ISW Pre-Workshop Module-Learning Objectives

15 minutes

By the end of this module you will be able to

• Tailor your learning objective (LO) to engage different domains and depths of learning using the action verbs provided in this module

Consider your current teaching practice and courses that you have taken as learner. In your opinion,

• What is the advantage of learning objectives from the perspective of your learners?

• What is the advantage of learning objectives, from the instructor's perspective?

What are Instructional Objectives?

What are instructional objectives?

• Instructional objectives are specific, measurable, short-term, observable student behaviors.

• An objective is a description of a performance you want learners to be able to exhibit before you consider them competent.

• An objective describes an intended result of instruction, rather than the process of instruction itself.

 
Why Have Objectives?

Why have objectives?

• To provide direction to instruction.

• To provide guidelines for assessment.

• To convey instructional intent to others.

 
Tips for writing objectives

• How specific and detailed should objectives be?

  :It depends on what they are used for! Objectives for sequencing a unit plan will be more general than for specifying a lesson plan.

• Don't make writing objectives tedious, trivial, time-consuming, or mechanical. Keep them simple, unambiguous, and clearly focused as a guide to learning

• The purpose of objectives is not to restrict spontaneity or constrain the vision of education in the discipline; but to ensure that learning is focused clearly enough that both students and teacher know what is going on.

• Express them in terms of student performance, behavior, and achievement, not teacher activity.

• Three components of an instructional objective:

1. Identify the type of activity in which competence is required (e.g., "Dissect...").

1. Specify the criteria or standards by which competence in the activity will be assessed (e.g., "a frog so that the following organs are clearly displayed...").

1. List any conditions or circumstances required for students to meet the objective (e.g., "...given two class periods working with the materials at your lab station").

Please watch the first 5 minutes and 50 seconds of this video to learn about Bloom's Taxonomy of verbs. This will be useful to you as you construct meaningful learning objectives for your course.

1. Review the Objective Tips handout for a concise introduction to writing learning objectives using Bloom's taxonomy . You may also wish to see the list of Bloom's Taxonomy Action Verbs http://www.fresnostate.edu/academics/oie/documents/assesments/Blooms%20Level.pdf

1. Consider your own teaching practice. Think of a topic you might teach and create three different learning objectives - one for the cognitive domain, another for the affective, and a last for the psycho-motor - and share them below in the reply comment text box. Have a look at the Go Further section for a link to a helpful resource regarding the three domains.

1. Now that you have had a chance to explore Blooms Taxonomy for creating learning objectives, consider the role of online learning and learning technologies in your teaching and learning. Read through the guide to Bloom's Digital Technology https://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/Bloom's+quicksheets.pdf and consider ways that your objectives might include a focus on digital tools.