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A Brief Guide to Writing Instructional Objectives
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music
Michael V. Smith, Ph.D.

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Syllabus and
Instructional Planning:
Why?
“Instructional planning is the process teachers use to decide how to best to select, organize, and deliver a learning experience to maximize both teacher and student achievement and satisfaction.”
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Because it is mandated!
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Because it encourages us to think carefully about what students should know and be able to do and, in turn, can promote greater teaching creativity and satisfaction.
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Because thoughtful instructional planning is more likely to attract and maintain student attention and to facilitate learning satisfaction.
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Because it is common and best practice.
Cruickshank, Bainer,Metcalf (1999)

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Syllabus and
Instructional Planning:
What?
There are three strong factors that influence curriculum. Filtered through the instructional lens, these three factors shape and create the curriculum content of any course of study.
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Society
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Learners
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Subject
The following page contains a diagram that looks at these components of instruction and their constituent parts more closely.

Standards, Protocols, Expectations: What should students know and be able to do?
Knowledge
Skills
Dispositions
Music: Sing, Play, Read, Create (Compose, Improvise),
Listen/Analyze, Move
Goals
Objectives
Methods
Outcomes/Assessment

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There are four components, then, to planning curriculum. The focus here will be on the first – writing behavioral objectives.
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Goal – a statement of general purpose and direction. The goal is the accomplishment toward which all curricular effort is directed. A goal is often broad, overarching, and ‘big picture.’
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Instructional Objective – a statement (strictly speaking, one sentence) that indicates what students should be represent, demonstrate, or produce as a result of what they learn. It describes an intended result of instruction, rather than the
process of instruction itself. The objective is student-centered, specific and observable.
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Methods – the process of instruction (e.g. lecture, rehearsal, project-based, etc.)
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Outcome Assessment – the process of collecting information that will indicate whether instruction is having the desired impact upon learning.

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Specific
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Observable
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Measurable
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Attainable/achievable
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Realistic
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Time-bound

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Avoid verbs difficult to measure objectively.
(“At the conclusion of this course, the student will be able to…”)
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The following verbs could be difficult to assess: know; comprehend; understand; appreciate; familiarize; study; become aware of/acquainted with; cover; learn; realize; opine; be exposed to; etc. If you use them, be aware that you need to know how they can be demonstrated.
Remember that the demonstration of the goal assists in determining if/to what extent the student has mastered the material of your course. The learning objective must arise out of a course goal/objective. It has to be observable and measurable; it must focus on student behavior. Each course goal should be specific to one aspect of the course.

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1.
2.
3.
4.
Audience
Behavior
Condition
Degree (Criteria)
A + B + C + D = Instructional Objective

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Audience – The who. “The student will be able to…”
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Behavior – What a student is expected to be able to do or the product or result of the doing. The behavior or product must be observable.
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Condition – The important conditions under which the performance is to occur.
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Degree (Criteria) – The criterion of acceptable performance.
A + B + C + D = Instructional Objective

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Sing
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Chant
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Solfege
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Sight read
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Sight sing
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Play
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Perform
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Harmonize
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Compose
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Improvise
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Analyze
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Realize
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Identify
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Conduct
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Move to
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Dance
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Describe
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Evaluate
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Synthesize
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Read
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Interpret
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Recognize
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Categorize
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Catalog
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Write
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Others…

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A (Audience) – “The student will be able to…”
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B (Behavior) – “perform a musical selection …”
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C (Condition) – “from Grade IV piano literature on a solo jury recital…”
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D (Degree/Criteria) – “with acceptable performance technique and musical style as determined by the provided rubric.

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A (Audience) – “The student will be able to…”
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B (Behavior) – “analyze…
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C (Condition) – “the musical form of Sing Joyfully Unto God, by William Byrd…”
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D (Degree/Criteria) – “with acceptable musical understanding and writing style, as determined by the provided rubric.”

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The student will know the four families of orchestral instruments.
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The student will appreciate the contributions of great composers in music history
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The student will be shown the proper way to restring a french horn rotary valve.
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Answer: No, none are acceptable instructional objectives because none contain an observable student behavior as a result of instruction.
Soto, V.J., Writing Instructional Objectives. ( http://www.efc.dcccd.edu/Core/SLO-MVS.pdf
) Retrieved 12/5/11

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Use concrete action verbs in writing behavioral objectives, since they are observable and measurable. There are hundreds of them.
Here are yet more examples:
TO KNOW: articulate, define, indicate, name, order, recognize, relate, recall, reproduce, list, tell, describe, identify, show, label, tabulate, quote, etc.
TO UNDERSTAND AND INTERPRET: classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, interpret, contrast, associate, differentiate, extend, translate, review, etc.
TO APPLY CONCEPTS: apply, compute, give examples, investigate, experiment, solve, choose, predict, translate, employ, operate, practice, schedule, etc.
TO ANALYZE: analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, distinguish, examine, investigate, interpret, etc.
TO SYNTHESIZE: arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, etc.
TO EVALUATE: appraise, assess, defend, judge, predict, rate, support, evaluate, recommend, convince, conclude, compare, summarize, etc.

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For assistance in creating/writing assessment rubrics (the next step in the instructional design process) , see Conway,
C. and Smith, M.V. (2010). Handbook for the Music Mentor.
Chicago: GIA Publications. (An additional Powerpoint on this topic – assessment rubrics - to be created soon.)
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A ‘classic’ and complete instructional objective contains four components: 1) audience, 2) behavior, 3) conditions, and 4) degree (criterion) in one single sentence. It may be helpful
(and acceptable) to account for all of these components in the larger context of the entire syllabus.
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For further assistance, email smithmv@cua.edu.