http://web.bsu.edu/IRAA/AA/WB/chapter2.htm

Types of Learning Outcomes to Consider

Gronlund (1981) provided the following list of types of outcomes. The list delineates many of the major areas in which instructional objectives might be produced. The specific categories were intended to be suggestive, not exclusive.

Knowledge

terminology
specific facts
concepts and principles
methods and procedures
Understanding

concepts and principles
methods and procedures
written material, graphs, maps, and numerical data
problem situations
Application

factual information
concepts and principles
methods and procedures
problem-solving skills
Thinking skills

critical thinking
scientific thinking
General skills

laboratory skills
performance skills
communications skills
computational skills
social skills
Attitudes

social attitudes
scientific attitudes
Interests

personal interests
educational interests
vocational interests
Appreciation

literature, art, and music
social and scientific achievements
Adjustments

social adjustments
emotional adjustments

Definitions

Goals and objectives are similar in that they serve to direct teaching and learning. They describe the intended purposes and expected results of teaching activities and establish the foundation for assessment.

Goals are statements about general aims or purposes of education that are broad, long-range intended outcomes. Goals are used primarily in policy making and general program planning.

Objectives are brief, clear statements that describe the desired learning outcomes of instruction. Attention is focused on the specific types of performances that students are expected to demonstrate at the end of instruction.

Questions and Answers

Q) What are the differences between goals and objectives?

A) Because the two terms are often used interchangeably, confusion sometimes arises. Although both goals and objectives use the language of outcomes, the characteristic that distinguishes goals from objectives is the level of specificity. Goals express intended outcomes in general terms and objectives express them in specific terms. Goals are written in broad, global, and sometimes vague, language. Objectives are statements that describe the intended results of instruction in terms of specific student behaviors.

Q) What are the differences between objectives and outcomes?

A) Objectives are intended results or consequences of instruction, curricula, programs, or activities. Outcomes are achieved results or consequences of what was learned–evidence that some learning took place. Objectives specify what is expected and describe what should be assessed; outcomes are behaviors and products generated by students after instruction and are the objects of assessment.

Q) What is the relationship between objectives and assessment?

A) Erwin (1991) states it well, "One must know what is to be assessed before one knows how to assess it" (p. 35). A statement of objectives should, in the best of all possible worlds, precede assessment. Stated in a stronger way, objectives should drive the assessment methods and instruments and not the other way around.

Q) Before assessment, what is needed?

A) Objectives are needed before appropriate assessment tools and procedures can be selected or designed. At a minimum, objectives should describe student behaviors and products that faculty would accept as evidence that the learning outcomes were achieved. Goal statements are helpful, but are sometimes too general, broad, or vague for developing specific assessment tools. Information about how objectives are linked to goals is useful when reporting and using assessment results.

Q) Are there different types of objectives?

A) Yes, objectives may be classified as cognitive, affective, or skill/performance dimensions. Cognitive objectives are descriptions of thinking skills. Affective objectives refer to attitudinal, personal, and social dimensions of outcomes. Skill objectives such as writing, computer use, speaking, and physical skills are distinctive from cognitive (knowledge) objectives. Skills are the means by which knowledge is acquired. Subject matter objectives are a subset of cognitive objectives that are specific to knowledge of subject matter.

Q) Are there different styles of objectives?

A) Yes, objectives can be classified and written in various styles. The material in this workbook is written with an orientation toward behavioral objectives. However, other styles of objectives are preferred and emphasized within some disciplines. For example, expressive objectives (Eisner, 1985) are commonly used in the visual arts. In contrast to behavioral objectives which are prescriptive, expressive objectives are evocative. Expressive objectives describe educational encounters and are expected to result in diverse student responses.

Q) Are objectives readily available in the department?

A) Often they are. However, they may need to be put into written form, revised, or updated. Many instructional decisions are made informally and then communicated orally. Because teaching has dynamic qualities, written objectives may not be available or may need to be updated. Further, as faculty are generally actively engaged in revising their materials and practices, there may be a tendency to write objectives that describe instructional activities rather than student outcomes.

