Understanding Performance using action words
There are 3 components of an effective learning objective, let us dive into the performance component in more details in this section. Now, look at the learning objective below and identify if it is an effective learning objective or not.
“Students will understand with 100% accuracy the process of transpiration using a labeled diagram”
The learning objective in the above activity is not effective because the “performance” component, which specifies what exactly students will be able to do is not observable or measurable.
- Here’s a good example – Students will be able to define herbivores and carnivores.
- Here’s an example that will not work – Students will know what herbivores and carnivores are.
Thus, we need to use action verbs in the “performance” of our learning objectives to create effective measurable learning objectives.
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of the different objectives and skills that instructors set for their learners (learning objectives). The terminology has been recently updated to include the following six levels of learning. Let’s look at different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy –
Click here to find different observable and measurable “Action Words” for each of the different skill levels. Incorporating these words in the learning objective specifies which level you want to teach at and makes it easier to plan the lesson based on the skill level (this list is not exhaustive).
Do it yourself!
It is now time to frame your learning objectives. Based on the outcomes you noted down, formulate your objectives using the discussion above. List down a minimum of 3 learning objectives in the template given to you.
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