Examples of Objectives
According to the Mager approach, objectives are specific, concrete, and observable. They
identify the student behavior, the testing situation, and the performance criteria. Here are
some examples:




Given a US map, students will be able to identify at least 85% of the states.
Without notes, students will be able to recite four out of five reasons for the Civil
War.
Using a sample problem as a guide, students will be able to solve division
problems correctly to two decimal places.
Using their research notes, students will be able to compare and contrast three
elements of Greek and Roman architecture.
According to the Gronlund approach, the overall objective is more general and
subobjectives add specificity. Here are some examples:

Overall objective: Students understand and appreciate the diversity of the people
who make up American society.

Subobjective 1: Students can define diversity in the words of others and in their
own words.

Subobjective 2: Students can give instances of how diverse persons or groups
have enriched the cultural life of Americans.

Subobjective 4: Students can analyze in writing how maintaining appreciation for
diversity is a fragile and difficult goal to achieve.
According to the revised Bloom's taxonomy approach, each objective requires a verb and
a noun. The verb describes the cognitive process and the noun describes the content
knowledge. Here are some examples:

Students will learn to distinguish (verb) among federal and unitary systems of
government (noun).

Students will learn to classify (verb) different types of animals (noun).

Students will be able to analyze (verb) various types of social data (noun).
For examples of verbs, click on Verbs for Learning Objectives.
See Chapter 3, "Instructional Objectives," in your textbook for more detailed information.