Objectives describe the learner’s performance (“Learners will...”), not the course’s coverage (“This module covers...”).
Why it matters
A topic list tells learners what’s in the course, not what they’ll be able to do afterward.
It gives the quiz writer nothing to aim at, and it makes it easy to cover material without anyone checking that it was learned.
What passing looks like
- The learner is the subject of each objective.
- It names an action, not a topic.
- It’s clear how you’d know the learner got there.
Example
This module covers the new expense system and its approval workflow.
The problem: It describes the module’s content, not what learners will be able to do.
Submit an expense report in the new system and route it to the correct approver.
What Pedagrade can’t tell
Course descriptions and catalog blurbs can talk about topics. This check looks only at statements presented as objectives.
This check is covered by Pedagrade’s published accuracy tests. See the accuracy report.
Learn more
- Robert Mager, Preparing Instructional Objectives
- Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl (eds.), A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing (the revised Bloom’s taxonomy)
- Pedagrade guide: Bloom’s taxonomy verbs for learning objectives
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