Each objective names something a learner does that you could see or check, with a verb like identify, compare, or draft, not understand or know.
Why it matters
You can’t assess “understand.” An objective with a verb nobody can observe leaves the quiz writer guessing, and the guess is almost always a recall question.
A measurable verb tells the writer, the SME, and the learner what success looks like before anyone builds a slide.
What passing looks like
- The verb is an action someone could watch or check: list, explain, calculate, choose, write, critique.
- Vague verbs are gone: understand, know, learn, appreciate, be aware of, be familiar with.
- Each objective has one main action, so one question or task can check it.
Example
Learners will understand the expense policy.
The problem: Nobody can see understanding, so nobody can write a fair question for it.
Given an expense report, learners will decide whether each item can be reimbursed and name the policy rule that applies.
What Pedagrade can’t tell
A measurable verb is necessary but not enough. A separate check looks at whether the verb’s level matches what the assessment actually asks.
This check is covered by Pedagrade’s published accuracy tests. See the accuracy report.
Learn more
- Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl (eds.), A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing (the revised Bloom’s taxonomy)
- Robert Mager, Preparing Instructional Objectives
- Pedagrade guide: Bloom’s taxonomy verbs for learning objectives
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