Educational Goals and

Objectives

A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING LEARNER BASED

INSTRUCTION
Educational Objectives for this Presentation

At the end of this presentation you will be able to:

‰ Compare and contrast educational goals vs. educational

objectives

‰ Write an educational objective using the ABCD model

‰ Develop educational objectives that focus on the learner

or participant as the intended audience

‰ List three adult learning preferences

 A Brief History of Educational Goals

The development of
educational goals and
objectives began in WWII
as a way of conceptualizing
instruction and training
programs in the military.

Educational psychologists
and educators jumped on
the concept!
1956

Benjamin Bloom and his

colleagues published a
taxonomy of learner
behaviors which was taken
into the public schools and
eventually adopted in the
health profession schools .
It has influenced
curriculum development
and driven the movement
towards competency based
instruction for health
professionals.

Bloom. B. and Krathwolh,D. (1956)

Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives:The Classification of
Educational Goals , New
York,Longmans
Today-
Educational goals and
objectives are widely
used and required for
the development of
continuing professional
education activities that
award continuing
education credit.

Bloom’s original work

has been revised and
updated.
Educational Objectives
are also called:

Learning Objectives

Outcomes

Terminal Objectives

Enabling Objectives

Performance Objectives

Aims

Competencies The use of the terms “goals” and

Instructional Objectives “objectives” can be confusing!
Behavioral Objectives
Let’s clarify the differences.
 The Difference Between Goals and Objectives

GOALS OBJECTIVES

y Broad statements y Specific

y General intentions y Precise

y Intangible y Tangible

y Abstract
y Concrete

y Generally hard to
measure y Measureable
Goal

The goal of a
learning
activity is like
a target
Objectives

The objectives
are the arrows
that help the
learner reach
the target and
demonstrate
mastery
 Can you identify the Goals?

A. State the definition of a complimentary medical

intervention or therapy.

B. Provide the health professional with the latest

information about over the counter (OTC) anti-
histamines and their side effects.

C. Introduce the reader to a new development in the early

detection of oral cancer.

D. Be exposed to a new way of organizing paperwork.

 Clue:

There is only one objective on the previous slide-

A.State the definition of a complimentary medical

intervention or therapy.

The rest are all broad based goals!

 Common Pitfalls in Writing Goals

‰ Focus on the instructor actions-not the learner

“Provide an overview of the latest site research.”

The purpose of this course is to provide the participant with print and web
references regarding site research”.

“Dispel common myths about hand washing.”

The goal of this course is to provide the health care professional with a
review of the history and origin of common myths about hand washing .

‰ Confusing a goal (broad) with an objective (specific)

“How to turn just ten minutes a day into a revenue stream.”

To clarify this example the author or presenter needs to decide what is the
overall goal-then what specific behaviors the learners need to do to
demonstrate mastery of the information or skill.
A few things to remember about goals

y Every educational
activity should have a
goal

y The goal focuses on what

the learner will
experience, rather than
what the instructor will
share or do

y It is a broad statement of
purpose
In general terms
what is the overall
purpose of the
educational
activity?
What is the main
intention?

The purpose of this article is to

Example: provide health care professionals
with new information on MRSA
screening.
Writing educational
goals and
objectives does not
have to be a
struggle.

Mastering the basic

components will help
you to zero in on what
you want the learners or
participants to gain from
the experience .

Goals and objectives

help to focus your Clearly written objectives help to
presentation!
define the outcome of the activity.
The Components of an
Educational Objective

ALWAYS BEGIN WITH THE END RESULT IN MIND!

THE ABCD APPROACH

Who is this activity
intended for? Be
specific!

At the end of the

webinar the participants
will be able to…..

At the conclusion of the

conference presentation
the attendees will be
able to…

A=Audience (the learners, readers

or participants, not the instructor)
What exactly is it that
you want the learner to
be able to do as a result
of your …

Journal article

Webinar

Self Study Module

Conference presentation
B=BEHAVIOR
Hands on Workshop
(what the participants will do)
 What type of behavior do you want?

Behaviors for educational objectives fall into three

categories, called domains
Think of them as three flavors of ice cream!
Dealing with intellectual
abilities

Approximately 80% of
educational objectives
fall into this domain

Most familiar to both

instructors, authors and
learners

“Head” objectives
Cognitive Domain
Relating to the
expression of feelings ,
including emotions,
fears, interests,
attitudes, beliefs, values
and appreciations

Often the most difficult

objectives to develop

Sometimes called
“heart” objectives

Affective Domain
Motor Skills

The easiest objectives to

write as the behavior is
easily observed and
monitored. Psychomotor
skills often involve the
use of tools or
instruments.

“ Hands On” courses will

contain psychomotor
objectives

Psychomotor Domain
“Hand” Objectives
All three domains are hierarchical

More complex and higher

level skills are at the top

Each level builds on itself

and assumes mastery at
the lower levels

Fundamentals are at the

earliest levels
States what conditions
the instructor will
impose when the
learners are
demonstrating mastery
of a skill.

