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Instructional Objectives Semester I – Unit I – Aims and objectives of teaching English “Education without objectives can be compared to sailing in a rudderless boat”. The term objective is popularly used in all sphere of life, before organising any activity or process (for example, organising the teaching-learning process) we have to have a clear idea about where it will lead us. We should know, in the context of this discussion, what destination (the goal. aim, objective, outcome, end-point or terminal behaviour) the student is supposed to reach through the teaching-learning process. We, as teachers or as the organisers of teaching-learning activities, should know the concept, need and role of instructional objectives. At the same time, we should be clear in our Kinking about the limitations or weaknesses of instructional objectives. This will help us organise the teaching-learning activities more effectively. Aims, Objectives and Instructional Objectives Aims: We use the term 'aims' to mean the broad goals which our educational system (the whole of the Indian society involved) embraces and which you are expected to attain. The aims of education are based on philosophical and socio-psychological aspects of society and culture. The following examples of aims of education will help you understand the concept better. Education to develop patriotism and good citizenship; Education for moral, ethical and spiritual values; Education to fulfil the vocational needs of the individual and society; Education for leisure-time activities such as music, dancing, gardening, reading, hobbies, etc.;
Education for improved health knowledge (physical and mental) and practices; Special education for the disabled. The central purpose which any educational system must be oriented to accomplish concern related to its traditional tasks and also the new roles that are emphasised by recent changes in the world. Educational aims are broad and also hold good for the various educational systems (related to school as well as other agencies). The aims in fact express the expectations of the society that should be achieved by the students through the educational system. We expect from the school as well as other agencies to help students in building up their personality and character so that they can take their rightful place in the mainstream of the nation; assimilating vocationally and socially desirable knowledge and skills; developing ability to think critically and creatively; developing healthy scientific attitudes towards problems and people; and motivating them to act according to worthy ideals in the service of community and the nation. Objectives: Objectives are the milestones to reach the destination i.e. to attain the aim or ultimate goal of education. Objectives are specific, direct and practical in nature; objectives are related to the learning outcomes or change in the behaviour of the students. The objectives are meant for both the teacher and the students. Even at the planning stage i.e. before entering the classroom the teacher asks himself, "What changes in behaviour of the students can I bring about through this lesson"? Such changes constitute his (teacher's) educational objectives.
An objective is thus a point or an end-view of something towards which action is directed: a planned change sought through an activity; what we set out to do. Educational objectives, therefore, consist of the changes we wish to produce in the child. The changes that take place through education can be represented in: the knowledge children acquire (knowledge); the skills and abilities children attain (skill); the interest children develop (interest); and the attitude children manifest (attitude). If education imparted to a student is effective, he/she will 'behave' differently from the way he did before he came to the school. The student would know something about which he/she was ignorant earlier. They would understand something which they did not understand before. The student can solve problems which he could not solve before, favourably revises his attitudes towards things. Education is thus the process of bringing about changes in the behaviour of the students in what they know (Knowledge extends) how they think (Process of thinking changes) how they feel (Prows of feeling changes) how they work (Methods of working change)
Instructional objectives: There can be two types of objectives as far as the instructional process is concerned. These are instructional objectives, and behavioural objectives The objectives of teachers and students are called instructional objectives. In this context an objective is a statement of a measurable learning that is intended to take place as a result of instruction. Instructional objectives are derived from the terminal behaviours the students are expected to display as a consequence of receiving instruction. Thus, instructional objectives are part of the terminal behaviours. But you will find that these terms are quite often used interchangeably. The teacher is accountable for the achievement of instructional objectives. Instructional objectives are classroom objectives, unique to each course, subject, or a teaching point. These instructional objectives should be so planned that they are consistent with the educational aims. Instructional objectives are set according to the level of the students in a particular class and adopted to the classroom situation. They are formulated in such a way that they are concrete and tangible. The objectives should involve information, skills, attitudes and interest that could be developed through a particular topic or subject taken up in classroom. For example, "to enable the students to develop skill in finding topics in reference books", or "to help him/her know how to dig a compost pit in a village" are quite acceptable instructional objectives. Instructional objectives thus relate and contribute to the total educational process. Educational aims are indirect, not immediately achievable, while instructional objectives are direct, specific and functional and are directly achievable in classroom within a period or couple of periods. According of Dececco and Crawford (1974) instructional objectives for teachers are narrower in scope than educational objectives. Instructional objectives guide the teacher in the selection, emphasis, and omission of subject matter, materials and activities while preparing lesson plan and classifying instruction. Behavioural objectives: In the preceding discussion you have studied that instructional objectives are derived from learning outcomes. Thus, instructional objectives can be stated by
identifying the product of instruction in terms of observable performance. These outcomes have been referred to as behavioural objectives or terminal performances. Thus, when we formulate instructional objectives for students we have to ensure that they are observable or measurable. An instructional objective certainly tells us about the change(s) we propose to bring about in the student but it will be still clearer if we isolate the critical aspects of a particular change. Statements of objectives in terms of the change in the behaviour of the students are called behavioural objectives. Instructional objectives can be transformed into behavioural objectives. Here is an example of an instructional objective: "To develop in the student a sense of civic responsibility". This objective acquires concreteness, clarity and meaning when we get answers to the following questions: What does a person who has a sense of civic responsibility usually do? What does a person who has a sense of civic responsibility usually not do? What kinds of behaviour distinguish one who has a sense of civic responsibility from one who lacks a sense of civic responsibility? An objective, when it is defined in terms of student's behaviour, becomes tangible and capable of attainment. It is clear from the above illustration that a clearly formulated objective has two dimensions: one deal with the behaviour and the other deals with the content area in which the behaviour operates.
Need and importance of instructional / educational objectives: As a matter of fact, the objectives are meant to help us bring about changes in the individual in the desired direction. The achievement of objectives enables the individual to perform certain tasks, develop certain understandings, sustain thinking processes, develop attitudes, add to his stock of knowledge, etc., and thus to lead a happy, productive and socially acceptable life. The question now arises. "How are these objectives responsible for bringing about the required change in the life of an individual"? The answer to this question is presented as follows. The objectives provide desired direction to an educational activity; distinguish between various aspects of learning; focus attention on proper attributes of learning activity; determine the nature of an educational activity; provide a basis for systematizing or planning an educational programme; decide emphasis on educational activity; help arrange learning experiences and also evaluation material; guide educational decisions - curricular and co-curricular, guide the selection of relevant content; give meaning and clarify to the curriculum;
make learning functional; articulate learning at various levels; help discover proper learning situations/context; fix priorities in an educational programme; help identify weaknesses and strengths in the learning process; provide a basis for measurement of growth and development of the child; guarantee valid evaluation and curriculum; help make educational experiences tangible; and define the educational process in totality The above are some of the reasons why we need educational objectives. We can categorise all the above-mentioned reasons into three groups. In other words, there are three main advantages of instructional objectives. These are: Instruction: First, instructional objectives in behavioural terms help plan instruction. The objectives tell us where we are going i.e. what the students will be able to know or do at the end of instruction. Proper statement of objectives will help the teacher plan the steps or procedure to reach the terminal outcomes/behaviours. Thus there is a relationship between instructional objectives and instructional procedures. Assessment: Second, the instructional objectives help design performance assessment procedures and help in test construction and curriculum evaluation. The assessment of student performance reveals the gap between the expected outcomes and achieved outcomes.
Follow up: Third, explicit statement of instructional objectives will help the students know what they are supposed to learn or do after an instructional task. The students can direct their energy and time resources accordingly. The students will also know in advance the areas of knowledge, attitudes or skills on which they will be tested. We should remember that just writing objectives in behavioural terms does not serve the purpose unless you also know how to achieve them. Some experts or administrators may suggest your various shortcuts (routes) to reach the undertaken objectives but you may end up nowhere. You therefore should know the systematic way for evaluation/assessment of objectives. The objectives should be formulated on solid philosophical, psychological, sociological and scientific footings. The utility, appropriateness, practicability and timeliness of the objectives should always be considered. The sources should be viewed from the point of view of practicability and relative usefulness of the objectives. Society: We cannot fail to recognise that objectives of education in the broad sense are determined by society at the local (community) as well as the national level. For instance, there may be such needs as preserving and transmitting cultural heritage, inculcating the democratic values of life and supporting and enhancing the impact of science and technology and other innovations. Social needs are essentially taken into consideration while planning to develop certain competences and qualities in members of society both to develop it (i.e. society) and also to survive in it.
