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.