Behavioral Objectives

Description of the Strategy

Behavioral objectives are descriptions of observable performance or behavior that are used to make judgments about learning. They are the focal point of a treatment plan or a lesson plan and serve three functions: (a) a starting point for guiding the instructional design process, (b) a framework for developing appropriate assessments and evaluations, and (c) a guide for the learner. Behavioral objectives make it explicitly clear what the learner is supposed to accomplish following instruction. Learning objectives, instructional objectives, and performance objectives can be types of behavioral objectives if they are written according to specific criteria. Terminology can differ depending on the setting. For example, an objective that is written to measure reading decoding skill may be referred to as an instructional objective, such as “When given a passage at the second-grade level, the student will read the passage aloud with 95% to 100% decoding accuracy.”

When a teacher and a student are working on a social skill issue, the objective may be referred to as a behavioral objective; for example, “In a role play, the student will verbally acknowledge and accept a compliment as modeled by the teacher or a peer in four of five trials.”

Both of these examples serve the same purpose by communicating measurable changes in behavior or learning that are a result of instruction, practice, or experience. Behavioral objectives are not random, isolated statements but are generally derived from a broader goal that is related to a specific body of content. As learning cannot necessarily be measured directly, these behaviors are then translated into objectives. A behavioral objective has four components: content, conditions, criteria, and behavior.

Content. Content refers to that body of information that is to be learned. Content can be related to [Page 1191]educational curricula, such as reading vocabulary or multiplication, or to social skills.

Behavior. Behavior (a) refers to what, exactly, will be done to demonstrate learning; (b) is generally specified with an action word; (c) is included in the objective as a means to clearly identify what will be measured and what the learner is expected to do; and (d) implies an observable behavior. For example, verbs that identify observable and measurable behavior and may be used in an objective would include diagram, describe, measure, name, state a rule, predict, write, circle.

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