Writing Learning Objectives

Writing a clear and effective learning objective is crucial for guiding the design of your course content ensuring learners understand what they will achieve.

Here's some tips on how to write a learning objective:

1. Identify the Audience: Understand who your learners are and what their current level of knowledge or skill is. This will help you tailor the objective to their needs.
2. Choose an Action Verb: Select a verb that describes the action the learner will perform. This verb should be observable and specific, indicating what the learner will do to demonstrate their understanding or skill.
3. Define the Content or Skill: Clearly state what the learner will be able to do or understand after completing the learning experience. This should be focused and specific.
4. Add Conditions (if necessary): Specify any conditions or constraints under which the learner will perform the action. This helps provide context and clarify the scope of the objective.
5. Include Criteria: Describe how the learner's performance will be measured or evaluated. This makes the objective measurable and provides a clear standard for success.
6. Set a Timeframe: Indicate when the learner should achieve the objective. This adds a time-bound element to the objective.
7. Ensure Alignment: Make sure the learning objective aligns with the overall goals of the course or curriculum. It should contribute to the broader learning outcomes.
8. Check SMART Criteria: Review the learning objective to ensure it meets the SMART criteria:
• Specific: Is the objective clear and focused on a particular skill or knowledge area?
• Measurable: Can the learner's performance be objectively assessed?
• Achievable: Is the objective realistically attainable by the target audience?
• Relevant: Does the objective align with the larger goals of the learning experience?
• Time-bound: Is there a specified timeframe for achieving the objective?
9. Example: Here's an example of a well-constructed learning objective following these steps: "By the end of this module, the learner will be able to solve quadratic equations using the quadratic formula, demonstrating their understanding by correctly solving at least 80% of provided practice problems within 30 minutes."

Remember, learning objectives should be concise and to the point, helping learners understand exactly what they will gain from the learning experience.