What's Your Objective?

Instructional designers build courses for use in both the private and public sectors. The process begins with the development of an instructional goal in which the purpose of the course is broadly explained. The goal is then granularly defined through the development of objectives. It is important to take the time to develop the objectives properly.

Performance objectives are an integral part of the instruction design process. They describe what the learner is intended to do after the learning, the conditions present during performance, and the criteria to determine successful performance.

In the following example, the objective of the learner is to show they know how to use a new phone system. The condition is the availability of a job aid, and the success criterion is handling 20 calls in 5 minutes.

The learner will demonstrate proficiency using the phone system, with assistance of a provided job aid if necessary, by handling 20 incoming calls in 5 minutes.

Each objective is further broken down to include the skills and sub skills necessary for successful performance. In the example above the skills may include using the hold, transfer, and forward features on the phone. Answering the phone with a pleasant voice might appear in another objective.

All the skills and sub skills are rarely included in the final instruction. Analysis of the target audience usually shows that they have at least some of entry skills needed to complete the learning. The condition and success criteria may play a large part in the development of tests, but are often also omitted from direct reference in the material.

Objectives are also used to prepare tests and to communicate to the learner what the material contains. They may require shortening or rewording to express ideas that make sense to the learner.

Completely defining all the performance objectives in an instructional design project may seem time consuming, but the value they add to each part is worthwhile to the effort.