S.M.A.R.T Objectives
Presented by Ziyad Kassem Halat
My message
I believe it’s an excellent idea to prepare the
teachers to set positive goals. Schools should
introduce concepts like SMART goals as a way
of gradually building teachers’ capacity to
tackle the increasing challenges they are
facing.
Defining
“Learning
Objective”
• A learning objective is a description of what the
learner must be able to do upon completion of an
educational activity. A well-written learning objective
outlines the knowledge, skills and/or attitude the
learners will gain from the educational activity and
does so in a measurable way.
• An effective learning objective should include the
following 5 elements: who, will do, how much or how
well, of what, by when. The mnemonic SMART—
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timebound—can be used to describe the elements of a
well-written learning objective.
Practical tips for writing effective learning
objectives
• Since the point of a learning objective is to describe the intended outcome for learning,
begin the learning objective with: “Upon completion of this educational activity, learners
should be able to . . . .” The next step is to identify the concepts the learners need to
learn and how they will demonstrate their understanding. It is recommended that the
teacher choose one action verb that is measurable and observable. Verbs such
as understand, know, learn, appreciate, believe, be familiar with, comprehend, and so on,
are not observable or measurable and should be avoided. Each learning objective must
be separate; two actions (such as diagnosis and management) must not be combined. It is
also important that the action verb identify the level and cognitive domain at which the
learner is expected to perform. Bloom's Taxonomy connects the depth of learning with
action verbs that may be used when writing learning objectives.
Effective
Lesson
Planning
begins with
S.M.A.R.T
objectives
Lesson objectives should be specific, measurable,
achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
First, it should be specific. It answers the questions
“what is to be done?”, “How will you know it is
done” and "describes the result of the work to be
done.”
Second, it should be measurable. It answers the
questions “how will you know it meets the
expectation”.
Effective lesson
planning
begins with
S.M.A.R.T
objectives
Third, it should be achievable. It answers the
questions “can the student do it?”
Fourth, it should be relevant. It answers the
questions “should it be done” and “why?”
And lastly, lesson objectives should have a
time-bound. It answers the questions “when
will it be done”.
Developing a
SMART Goal
Specific: Use clear, direct language to tell the
learner exactly what he or she should learn and
what he should be able to do after the training.
Don't be vague, unclear, or misleading.
Measurable: The point of setting a learning
objective is to determine if the learner can meet,
perform, or satisfy it. And you can only do that if
the objective is something that you can measure.
A common mistake of using words like "know" or
"understand," which are not actions that can be
objectively observed
Developing a
SMART Goal
Achievable: Your learning objective must be something
your learners have a chance of completing/satisfying.
They must have enough pre-existing knowledge, time,
and similar resources.
Relevant: The objective should be something the
learner sees the value in learning.
Timely: A learning objective should include a specific
date (or point in the course) by which it will be
completed. It is important to allow enough time to
successfully implement the steps needed to achieve the
objective, but not so much as to elicit procrastination
Frame Goals
As SMART
Goals
Learning how to frame goals as SMART goals
and being willing to adjust them to get
SMARTer is an important skill that can help
every teacher get off to a better start and
have a better school year, this year and into
the future.
Do Learning
Objectives Add
Value to
Curriculum
and
Assessment?
• For many, writing out the learning objectives
appears to be an effort to its own end.
However, learning objectives are the
foundation
for
instructional
alignment. Instructional alignment means
that learning objectives, assessment tools,
and instructional methods mutually support
the same educational outcome. This is
known as the Golden Triangle