Aligning Instructional Objectives, Assessment, and Activities
A well-written objective will assist you in aligning the objective to activities and assessment.
The graphic below (Adapted from Dwyer 1991) shows a mismatch of the objectives, instruction and assessment. In this case:
- Objectives were set to problem-solving,
- The students were assessed with problem-solving.
- However, only lower levels of learning, such as concepts, were presented to students in lessons and activities.
Because of this students who have not been exposed to problem-solving techniques related to the course will more than likely have low-achievement when working on problem-solving assignments or problem-solving questions on an exam.
In contrast, the graphic below (Adapted from Dwyer) shows one example of matching your objectives with instruction.
- Set your objectives to teach problem-solving.
- Design your instruction and learning activities to teach or demonstrate problem-solving.
- Assess the students at the problem-solving level.
Additional Links
Offline References
Dwyer, F. M.(1991). A paradigm for generating curriculum design oriented research questions in distance education. Second American Symposium Research in Distance Education, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University.
Heinrich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J.D., Smaldino, S.E. (1996). Instructional Media and Technologies for Learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill.