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Formulating Objectives​

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"Writing an effective thesis" is an example of an effective objective

How do I start formulating my objectives?

When formulating objectives, educators use Bloom’s Taxonomy as the standard.  Bloom’s Taxonomy is, as the name implies, a classification of learning objectives  that includes six domains of learning outcomes:

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  • knowledge

  • comprehension

  • application

  • analysis

  • synthesis

  • evaluation

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When formulating your own objectives, you will want to account for your course-level, subject-matter, skills, and students.  An effective objective will:

Step 1: explain the behavior students should perform on completion of the lecture; Step 2: describe the specific performance students will complete; Step 3: determine standards student smust perform to successfully complete this behavior

What does an effective objective look like?

An effective objective will consist of two parts: 

Recognize the qualities of an effective topic sentence is an effective objective. The action verb recognize captures the expected student behavior. The qualities of an effective topic sentence is an explanation of performance and standards.

To help you create an effective objective, consider how the action verb you choose connects to the domains outlined in Bloom's Taxonomy:

The knowledge domain aligns with the verbs define, describe, identify, recognize, and state.
The comprehension domain aligns with the verbs classify, defend, explain, illustrate, and summarize.
The application domain aligns with the verbs construct, demonstrate, organize, solve, and use
The analysis domain aligns with the verbs compare, contrast, distinguish, infer, and prioritize
The synthesis domain aligns with the verbs compose, construct, create, hypothesize, and invent
The evaluation domain aligns with the verbs appraise, criticize, judge, recommend, and support

What are the qualities of effective objectives?

In addition to some of the best practices already discussed, you should also keep in mind that effective objectives have the following qualities in common:

Objectives should be measurable

By using the an action verb, you will ground your objective in concrete behaviors.  These behaviors can then be assessed according to the performance and standards you have created.  Objectives with vague words like “know,” “have,” or “understand” are difficult (if not impossible) to measure.

Objectives should be student-centered

Learning objectives are “student-facing,” which means you should make sure that they are written in a way that students can read and understand them.  Stay away from jargon and overly complex sentences.  Instead, think about objectives like instructions for students on what you want them to learn and how you want them to learn it.

Objectives should be specific

You should be specific with what (the behavior) you want to the student to accomplish, what they can do (the performance) to complete this behavior, and the level of mastery (standard) you are expecting.  Being specific here helps to avoid students guessing at what to do and how to do it.

Objectives should be focused

You will want to keep an objective narrowed to a specific skill or subject that you want them to work with.  Avoid compounded objectives by adding multiple action verbs, skills, or subjects.  Focused objectives help students to be clear about your expectations and help you when you’re assessing their performance.

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