The document provides guidance for

1. WRITING OBJECTIVES
Ines A. de Guzman, PhD

2. GENERAL
Long
Term
TYPES OF
OBJECTIVES
SPECIFIC
Short
Term

3. OBJECTIVES
Pinpoint the
destination and not
the journey
Describe the
intention of the
lesson
Describe learning
outcome

4. General Objectives
 A statement, in more or less precise terms, that
shows the trend of the learning activity.
 A statement, which defines the outcome of the
learning activity and represents a particular
point in the general orientation of a curriculum.
 The general objective is the first level of
specification of the aim from which it was
derived from.

5. General Objectives: Examples
 At the end of the semester, the students should
be able to develop a home economics curriculum
for public secondary high schools.
 At the end of the semester, the students should
be able to evaluate a secondary home economics
curriculum based on a curriculum standard model.
 At the end of the semester, the students should
be able to appreciate the importance of home
economics in everyday living.

6. Specific Objectives
 A statement which describes the trend of the learning
activity.
 It is formulated in terms of observable behaviour.
 It is an interpretation of the general objective from
which it was derived from.
Examples:
General Objective:
At the end of the semester, the students should be able to
develop a home economics curriculum for public secondary
high school students.
Specific Objective:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to
identify the various areas of home economics.

7. PURPOSE
•Help teachers to clarify precisely what they want their
students to learn.
•Help provide lesson focus and direction.
•Help guide the selection of appropriate practice
activities.
•Help teachers evaluate if the students have learned
what they are supposed to learn.
•Provide means of measuring the teacher’s teaching
effectiveness.

8. Characteristics of a Specific
Objective
1. It is always expressed in terms of the student.
2. It is unequivocal/clear. It is precise and supports
only one interpretation.
3. It describes an observable behaviour on the part
of the subject.
4. It specifies, where appropriate, the special
conditions in which this behaviour is manifested
and the criteria which will make it possible to
judge whether the objective has been attained.

9. It is always expressed in terms
of the student.
 Emphasis is placed on the student's learning
rather than on the teaching given by the teacher.
It is not enough for the teacher to have provided
the teaching but it is also necessary for his
students to have learnt.
 Encourage thinking about the link between
teaching and learning. The teacher should try to
specify his objectives by concentrating not on
what she teaches but on the changes she wishes
to bring about in the students.

10. It is unequivocal-precise and supports
only one interpretation.
 The following objectives are open to various
interpretations:
1. At the end of the lesson, the students will be able
to display awareness of the home economics
curriculum for secondary schools.
2. At the end of the lesson, the students will be able
to know the content of home economics 1.
 In order to make these objectives unequivocal, it is
necessary to consider what the student will do to
demonstrate her awareness of the HE curriculum
for secondary schools.

11.  General terms such as to know, to realize, to
understand, to familiarize oneself with, to
become aware of, to appreciate, and so forth,
lend themselves to different interpretations.
 What is expected of a person who knows, realizes
or understands must be specified if one is to infer
that that person knows, realizes, or understands.
 Terms as vague as these are an indication rather
of aims or of general objectives.

12.  To clarify the general objective, one derives from it a
series of specific objectives choosing from among
various possibilities the objectives which, given the
context, seem to be the most relevant to the
attainment of the general objective from which they
are derived from.
 For example, the general objective,
 “To understand the meaning of nutrients,” may give
rise to the following objectives:
 to define a term in one's own words,
 to identify the meaning of a term when it is used in a
context,
 to distinguish between terms which are similar in meaning.
Users must, therefore, reach an understanding on the
terminology used and thus make the objective unequivocal.

13. The specific objective
describes observable behaviour
 The objective must describe an ability which the
subject must have acquired at the end of the learning
process.
 It is a question of specifying an observable ability and
not a category of modes of behaviour such as those
suggested by the words 'to understand' and 'to
realize'.
 One must be able to grasp the reality of this ability
by means of a concrete and observable action.
 Thus, an objective such as 'to see the value of home
economics' is not specific.

14.  A distinction must be made between the process
and the outcome, between the means and what
one wishes to attain.
Example of a learning process:
 To discover a home economics curriculum model
as a standard for proposing a new curriculum.
 To experiment three best mixing methods.
Example of an activity or a task to be accomplished:
 To mix the ingredients of fat-less longanisa.
 To beat the egg whites until foamy and thick.