Usually a WHEN or
WHILE statement

“when given a set of five

unlabeled slides”

“when given a list of

common over the
counter drugs”
C= Condition
“while working
independently”
(imposed by the instructor)
The standard or
criterion for judging the
behavioral performance.

What has to happen for

the learner to succeed?

It might be:

Speed

Accuracy

Quality
D=Degree
Quantity

What is “Good Enough”?

 Putting It All Together

Getting Started

First develop the overall

broad goal for your
educational activity.

o “The purpose of this

activity (lecture, article,
etc) is to……..
A=Audience
Next

o Define your AUDIENCE

o If possible, identify what

level they are..novice,
intermediate, advanced or
mixed?

Remember, the
audience is always the
learner, not the instructor
B=Behaviors the learners will demonstrate

• What does a participant

have to do to
demonstrate they have
mastered the material?

• Are those behaviors

cognitive, affective or
psychomotor?

• This will influence your

word choice.
 Cognitive Domain

Because educational objectives frequently target the cognitive

domain, examples of the levels and sample action verbs will be
helpful in developing your educational objectives.

These examples are based on

the revised version of Bloom’s
work.

Anderson, L.W. and Krathwohl(Eds.) 2001 A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: A Revision of
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.New York, Longman
 Level One Cognitive Domain

REMEMBERING Action Verbs

match remember
Recall of information list memorize
define recognize
arrange relate
label recall
name repeat
order reproduce
 Level Two Cognitive Domain

UNDERSTANDING Action Verbs

classify describe
discuss explain
Interpret information in express identify
one’s own words indicate locate
recognize report
restate review
select sort
tell translate
 Level Three Cognitive Domain

APPLYING Action Verbs

demonstrate
dramatize
Use knowledge or apply choose
generalization in a new employ illustrate
situation interpret operate
prepare practice
schedule sketch
solve use
 Level Four Cognitive Domain

ANALYSING Action Verbs

discriminate
differentiate
Break down knowledge analyze appraise
into parts and show calculate categorize
relationships among compare contrast
parts
criticize diagram
distinguish examine
inventory question
experiment test
 Level Five Cognitive Domain

EVALUATING Action Verbs

appraise argue
assess attack
Making judgments based choose compare
on criteria and defend estimate
standards evaluate judge
predict rate
score select
support value
 Level Six Cognitive Domain

CREATING Action Verbs

arrange assemble
Bring together parts of collect compose
knowledge to form a construct create
whole and build design formulate
relationships for new
manage organize
situations
plan prepare
propose set up
synthesize write
 C=Condition

The condition(s )imposed

on the learner

Examples:
“when given a list of 20 words”

“within one hour”

“independently”

“while working in a small group”

 D=Degree
The criterion for success!

Examples:

“select the correct one”

“with 80% accuracy”

“4 out of 5 times

“three”

How do you evaluate if the

learner “got it”?
 Examples of Objectives Using ABCD

“At the end of this webinar the participant will be

able to recall the three most common types of
personal protection in breaking the chain of
transmission for effective infection control.

Audience “the participant”

Behavior “recall” (Level One Cognitive)
Condition “the end of this webinar”
Degree “three”
 Example

“When given a list of 20 words, the learner will be able

to identify correctly all the cognitive action verbs”.

Audience “the learner”

Behavior “identify” (Level Two Cognitive)
Condition “when given a list of 20 words”
Degree “all” (100%)
 Common Pitfalls When Writing Objectives

‰ Not using measurable action verbs in the educational

objective

“to be knowledgeable out the rates of osteoporosis”

Know, learn, understand, be aware of, be exposed to are
too general to be effectively measured

‰ Not listing the degree required for mastery

“At the conclusion of this presentation the learner will be
able to list (how many) common side effects of low dose
aspirin therapy”.
 Thoughts on Adult Learning Preferences

‰ Adults seek information to

solve problems-more than
acquiring new knowledge

‰ Presenting solutions and

potential strategies for
solving problems
increases the probability
of success for your
educational activity
 Adult Learning Preferences

y Adults are engaged

when learning builds
on real life
experiences and prefer
case studies, role play,
simulations, hands on
components and
other interactive
methods
Adult Learning Preferences

y Adults want reference

materials and “quick
guides” to take away
from a learning
experience and use in
their daily work life
 Summary
y Educational goals are general
statements of intent and
purpose
y Every educational activity
should have a goal
y Educational objectives are
specific, measureable and
precise
y The cognitive domain is most
frequently used in developing
educational objectives
y The ABCD method of writing
educational objectives helps
to assure that all the critical
components are included
y Adult learners select
educational activities to solve
problems
y Adult learners prefer to have
interactive, real life scenarios,
role play and references
For more information:

Additional resources for

exploring the affective
and psychomotor
domains and key words
are easily found on the
web.

Congratulations! Good luck and

thank you for completing this
presentation!