Individual: We have already seen that though society determines the basic requirements of Instructional Objectives education, it is the individual whose needs are reflected through the society. In addition, there are certain specific needs of the individuals. These needs may be grouped as self-development or self-fulfilment. For example, self-development encompasses physical and psychological growth of the students. Psychological growth in turn consists of thinking (cognitive), feeling / attitudes (affective) and doing (psychomotor) aspects. Various theories of learning have tried to explain the process and sequence of growth in the child. Needless to say, psychology of learning is helpful in choosing, grading and sequencing objectives to suit the individual growth. These aspects of human growth will be considered while determining educational objectives. Some educators believe that an individual has some spiritual needs too. It will, therefore, be desirable to provide him some opportunity to fulfil these spiritual needs too. Nature of knowledge: It is education that differentiates between human beings and animals. One may say that human being is cultured and civilized animals. We know that knowledge is the most important condition to growth of civilization; in the absence of knowledge, there cannot be any growth of civilization. Knowledge has its own categories such as facts, processes, basic ideas, concepts, thought systems, etc. Its classification and organisation into systems is known as disciplines or subjects. Hence, we should know that the nature of knowledge (i.e. subject matter) is one of the most important considerations in formulating educational objectives. This is so because different disciplines (i.e. subjects) have different bearing on the learning process. Therefore, in formulating the objectives, the nature of knowledge should be given due importance. Interrelation between society, individual and knowledge: Society is not static, and goes on changing and the individual has to adjust in society. But individual has its individuality. The role of knowledge comes to make the individual adjustable in society without sacrificing his individuality. The nature of knowledge is related to what is good for the society and for the individual. Rather we can say that society and individual both are determinants of the nature of knowledge. Disadvantages / Challenges / Criticism of Objectives: Education without objectives can be compared to sailing in a rudderless boat. Hence one cannot think of education without objectives. In spite of such an important role of objectives in the education process, there are,
however, some difficulties in using the objectives. A practical difficulty in the use of behavioural objectives relates to analysis and statement of behaviours which is a quite lengthy and difficult process. For complex content, it is difficult to formulate objectives in behavioural terms. The statement of objectives in behavioural terms is further criticised because of the following limitations: First, we know that there are varied sources for developing the objectives. These sources are not static. Since society is changing day by day, its needs and expectations are also' changing. An individual's interests, needs, age level, mental age level and the subject matter, its nature and its relevance there are a number of factors responsible for developing objectives e.g. calculative ability is now completely replaced by very simple calculators. Second, the method of formulation of objectives also differs from individual to individual. There is no single procedure for the formulation of objectives used by all the class, e.g. interests of individual, age and maturity. Third, even though we consider the change in behaviour of an individual the end-product of these objectives, these end-points are different for different students, not only in amount but also in type. Fourth, quite often the objectives are vague and overlapping while it is claimed that these are hierarchical in nature. There is no definite cut off point where an objective may end and the next objective begins, e.g. knowledge and understanding, no cutting point between the two. Fifth, it is very difficult to frame curricula in accordance with the objectives. Because, for example, it is very difficult to give limits and boundaries to any trait such as Truth, Goodness, Beauty, Honesty, Intelligence, etc. While the objective is to achieve these traits, it is a very difficult task. Sixth, the evaluation part i.e. to frame the objective-based test items is also a difficult task. It is an act that test items based on knowledge (recall or recognition) are very easy to frame but items based on evaluation, originality of thoughts and ability to imagine or ability for abstract thinking are difficult to frame.
With sufficient practice, experience and familiarity with the process of curriculum construction, one can overcome these difficulties to a considerable extent. The expert’s opinion can be a way that casts the final judgement regarding the relevance in the objectives, curriculum and testing.