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Workshop Scenario:

Please think of yourself in the following scenario as you complete this workshop.

You are recently hired by a company specializing in online learning platforms. As part of your onboarding process, you must take an introductory learning experience design course to familiarize yourself with the principles and practices of designing practical online courses. 

After completing the course, you are assigned to write a content development plan for an online cooking course promoting healthy eating habits. The course aims to teach participants, both teens, and adults, about nutritious ingredients, cooking techniques, and meal planning for a balanced diet. The course should follow the learning experience design steps.

In the last lesson, you explored how to design engaging learning experiences with the learner in mind. You also learned to adapt to different learning styles and preferences to help the learner achieve the desired goal.

This lesson teaches you how to create achievable and measurable learning objectives.

Your objective for today is:

After engaging with this lesson, learners will be able to demonstrate their understanding of learning objectives by creating their own well-crafted learning objectives using the components and principles covered in the lesson.

Important questions to consider while reading.

In order to be successful in this lesson, you must be able to answer this important question.

1. How does specifying the performance component of a learning objective contribute to its effectiveness? Why is it essential to describe observable and measurable behaviors?

4.1 Understanding the Components of Learning Objectives

A learning objective is a statement that describes a specific and measurable outcome that learners are expected to achieve after completing a learning activity or program. It serves as a clear and concise articulation of what learners can do, know, or demonstrate due to their learning experience.

Learning objectives are vital in instructional design as they guide content development, activities, and assessments. They provide a roadmap for educators and learners by outlining the intended learning outcomes and helping to align teaching strategies with desired results.

A well-crafted learning objective typically includes three key components:

1. Performance: It describes the observable action or behavior that learners should be able to demonstrate. This could involve applying knowledge, skills, or attitudes in a practical context.

2. Condition: It specifies the circumstances or context under which the performance is expected. This could be a simulated environment, a real-world scenario, or a specific task.

3. Criterion establishes the criteria or standards for achievement of the learning objective. This helps define the proficiency or mastery level that learners need to attain.

For example, a learning objective for a sales training program could be: "Upon completion of the program, learners will be able to deliver an effective sales pitch, including identifying customer needs, showcasing product benefits, and overcoming objections, with at least an 80% accuracy rate in a simulated sales scenario."

4.2 Writing Action Verbs for Learning Objectives

Here are some key points to consider when writing action verbs for learning objectives:

1. Be specific and precise: Choose action verbs describing the desired learner behavior. Avoid vague or general terms that can be interpreted differently by different individuals. The more specific and precise the action verb, the better the alignment between the objective and the intended outcome.

2. Use Bloom's Taxonomy: Bloom's Taxonomy is a widely recognized framework that classifies cognitive learning outcomes into different levels of complexity. It provides a helpful guide for selecting action verbs appropriate to the level of cognitive engagement you want learners to achieve. The taxonomy comprises six levels: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating. Each level suggests verbs corresponding to the cognitive processes associated with that level.

3. Consider the cognitive domain: Apart from Bloom's Taxonomy, consider the specific cognitive domain or skill set relevant to your learning objective. For example, if your objective relates to problem-solving skills, you might choose action verbs such as "analyze," "synthesize," or "evaluate" to reflect higher-order thinking.

4. Align with the desired outcome: Ensure the action verb accurately represents the behavior you want learners to demonstrate. It should align with the learning activities and assessments designed to measure the attainment of the objective. This alignment ensures coherence and consistency throughout the instructional process.

5. Use active voice: Action verbs in learning objectives are most effective when written in the active voice. Active voice conveys a sense of direct action and emphasizes the learner's responsibility. For example, instead of saying, "Students will be able to understand the concept," it is more effective to write, "Students will demonstrate their understanding of the concept."

6. Be measurable: Action verbs should facilitate the measurable learning objective assessment. Consider how you will evaluate or observe the learner's behavior and determine if they have met the objective. The action verb should enable you to assess and provide evidence of the learner's achievement.

Examples of action verbs at different levels of Bloom's Taxonomy:

1. Remembering: define, identify, list, recall, recite, state.

2. Understanding: explain, illustrate, summarize, classify, describe, and interpret.

3. Applying: demonstrate, use, solve, implement, apply, operate.

4. Analyzing: analyze, compare, differentiate, examine, infer, categorize.

5. Evaluating: assess, critique, evaluate, justify, rank, validate.

6. Creating: design, generate, compose, invent, produce, plan.

Remember, the choice of action verbs should align with the specific learning objective, subject matter, and desired level of learner achievement.

4.3 The ABCD Model

The ABCD model is a helpful framework for writing practical learning objectives. It stands for Audience, Behavior, Condition, and Degree. Applying the ABCD model helps ensure that learning objectives are specific, measurable, and aligned with the desired outcomes. Here's how you can use the ABCD model when writing learning objectives:

1. Audience:

   • Identify the specific audience or learners for whom the learning objective is intended. Consider their characteristics, such as age, prior knowledge, experience, and other relevant factors.

   • Tailor the learning objective to meet the needs and abilities of the target audience. The aim should be appropriate and challenging for the learners.

2. Behavior:

   • Specify the observable and measurable behavior that learners should be able to demonstrate after completing the learning experience.

   • Use action verbs to describe the specific skills, knowledge, or attitudes that learners should acquire or exhibit. Ensure that the chosen action verb is aligned with the desired behavior and the level of cognitive engagement you want learners to achieve.

   • Be specific and precise in describing the behavior to avoid ambiguity and provide a clear focus for both instruction and assessment.

3. Condition:

   • Determine specific conditions or contexts under which the desired behavior should be demonstrated. Consider if any limitations, resources, or tools must be specified to achieve the learning objective.

   • Conditions can include time constraints, available resources, collaboration, or other relevant environmental factors impacting the learning experience.

4. Degree:

   • Establish the criteria or standards that will be used to evaluate the attainment of the learning objective. Determine the level of proficiency or mastery expected from learners.

   • Specify how learners' performance will be assessed and what level of quality or achievement is considered satisfactory. This could be expressed through criteria such as accuracy, completeness, speed, or any other measurable indicators of success.

Example of applying the ABCD model to a learning objective:

Objective: Given programming requirements, students will develop a functional web application using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

ABCD breakdown:

• Audience: Students enrolled in an introductory web development course.

• Behavior: Develop a functional web application.

• Condition: Given a set of programming requirements.

• Degree: Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Applying the ABCD model makes the learning objective more specific and measurable, clearly focusing on instruction and assessment. It ensures that the aim is to tailored to the appropriate audience, describes the desired behavior, sets the necessary conditions, and defines the expected degree of proficiency or mastery.

Learning Checkpoint

Now it’s your turn to show us what you know. Your task is to write a clear, concise, and measurable learning objective for the online cooking class on healthy eating habits in the form below.

Discussion Question

1. Directions: Please answer the following question in the comment section below and interact with learners from around the world.

   • How does specifying the performance component of a learning objective contribute to its effectiveness? Why is it essential to describe observable and measurable behaviors?

2. Please read and reply to other learners’ answers in the forum by stating if you agree or disagree with their answers and why. Your replies should offer new substantiated ideas or thoughtful questions.