Mager describes three important issues to consider when writing objectives:

1. They should be related to intended outcomes, rather than the process for achieving those outcomes.
2. They should be specific and measurable, rather than broad and intangible.
3. They should be concerned with students, not teachers.

Let's take a closer look at each of these points.

Outcomes vs. Process

Teaching and lecturing is part of the process of instruction, but it isn't the purpose of the instruction. The purpose is to facilitate learning. When writing objectives, make sure you are describing the intended results, and not the process. The following are descriptions of the process, rather than of the intended results:

• To provide a lecture on renaissance painters.
• Be able to read in front of the class.
• This course provides practice and feedback.
• Develop confidence.

Specific vs. General

If your objectives are not specific enough, then they are pretty much useless for their intended purpose. They need to be specific so that they will help you to make sound instructional decisions later in the ID process. Here are some fuzzy statements:

• Understand energy.
• Know the president.
• Be able to think clearly.

Here are some statements that are clearer:

• Tie a shoe.
• Assemble a bicycle.
• Shake hands when greeting customers.

With the specific statements you would easily be able to determine if someone has met the objective.

Measurable vs. Unmeasurable

Measurable objectives describe tangible outcomes that can be observed. The statement above that states "tie a shoe" is measurable because we can watch someone tie a shoe and determine if they have met the objective. The statement "understand energy" is not measurable. How would we know if someone understood the concept of energy? This would need to be broken down into much more specific, observable behaviors.

Students vs. Instructors

The last point is that instructional objectives should describe the student's performance rather than the instructor's performance. Here are some that relate to the instructor's performance:

• Lecture on the Theory of Relativity.
• Teach the importance of washing one's hands.
• Arrange instructional activities.

Here are some that relate to the student's performance. These examples relate to specific, measurable student outcomes:

• Be able to write a resume.
• State three causes of the Civil War.
• Add two digit numbers together.

Now that we've discussed each of the three points, here's an example of an objective that violates all three of them:

• Students will be taught about the causes of the Civil War.

This objective is not related to outcomes, it is too broad, and is concerned with the teaching process instead of the learning process.

One of the biggest problems with poorly written objectives is the choice of words used to indicate the type of performance expected. In then poor example given earlier (The students will know how to tell time), "will know how to tell time" is not a clear enough statement of what the learners will actually be doing. There are many slippery words that are open to a wide range of interpretation when writing objectives. It is important not to use broad or vague terms when trying to convey a specific instructional intent, or you leave yourself open to misinterpretation. The following chart lists some of the most common unclear words used in goals and objectives, as well as more specific, better alternatives.

When looking over your objectives, ask yourself if you could observe someone doing the behavior. It's hard to observe someone knowing or understanding. If any of your objectives contain these vague words, rewrite them to include verbs that actually describe the intended behavior. What you want to do is state how learners are going to demonstrate that they know or understand the skills. Try using words from the list on the right.

To help you in writing your own objectives, here is a chart listing the categories of learning along with some of the more common verbs used when writing objectives for that category:

The following represent some poorly written objectives taken from a number of commercially produced instructional materials:

• The students will demonstrate a knowledge of the principles of magnetism.
• The students will be able to recognize that the practical application of democratic ideals requires time, adjustment, and continuous effort.
• The students will understand the use of commas.
• The students will recognize an autobiography.
• Employees will demonstrate positive habits of the mind.

Another common problem with objectives is the use of superfluous wording that often makes the actual performance fuzzy. For example, using "Students will learn how to..." tends to emphasize the teaching rather than the learning (permanent change in behavior). Yet another common problem with poorly worded objectives is the description of instruction as part of the condition. These objectives might state, "After viewing a filmstrip..." or "Given a math worksheet..." and then indicate that students will be given some type of instruction. Things like instructional procedures, descriptions of the target audience, or format requirements are not useful and should be left out of objectives. For example, look at the following statement:

• Following two lectures on the Civil War, ...

This statement does not serve a useful purpose, and is limiting. An instructor might be able to accomplish the same thing in one lecture, or some students may not need any lecture to achieve the goal. The objective should only be concerned with student outcomes. Here are some more poor examples, this time with improved versions:

Bad: The student will demonstrate metric measurement of length.
Better: Given a metric ruler, the students will measure the length of common linear objects to the nearest millimeter.

Bad: The students will solve addition problems with 80% accuracy.
Better: The student will correctly solve at least 8 out of 10 addition problems that require borrowing.
Best: Given two numbers not written in equation form, the students will place the numbers in equation form and add them together (some will require borrowing).

After generating a list of objectives, you will be ready to move to subsequent stages of the instructional design process, including the creation of assessment items and the development of instructional activities. It is important to begin with determining the objectives, and then decide on the most effective activities, NOT the other way around. Too often teachers decide that they have a really neat activity they want to do and have little idea of what objectives that activity will meet. It may be that the activity meets no relevant objectives, in which case the difficult decision may have to be made to eliminate the activity. This is not entirely bad, though, because it opens up the possibility of new, more relevant activities being created that do address the objectives.

In summary, to prepare a useful, well-written objective, make sure these questions are answered:

1. What do I want students to be able to do?
2. What are the important conditions or constraints under which I want them to perform?
3. How well must students perform for me to be satisfied?