional
Objectives are specific statements describing what you and your students
intend to achieve as a result of instruction. They can be categorized in the
following way:
A. Learning
Objectives: Specific statements of instructional intent dealing with content
areas that describe what students will do as a result of instruction. There
are two types of learning objectives: cognitive and psychomotor.
- Cognitive Objectives:
Emphasis is on knowing, conceptualizing, comprehending, applying, synthesizing,
and evaluating. These objectives deal with students' knowledge of the subject
matter, and how students demonstrate this knowledge.
- Psychomotor Objectives:
Physical skills and dexterity are involved; success in instruction involves
teaching new skills or coordination of old ones (e.g., physical coordination
involved in playing tennis).
B. Attitudinal
objectives: Emphasis is on attitudes, values and emotions.
*From Writing Learning Objectives, Module #2, Teaching and Learning: An Individualized
Course for Instructors in Higher Education, Centre for Learning and Development,
McGill University, 1977.
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Discriminating
Between Learning Objectives and Similar Statements**
More than likely
you have been thinking about and probably revising the goals for your classes
each time you teach them. However, learning objectives may differ in several
ways from the goals you have typically set:
- The emphasis is on observed
activity. The only way you can determine whether or not a student has learned
something is to observe some kind of behavior which indicates learning has
taken place. This behavior may range from correctly answering multiple-choice
questions to requiring that the student actually demonstrate a skill.
- The emphasis is on student
activity. Instructors sometimes state their objectives in terms of their activities
-- e.g., "For the first fifteen minutes I'll lecture on cell division."
--or in terms of content -- e.g., "Cover mitosis." Learning objectives,
however, refer exclusively to student behaviors, not to the behaviors of the
instructor.
- The emphasis is on outcomes.
Instructors often state objectives in terms of process or procedure, e.g.,
"The class will discuss ethical issues concerning genetic control."
Learning objectives, however, refer to the end results of instruction. They
state what a student will know or be able to do at the end of instruction,
not during it.
**From "Behavioral
Objectives: A Selected Bibliography and Brief Review," by George L. Geis,
ERIC, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, l972.
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Why
Write and Use Learning Objectives?***
Writing and using learning
objectives has numerous advantages including:
- Managing Instruction
Objectives may be used by instructors and students to sort and direct learners
and learning activities. They may be used for systematic pre-testing, allowing
into the course students who demonstrate the required pre-requisite behaviors,
redirecting to remedial work those who lack the pre-requisites, skipping ahead
those who already have acquired the behaviors which the unit is designed to
teach.
- Managing learning
Whereas management of instruction implies that the control rests with the
instructor, management of learning suggests a more active role by the student.
Students can use objectives to guide their learning efforts -- choosing appropriate
materials, reading selectively, etc. Objectives can also be used for self-evaluation
which may direct the student's efforts (e.g., skipping ahead or reviewing).
- Planning Instruction
Once you have developed a set of objectives for a course you can more rationally
sequence instruction, allot time to topics, assemble materials, prepare outlines
and booklists, etc. Objectives can also be used as a guide to teaching, as
when you plan different instructional methods for presenting various types
of content based on the desired learning outcomes (e.g., small-group editing
of reports to give students experience in evaluating content logic and correct
usage).
A re-examination of course content may result from a look at the learning
objectives for the course. After comparing previous examinations with your
newly developed learning objectives, you may discover that you have been testing
materials which are illustrative, but which are not really essential to the
students' mastery of the content/concepts.
- Enhancing Learning
If the student has a set of learning objectives which provide information
about the content to be learned and the way in which he/she will have to demonstrate
adequate knowledge, that student can make more appropriate choices about study
methods and content emphasis.
- Facilitating Evaluation
Learning objectives can facilitate various evaluation activities, evaluating
students, evaluating instruction, evaluating the curriculum. They can form
the basis for grading or for determining levels of competence in a mastery
learning system. They can also be used to demonstrate effective teaching by
matching student learning, as measured by exams, etc., to the desired outcomes.
- Aiding in Communication
With Others
There is a need to communicate learning objectives to others: between instructor
and student, with TAs, with other instructors. For example, exchanging learning
objectives within departments is the most specific way to communicate to one's
colleagues what you really cover in your course. An objectives exchange might
reduce redundancy in the curriculum.
- Designing or Redesigning
Curriculum
If you are setting out to improve instruction in a particular course, you
usually begin with the content and generate objectives, new materials, etc.,
based on that content.
- Study of the existing
curriculum can draw attention to redundancy and omissions which can lead
to curriculum revision.
- Sets of objectives
for one course may be compared with the expected entry behaviors for the
next course in the sequence. The two should interlock; where they do not,
curriculum adjustments can be made.
- In some areas of
vocational and professional education attempts are being made to begin
with performance and work backwards to curriculum. Medical education in
particular provides many examples of this.
- Producing New Insights
There is one other benefit that instructional designers talk about but rarely
write about. The process of clarifying objectives is said to produce major
changes in those who engage in the effort.
For example, instructors who spend time developing learning objectives are
said to acquire increased humility about what is a feasible goal. When "global"
goals are explicated, scores of specific sub-goals emerge. It often develops
that it is not possible to reach all of them and so a hierarchy or "trade-off
system" of goals must be produced.
The writing of objectives also focuses attention away from content and onto
the students. This re-focusing often produces revisions in teaching methods.
When students are involved in determining objectives they develop an awareness
of the difficulties in defining what it is they want to learn and of choosing
from among equally attractive options.
***Adapted from Geis, op.
cit., 1972.
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Additional
Resources on Writing
Learning Objectives
The use of
learning objectives is advocated by numerous experienced faculty members here
at U.T. Samples of objectives written by some of these faculty members are available
for inspection in the CTE Resource Library.
If you are
interested in learning how to write learning objectives the following self-help
books are also available in the CTE Library:
Archer, Patricia
(1979). Writing Higher-Level Learning Objectives: The Cognitive Domain,
New York: Media Systems Corporation.
Bloom, Benjamin
S., et. al. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, New York: David
McKay Company, Inc.
Mager, Robert
F. (1962). Preparing Instructional Objectives, Belmont, CA: Lear Siegler,
Inc./Fearon Publishers.
Mager, Robert F. (1972). Goal Analysis, Belmont, CA: Fearon Publishers.
Pascall, Charles
and Geis, George (1977) Writing Learning Objectives, Module #2 (Teaching
& Learning Series), McGill University.
In addition
to the above written resources, the CTE staff members are available to assist
you in developing or re-writing the objectives for your courses.
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August 15, 2002
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