The Form of Objectives

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A variety of terms such as "goals", "objectives, "learning outcomes", and "expectations" are used to refer to what it is that we intend children learn from their experiences in school.

Ralph Tyler identified four questions that must be answered in developing any plan of instruction. The first question sets the stage for a discussion of objectives.

  1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
  2. What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes?
  3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
  4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?

Along with other educational writers in North America, Tyler argued that educational purposes should be stated as "objectives." He explained:

"The most useful form for stating objectives is to express them in terms which identify both the kind of behaviour to be developed in the student and the content or area of life in which this behaviour is to operate. If you consider a number of statements of objectives that seem to be clear and to provide guidance in the development of instructional programs, you will note that each of these statements really includes both the behaviour and the content aspects of the objective.

Thus, the objective, "To write clear and well-organized reports of social studies projects," includes both an indication of the kind of behaviour -- namely, writing clear and well-organized reports -- and also indicates the areas of life with which the reports are to deal. Correspondingly, the objective, "Familiarity with dependable sources of information on questions relating to nutrition," includes both an indication of the sort of behaviour, namely familiarity with dependable sources, and the content, namely, those sources that deal with problems of nutrition. As a third illustration of the way in which a clear objective includes both the behavioural and the content aspects, consider the objective, "To develop an appreciation of the modern novel." To develop appreciation implies a kind of behaviour -- although for many instructors it is necessary that this type of behaviour be defined somewhat more clearly than is frequently done -- and the mention of the modern novel indicates the content to which the appreciation is to be applied. It can safely be concluded that a statement of objectives clear enough to be used in guiding the selection of learning experiences and in planning instruction will indicate both the kind of behaviour to be developed in the student and the area of content or of life in which the behaviour is to be applied."

R.W. Tyler
Basic Principles of  Curriculum and Instruction
University of Chicago Press, 1949.

The Form of Objectives

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