An
Instructional objective states what the student will demonstrate at the end of instruction. Each objective is singular,
focusing on one specific goal that you want the students to attain. It is a clear and unambiguous description of the
educational expectations.
The objectives serve as the foundation for learning and establish the focus for teaching by providing an instructional
framework. They facilitate assessment by clearly defining expectations in behavioral, observable, and measurable terms.
When communicated to the students, they establish your expectations. Therefore, they need to be meaningful and realistic
in terms of desired outcomes.
Good objectives are student centered and target specific
precise behaviors. They are derived from the overall goals for the learner, but are more explicit in terms of behavior.
It may be necessary to use task analysis to identify the exact desired student behaviors to include in your objectives.
An instructional objective contains three parts:
- Conditions
of Performance
- Outcome Competencies
- Criteria
for Assessment
The conditions of performance describe the circumstances applicable
to student performance. They describe the specific stipulations that are applied to the assessment procedures.
For example, it could describe what the student will or will not be allowed to use when being assessed for mastery of the
objective. The statement of conditions may start with a phrase such as “Given…the student will,”
“Without…the student will,” ”The student will independently…,” “In a group of
three students he/she will…,” or “In an oral presentation the student will…” Each of
these specifies the circumstances directly related to the assessment procedure.
The outcome competencies state what the student will be able to do after instruction. These performance statements
need to be specific observable, measurable behaviors. Examples would include phrases such as “…to be able
to list, …to describe, …to categorize, …to define, …draw, …explain, …discuss, …create,
…calculate, …compare, …label,” and “to be able to add….” Phrases such
as “…to know…, …to demonstrate an understanding of…,” and “…to learn…”
are not measurable or observable, and should not be used to describe outcome competencies.
The criteria for assessment state the standards of performance pertaining to the speed, accuracy and quality of achievement.
These criteria can be easily transferred to an assessment rubric that defines the degree of skill required for mastery.
Phrases such as “…8 out of 10…, …containing all components discussed in class…,”
and “…with 90% accuracy…” are examples of such standards of performance.
Examples of behavioral objectives that meet these specifications:
- Given a list of 10 words, the student will be able to underline all the words that are verbs in 4 out of 5 trials.
- Without the aid of an atlas or other visualization references, the student will be able to complete an outline map of
Pennsylvania, including the major cities and rivers introduced in class with 90% accuracy.
- Given a list of all first grade level Dolch sight words, the student will say the sight words without spending more than
10 seconds on each word with no more than 5 errors.
- After reading a short story about ways to recycle paper, the student will be able to accurately list 3 of the 5 ways to
reuse or reprocess paper products, as cited in the story.
- In an oral presentation the student will paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" address, mentioning
at least 3 of the 5 major points discussed in class.
It is important to remember
that instructional objectives can be written to encompass the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. The teacher
should also consider writing objectives that include the different levels of thinking stated in Bloom’s Taxonomy (knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) to stimulate higher level thought processes.
