A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING LEARNER BASED INSTRUCTION

Educational Goals and Objectives

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.

The use of the terms “goals” and “objectives” can be confusing!

Let’s clarify the differences.

Educational Objectives are also called:

Learning Objectives

Outcomes

Terminal Objectives

Enabling Objectives

Performance Objectives

Aims

Competencies

Instructional Objectives

Behavioral Objectives

GOALSGOALS OBJECTIVESOBJECTIVES

Broad statements

General intentions

Intangible

Abstract

Generally hard to measure

Specific

Precise

Tangible

Concrete

Measureable

The Difference Between Goals and Objectives

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

Every educational activity should have a goal

The goal focuses on what the learner will experience, rather than what the instructor will share or do

It is a broad statement of purpose

The purpose of this article is to provide health care professionals with new information on MRSA screening.

In general terms what is the overall purpose of the educational activity?

What is the main intention?

Example:

Clearly written objectives help to define the outcome of the activity.

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 presentation!

ALWAYS BEGIN WITH THE END RESULT IN MIND!

THE ABCD APPROACH

The Components of an Educational Objective

A=Audience (the learners, readers or participants, not the instructor)

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…

B=BEHAVIOR

(what the participants will do)

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

Hands on Workshop

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!

Cognitive Domain

Dealing with intellectual abilities

Approximately 80% of educational objectives fall into this domain

Most familiar to both instructors, authors and learners

“Head” objectives

Affective 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

Psychomotor 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

“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

C= Condition

(imposed by the instructor)

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”

“while working independently”

D=Degree

What is “Good Enough”?

The standard or criterion for judging the behavioral performance.

What has to happen for the learner to succeed?

It might be:

Speed

Accuracy

Quality

Quantity

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 onthe revised version of Bloom’swork.

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

Recall of information

Action Verbs

match remember

list memorize

define recognize

arrange relate

label recall

name repeat

order reproduce

Level Two Cognitive Domain

UNDERSTANDING

Interpret information in one’s own words

Action Verbs

classify describe

discuss explain

express identify

indicate locate

recognize report

restate review

select sort

tell translate

Level Three Cognitive Domain

APPLYING

Use knowledge or generalization in a new situation

Action Verbs

demonstratedramatizeapply chooseemploy illustrateinterpret operateprepare practiceschedule sketchsolve use

Level Four Cognitive Domain

ANALYSING

Break down knowledge into parts and show relationships among parts

Action Verbs

discriminatedifferentiateanalyze appraisecalculate categorizecompare contrastcriticize diagramdistinguish examineinventory questionexperiment test

Level Five Cognitive Domain

EVALUATING

Making judgments based on criteria and

standards

Action Verbs

appraise argue

assess attack

choose compare

defend estimate

evaluate judge

predict rate

score select

support value

Level Six Cognitive Domain

CREATING

Bring together parts of knowledge to form a

whole and build relationships for new

situations

Action Verbs

arrange assemble

collect compose

construct create

design formulate

manage organize

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

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

Adults want reference materials and “quick guides” to take away from a learning experience and use in their daily work life

Summary

Educational goals are general statements of intent and purpose

Every educational activity should have a goal

Educational objectives are specific, measureable and precise

The cognitive domain is most frequently used in developing educational objectives

The ABCD method of writing educational objectives helps to assure that all the critical components are included

Adult learners select educational activities to solve problems

Adult learners prefer to have interactive, real life scenarios, role play and references

Congratulations! Good luck and thank you for completing this presentation!

For more information:

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