The strength of a learning objectives can influence a learner's success or failure even before they begin a course.
It's all about setting the right target.
To be effective, learning objectives should be specific, action oriented, and attainable.
Make it specific
Imagine a room of 10 people being given an objective: to run far.
Do you think they would all run the same distance?
Probably not. How far each person runs would depend on their own background, skills, and experience. For example, a marathon runner would probably cover a lot more distance than the average person.
Effective learning objectives should be specific enough to narrow this gap in interpretation, so all learners have the same understanding of the objective.
Quiz
How would you adjust the objective "run far" to make it more specific?
Orient on action
Think about what a learner should be able to do after completing the byte. Start your learning objective with a verb that reflects this.
Whenever possible, choose verbs that push learners to apply knowledge to real situations, like choose, demonstrate, or produce. These type of verbs challenge learners to master higher order thinking skills of Bloom's Taxonomy (below).
Verbs like memorize, duplicate, or list, are more passive and reflect lower level thinking skills.
Quiz
How could you adjust "Understand what makes learning objectives effective" to be more action oriented?
Make it attainable
An effective learning objective needs to be something that's attainable in the context of a ~5 minute byte. In other words, is it realistic?
For example, 5 minutes isn't enough time to "Apply best practices for professional communication." The breadth is too wide to reasonably expect someone to attain this objective, and might frustrate the learner.
Break down the subject matter into a smaller chunk, like: "Apply best practices to deliver effective feedback." By breaking topics down into manageable objectives, you'll keep your byte focused and set learners up for success.
Quiz
What's a more attainable alternative to the objective "Manage stress effectively"?
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Summary
Now that you have a handle on how to create effective learning objectives, try writing some of your own!
Pick a soft skill and parse out key elements to write objectives that are specific, action-oriented and attainable.
Good luck!
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