Four ways in which Behavioural Objectives are of Importance to the Teaching and Learning situation
INTRODUCTION
All professionals start their important tasks by defining clearly their objectives and determining the procedures they will follow to reach the end desire. All the more, teachers who take their profession as the solemn vow to mold the young minds are expected to be knowledgeable in identifying the objectives their students are expected to accomplish and deciding on the step-by-step procedure that they will follow to achieve intended learning goals.
Behavioral objectives articulate the specific behaviors that learners are supposed to exhibit in the field after completing a training program. To perform a desired behavior, a learner might need to absorb and master numerous individual pieces of knowledge and multiple skills. So, while a single behavioral objective might have only one or two learning objectives, a behavioral objective may often have many discreet learning objectives embedded within it. Another way to look at it is this: Behavioral objectives can focus at the “macro” level while learning objectives focus at the “micro” level.
- What are behavioural objectives?
Behavioural objectives are statement that indicates a purpose, aim or goals set for any undertaking. In teaching, it identifies the purpose of the teacher plans to pursue. Educational or instructional objective. Provides guidance in organizing suitable learning situations and in choosing appropriate assessment methods to find out if said objectives have been attained. The three domains of objectives: Cognitive domain, Affective domain and Psychomotor.
Behavioral objectives are statements that describe what learners are doing while they are learning. An educational behavioral objective is a clear and unambiguous description of planned educational expectation(s) for the learner that specifies what behavior a student must perform or demonstrate in order for a teacher to infer that learning took place. Teachers need to describe the desired behaviors to avoid misinterpretation by students and colleagues.
A properly worded objective lets students know what is expected of them. Equally important, it allows the instructor the ability to measure the effectiveness of their work. Without behavioral objectives, it is difficult to determine exactly what the outcomes of a particular learning experience is supposed to achieve.
An objective is a description of a performance you want learners to be able to exhibit before you consider them competent. An objective describes an intended result of instruction, rather than the process of instruction itself. Properly constructed education objectives represent relatively specific statements about what students should be able to do following instruction.
Characteristics of effective Behavioural Objectives
(1) Describe a learning outcome
(2) Be student oriented
(3) Be observable
(4) Appropriate for learners’ stages of development
Four ways in which behavioural objectives are of importance to the teaching and learning situation
Behavioural Objectives are important because they help in the teaching/learning situation to facilitate the following:
1. Identification of what the students are expected to:
Know, Knowledge, Facts, Information
Develop, Skills, Science process
Inculcate, Values, Attitudes, Habits
2. Basis for:
Planning
Organizing
3. Choice of appropriate:
Instructional materials
Equipment
Sample tools
4. Decision on appropriate assessment techniques.
CONCLUSION
A behavioral objective is also a one-sentence statement that describes learning in terms of a behavior. As a result of your teaching, what will students be able to do at the end of the lesson? Put your initial purpose statement into the form of a specific behavior you would like to see. You should be able to answer yes/no in terms of if the objective was accomplished. Because it is common to come back and tweak this after you have designed the rest of the lesson, it is recommended that a very flexible behavioral objective be used initially.
REFERENCES
Alberto, P.A. and Troutman, A.C. (1999). Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers. New Jersey: Merrill.
Gronlund, N. E. (2004). Writing instructional objectives for teaching and assessment(7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Tyler, Ralph (1949). Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