15.  A distinction must also be made between the
objectives in a list of contents.
 An objective comprises at least three parts:
 a subject (the student),
 a verb of action (the observable behaviour which is
expected)
 a content (the complement).
Thus, in the specific objective, ‘the student must be able to list
different types of mixing techniques',
the subject is the student, the verb 'to list' refers to
observable behaviour, and the content is mixing techniques.
Thus, there can be no confusion between the objective and
list of content. The verb and the complement must be
precise if the objective is to be specific.

16. The specific objective states the special
conditions in which the behaviour is
manifested.
 The objective must, where appropriate, mention the
conditions in which the behaviour must be manifested
and the criteria that will be used to determine whether
the objective has been attained or not.
 The special conditions relating to the display of the
behaviour are all those conditions which may make the
difficulty of the objective variable and which make it
possible to imagine a concrete situation in which the
behaviour must be manifested.
 Although it is not necessary for all objectives to
mention such special conditions, certain objectives
demand that they should be mentioned.

17. For example, the objectives:
 ‘to explain how to measure ingredients properly
and accurately.’
 ‘to demonstrate the proper way of handling
ingredients.’
 ‘to discuss the importance of food safety and
kitchen sanitation.’
could not be sufficiently precise to be specific if the
time requirements in relation to the behaviour
were not indicated.

18. Writing Specific Objectives
 The objective of any lesson
is to change a behavior.
 Thus, objectives must be
expressed in performance
terms.

19. Questions to ask:
1. What is the minimum acceptable level of
performance?
2. How will you test the achievement of that
level of performance?
3. What criterion or standard of performance
will you accept?
4. Is the new terminal behaviour defined in
terms that are measurable?
5. Under what conditions is the new
behaviour expected to occur?

20. 6. Is the new terminal behaviour
observable?
7. Are the learning objectives
categorized into three different areas
or levels of domain?
A. Knowledge (Cognitive )
B. Attitude (Affective)
C. Skills (Psychomotor)

21. WRITING SMART OBJECTIVES

22. SPECIFIC
MEASURABLE
ATTAINABLE
REALISTIC
TIME
BOUND

23. CONDITION
BEHAVIOR
CONTENT (SITUATION,
(VERB- SETTING,
(SUBJECT
OBSERVABLE CIRCUMS-
MATTER)
ACTION)
TANCES)
CRITERION (LEVEL OF ACCEPTABLE
PERFORMANCE/PROFICIENCY LEVEL)

24. CONTENT
It refers to the subject matter. It tells what the students will
learn.
It should be:
Specific – anyone reading the objectives will understand the
subject matter
Materials free- anyone should be able to understand the
content of the objectives without tracking down specific
materials.
Generic- emphasis is on knowledge and skills that are important
and applicable in a variety of contexts.
Examples:
• food preparation techniques
• nutritious meals for the family

25. BEHAVIOR
It tells what the student will do to show that he/she has learned.
It is a verb that describes an observable action and outcomes
could be measured.
Examples:
• say complete predict
• draw list design
• operate volunteer label
• write paraphrase demonstrate
• diagram copy prepare

26. CONDITION
It describes the circumstances, situation, or
setting under which the student will perform the
behaviour. It is the condition which will apply
while the student is being evaluated rather than
the learning condition, which must be described.
Examples:
• in isolation or in context - in a textbook
• while following a recipe - during free time
• at the playground - during class
discussions
• at the end of the lesson - when given
directions

27. CRITERION
It refers to the level of acceptable performance, the
standard of mastery, or the proficiency level
expected.
Examples:
• with 90% accuracy
• within ten minutes
• at least three of the steps
• with no errors
• following baking standards
• fully/correctly/precisely

28. PRACTICE MAKES
PERFECT

29. 1. At the end of the lesson, the students will
be able to explain fully the rationale
behind the K-12 and its impact in the EPP
curriculum.
Content:
Behavior:
Condition:
Criterion:

30. 2. At the end of the talk, the students will be
able to discuss clearly the importance of
food safety and kitchen sanitation.
.
 Content:
 Behavior:
 Condition:
 Criterion:

31. 3. After the laboratory session, the students will
be able to describe correctly how to handle
various ingredients in baking.
 Content:
 Behavior:
 Condition:
 Criterion:

32. 5. At the end of the demonstration, the students will
be able to compute the selling price of the product
with no errors.
 Content:
 Behavior:
 Condition:
 Criterion:

33. References
 Blooms Taxonomy of Objectives
 Internet Materials
 http://www.unesco.org/webworld/ramp/html/
r8810e/r8810e07.htm