Writing Learning Objectives

Learning objectives are the specific measures used to determine the success of your course. What must the learner be able to do? Good objectives use action verbs and include specific conditions (how well or how many) that describes to what degree the learners will be able to demonstrate mastery of the task. You may want to think of what material you would put on a final test for your course and use that information to create your objectives. A well-written objective is observable and measurable.

Tips for Writing Objectives

Focus on student achievement
Do not focus on the instructor’s actions
Focus on the end product
Focus on the end behavior
Use only one outcome per objective

Parts of an Objective

An objective contains three parts:

Condition – Under what circumstances will the behavior occur?
Observable Behavior – Use an action verb to describe the behavior the learner will be able to exhibit
Criteria – To what degree will the learner be able to demonstrate mastery of the task?
Example: Given the textbook, students will analyze myths, identify characteristics of a folk tale, and define imagery, by reading "The World on the Turtle's Back" and responding to literary analysis questions with 85% accuracy or higher.

Action Verb Examples

The verb that you choose to use will depend on the level of mastery you want your learner to exhibit. For example, do you want your learner to be able to recall facts, or do you want your learner to be able to apply the information to perform a particular task or create something? The verbs below are examples of words that you may use for the observable behavior.
Bloom's Taxonomy of Measurable Verbs
Recall	Identify	Discuss	Describe	List
Diagnose	Compare	Interpret	Explain	Outline
Differentiate	Use	Solve	Distinguish	Categorize
Plan	Design	Create	Formulate	Analyze
Assess	Judge	Critique	Rank	Select

Words to Avoid

The following words should be avoided when writing learning objectives. Remember, if it is something that cannot be observed or measured, you cannot use it in a learning objective.

Know
Understand
Learn
Believe
Think

		Write Your Course Objectives Please write learning objectives for your course. If you have multiple versions of your content, please write specific objectives for each version.
Upon successful completion of this course, the learner will be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Course Outline

The purpose of creating an outline is for you to organize and list all of the topics and subtopics that will be covered in your course.

Begin with your objectives.
Think about what information the learner will need to be taught in order to accomplish each objective.
Then, organize the tasks in a logical order. You may order the tasks in chronological order, from easy to hard, in sequential order, etc.
As you create your outline, think about how you can break your course down into logical chunks of information.

If your course will be more than 30 minutes, consider chunking your course into smaller self-contained segments of no more than 10 – 15 minutes each.

Beyond 15 minutes of instruction, you may lose your learner’s interest. Therefore, we suggest that an individual module be no more than 30 minutes.

Objectives	Content (Topics)	Measurement
List all learner’s objectives in behavioral terms	Provide an outline of the content for each objective. It must be more than a restatement of the objective.	Describe how the objective will be measured.