Formulation of Objectives

Sanjaya Mishra

Overview

• What are objectives?

• Conceptual developments

• Writing objectives

• Why should you use objectives?

What are objectives?

• Dictionary meaning: aim, goal and intention• It is an aid to the learners as well as to the

teacher• It helps in planning the lesson• It also helps in identification of appropriate

activities, methods and techniques• It helps in assessment of learner

performance, and then provide feedback on learning/ teaching

• Objectives are defined as what the students should be able to do following instuction

Anecdote

Person A : Where does this road goes?

Person B : Where do you want to go?

Person A : I don’t know.

Person B : Then it does not matter, where this road goes.

Moral : If you don’t know where you are going, then you will reach no where.

Conceptual developments

• Educational objectives

• Bloom’s taxonomy

• Mager’s instructional objectives

• Behavioural objectives

• Learning outcomes

Educational objectives

Change in behaviours that an educational institution seeks to bring in its students

Taylor, 1948

Blooms’ taxonomy (1956)

• Primarily for assessment of student performance

• Knowledge-Understanding-Application-Analysis-Synthesis-Evaluation

Instructional Objectives (1962)• Unambiguous action verbs,

conditions and standards

• Though instruction is used, Mager believed objectives to be what the students should be able to do at the end of instruction

Behavioural Objectives

• Excess emphasis on the use of action verbs and behavioual objectives led to this phrase

• Duchastel and Merrill (1973) said behavioural objectives serve three functions: direction for teaching and curriculum development, guidance in evaluation, and facilitation of learning

Learning Outcomes

• Personal outcomes: interpersonal skills, teamwork

• Learning objectives: subject centred, but not necessarily behavioural

• Generic outcomes: critical thinking, analysis, synthesizing

Objectives and Knowledge DomainCognitiveKnowledge

Comprehension

Application

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

PsychomotorPerception

Set

Guided response

Mechanisms

Complex overt response

Adaption

Origination

AffectiveReceiving

Responding

Valuing

Organization

Value concept

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

• Originally one-dimensional• Now in 2-dimensions:

Knowledge dimensionCognitive process dimension

Remember ApplyUnderstand Analyze Evaluate Create

Factual

Conceptual

Procedural

Meta-cognitive

Writing objectives

• Performance: use action verbs

• Conditions: circumstances under which the students are expected to perform

• Standard: criterion that defines acceptable performance.

Performance

• The learner will be able to define…

• The learner will be able to identify the components…

• The learner will be able to determine the kind of nutrients…

Condition

• Given a list of examples…

• Given a list of terms…

• While in the laboratory…

• Using a soil sample kit…

• After observing a videotape…

Standard

• …accurate to the nearest tenth

• …according to the steps listed in the manual

• …within twenty minutes

• …at the rate of 100 per hour

• …without any errors

Example

• Given a list of generic drugs, the learner will be able to identify the antibiotics with 95% accuracy.

Criticism

Objectives are written at a minimum acceptable standard

Criticism

Objectives dehumanize by focusing on requirements and not on students

Criticism

It takes time, and teachers’ workload are unrealistic

Criticism

Objectives are difficult to set for affective domain

Criticism

Objectives ‘lock’ the curriculum and are not flexible

Criticism

It sets the tone of “teach and test”

Criticism

Objectives stop creativity

Criticism

It is not useful to the teachers in colleges

ABCD of objectives

• Audience

• Behaviour

• Conditions

• Degree of performance

Objectives should be SMART

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Realistic

• Time-bound