| Scheme to fulfill Step [1]: |
| |
Write a statement describing one of your
educational intents and then modify it until it answers the
question: “What is the learner doing when he/she
is demonstrating that he/she has achieved the objective?” |
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| A useful objective identifies the kind of
performance that will be accepted as evidence that the
learner has achieved the objective. An objective always
states what a learner is expected to be able to do and/or
produce to be considered competent. Two examples: |
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Be able to ride a unicycle. => the
performance stated is ride |
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Be able to write a letter. => the
performance stated is writing, the product is a letter |
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| Performances may be visible, like writing, repairing,
or painting; or invisible, like adding, solving, or identifying. If
a statement does not include a visible performance, it isn’t
yet an objective. |
| |
| |
Overt (visible) performance
To identify the kind of performance associated with the objective, you need to
answer the question: What will the learner be DOING when
demonstrating achievement of the objective? |
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Example: |
|
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Given all available engineering data regarding
a proposed product, be able to write a product profile. The
profile must describe and define all of the commercial characteristics
of the product appropriate to its introduction to the market,
including descriptions of at least three major product uses. |
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|
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=> performance = “write a product
profile” |
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Covert (invisible) performance
Some performances are not visible to the naked eye, such as solving, discriminating,
and identifying. |
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Statements such as |
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|
Be able to solve …
Be able to discriminate …
Be able to identify … |
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are inadequate because they don’t
describe a visible performance. Whenever
the main intent of the objective is covert, you need to add
an indicator behavior to reveal how the covert performance
can be directly detected. An indicator
behavior is one that tells you whether a covert performance
is happening to your satisfaction. |
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Example: |
|
|
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Consider the covert performance ‘Be
able to discriminate counterfeit money’. An
indicator behavior would be for this performance could be
to ‘sort the money into two piles’,
counterfeit and genuine. Thus, a suitable objective
could be “Be able to discriminate (sort) counterfeit
money.” |
|
Stated in behavioral terms |
Stated
in performance terms |
| “To develop an appreciation
for music” |
“The learner correctly
answers 95 multiple-choice questions on the history of
music” |
“To be able to solve
quadratic equations”
|
|
| “To be able to repair
a radio” |
“To be able to write
a summary of the factors leading to the depression of 1929” |
“To know how an amplifier
works” |
|
| “To know the rules
of football” |
|
