BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES

One of the components of the learning experience is behavioral objectives. It is one of the
ways Instructional designers evaluate the efficacy of a training program or learning model.
Behavioral objectives are observable, measurable, and streamlined to achieve optimum results
for the learner.

What are behavioral Objectives?

A behavioral objective is a learning outcome stated in measurable terms, that guides the learner's
experience and serves as the foundation for student evaluation. A clear and unambiguous
statement of a planned educational expectation (s) for the learner is an educational behavioral
objective, it states what behavior a student must execute or display in order for a teacher to infer
that learning occurred. If appropriately developed, behavioral objectives can be used to draw
those conclusions. Behavioral Objectives are about Curriculum, not instruction.

A behavioral objective serves as the main point of the learning plan, as well as providing criteria
for generating an assessment of the learning experience and the instructional approaches used by
the educator to achieve it. It is difficult, if not impossible, to establish exactly what a learning
experience's consequences are designed to achieve without a behavioral target.

Types of Behavioral Objectives

Objectives might differ in a number of ways. They can be broad or narrow in scope, concrete or
abstract, cognitive, emotive, or psychomotor in nature. Cognitive objectives stress intellectual
achievements including knowledge, comprehension, and problem-solving abilities. Interests,
values, attitudes, appreciation, and adjustment strategies are examples of affective objectives.
Psychomotor goals involve motor abilities including physical examination and chemotherapeutic
administration.

Behavioral Objectives vs Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives outline the important things that learners should be able to achieve after
finishing a training program or learning experience. Each learning objective is expressed as an
action verb and related to a specific capability or skill. Behavioral objectives outline the specific
behaviors that learners are supposed to exhibit after participating in modules or classes. Learning
objectives concentrate on the "micro" level, whereas behavioral objectives concentrate on the
"macro" level.

Domains of Behavioral Objectives

Cognitive Domain

The cognitive domain is referred to as the thinking domain, at this level the learner is acquiring
information that will lead to the development of intellectual, mental, and thinking capabilities.
There are six levels in this domain namely: Knowledge level, comprehension level, application
level, analysis level, synthesis level, and evaluation level. Each is a bit more complex than the
former.

Affective Domain

The affective domain is characteristically the domain of emotions and values, where the student
demonstrates what he/ she has learned. The levels in this domain are receiving, responding,
valuing, organizing, and characterizing.

Psychomotor Domain

Psychomotor Domain refers to the doing domain. At this point, there is a lot of kinesthetic
learning measured by the learner's ability to carry out the physical tasks. The levels in this
domain include perception, set, guided response, mechanism, complex overt response,
adaptation, and origination.

How to Write Behavioral Objectives?

Begin by defining a specific content or informative category when writing behavioral objectives.
A well-written behavioral objective comprises three parts: the behavior verb, the condition, and
the measurement criteria, and it represents an anticipated learning outcome. Behavioral
objectives should highlight the conditions of Performance and the Performance Criteria.

Conditions of Performance refer to the circumstances or the context where the behavior will be
performed. This concentrates solely on describing the conditions under which the desired
behavior should be performed. The performance criteria are a set of descriptions that specify
how well a behavior must be executed in order to meet the learning objective. It specifies how
well an action is performed or a minimal acceptable answer in comparison to a set of criteria.

When writing behavioral objectives here are some steps to follow:

 Always begin the objective with a verb, this is the most critical part of the objective. It
highlights the expected behavior from the learning activities.
 State each objective in terms of learner performance. A behavioral objective must be
observable and measurable.
 Each objective should include only one general learning outcome.

Behavioral Objectives Verbs

The student behavior component of the learning objectives specifies the skill or information to be
acquired, as well as the action or competence that the student can exhibit. This element has an
action verb that refers to observable conduct or the development of the observable product.
Development of the observable product.
Verbs to avoid include: know, understand, appreciate, have, comprehend, be aware, feel, and
believe. These verbs are vague, not measurable, or observable. The goal is to use verbs that can
be observed and measured.

Behavioral Objectives Checklist

A behavioral objective should state what the learner will be able to do at the end of the learning
session or training program. Here are three questions to measure the effectiveness of a
behavioral objective:

 Does the objective state the desired outcome, and what the learner will be able to do after
the learning session?
 Does the objective state observable measurable actions?
 Is the learner the subject of the statement?