Exercise 1

Getting Started

Before writing or revising departmental goals/objectives,you might try a few of the following.

Have some open discussion sessions on one of the following topics or something similar.
Describe the ideal student in your program at various phases throughout your program. Be concrete and focus on those strengths, skills, and values that you feel are the result of, or at least supported and nurtured by, the program experience. Then ask:
What does this student know?
What can this student do?
What does this student care about?
List and briefly describe the program experiences that contribute most to the development of the ideal student.
List the achievements you implicitly expect of graduates in each major field?
Describe your alumni in terms of such achievements as career accomplishments, lifestyles, citizenship activities, and aesthetic and intellectual involvement?
Collect and review instructional materials. Try sorting materials into 3 broad categories: recognition/recall, comprehension/simple application, critical thinking/problem-solving. Use any of the following:
syllabi and course outlines
course assignments and tests
textbooks (especially the tables of contents, introductions, and summaries)
Collect and review documents that describe your department and its programs:
brochures and catalogue descriptions
accreditation reports
curriculum committee reports
mission statements
Review and react to goals and objectives from another unit that is similar but external (ex. another department or college in the Mid-American Conference). Try grouping the statements into broad categories of student outcomes (i.e., knowledge, attitudinal, behavioral).
Use the 25 percent problem to refine or reduce a set of goal statements. Imagine that you want to reduce program or course material by 25 percent. What goals would you keep and which would you discard?
Administer a goals inventory or conduct an interview study. Involve a variety of groups (or "stakeholders") when possible.
Use a Delphi technique or a modification. This involves administering a series of related questionnaires in which information from the initial form is provided so that respondents can use it to revise their responses on subsequent forms. The objective is to develop consensus before writing goals or objectives.
Mastery versus Developmental Objectives

Objectives written for mastery of simple knowledge and skills and those written for advanced or higher levels of learning are very distinctive.
What is unique to each type is explained below.

Mastery objectives are typically concerned with the minimum performance essentials–those learning tasks that must be mastered by all students for success at the next level of instruction. These objectives tend to be limited enough in scope that all, or nearly all, intended outcomes can be specified.

Examples

Solve quadratic equations.

Identify symbols used on weather maps.

Identify parts of the microscope.

Developmental objectives are concerned with more complex learning outcomes–those learning tasks toward which students can be expected to show varying degrees of progress. Developmental objectives are often written in a two-step process in which a general objective is stated along with a sample of specific learning outcomes.

Example

Understand basic scientific principles.

State the principle in his/her own words.
Give an example of the principle.
Distinguish between correct and incorrect applications of the principle.
Identify predictions that are in harmony with the principle.
Components of Objectives

The essential and optional components of objectives are described below. The essential elements are listed first. After a component is defined, the phrase that illustrates it will be extracted from the following objective.

After analyzing and interpreting information from public opinion polls, the graduating journalism major will be able to communicate the results to at least three different groups in written, oral, and graphic forms.
Essential components

Behavior: specify actions or behaviors that follow instruction and could serve as evidence that the objective has been achieved; use active verbs that describe observable behavior

example: communicate results

Object: identify the focus of learning–content, concept(s), skill, or attitude

example: public opinion polls

Optional components

Target groups: specify subgroups when objective applies differentially

example: graduating journalism major

Conditions: give information about situations in which the student will be required to demonstrate the behavior–how, when, or where

example: after analyzing and interpreting information

Performance Criteria: state any minimum level of performance

example: in written, oral, and graphic forms

Performance Stability: give information about how often the student behavior must be observed to be a true indication that the behavior is a stable part of the student's achievement repertoire

example: at least three different groups

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Checklist for Evaluating Written Objectives:

The Objective. . .

uses action verbs that specify definite, observable behaviors.
uses simple language.
describes student rather than teacher behaviors.
describes a learning outcome rather than a learning process.
focuses on end-of-instruction behavior rather than subject matter coverage.
indicates a single outcome per objective.
can be assessed by one or more indicators (methods).
is clearly linked to a goal.
is realistic and attainable.
is not simple when complexity is needed.
is clear to people outside the discipline.
is validated by departmental colleagues.