INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

An instructional objective describes an observable event that will indicate that a student has learned the targeted knowledge. A teacher cannot assess a student’s learning unless there is observable evidence of that learning. Since most of a person’s knowledge and mental actions are invisible to others, we depend on indicators that suggest the nature of his or her knowledge. To illustrate, consider the following:
How would students indicate that they know the universe is very large and that it contains a very large number of objects?
How would students indicate that they know the concept of multiplication?
In both cases, students may provide evidence of their knowledge as follows:
On the magnitude of the universe, students might say the universe is large because it contains Earth, other planets, and our Sun. The Sun is one of billions of stars in our galaxy, and individual stars are light-years away from each other. Our galaxy, although very large, is but one of millions of galaxies in the universe.
On the concept of multiplication, they might use several illustrations to show that multiplication is repeated additions. For example,

4 x 3 = 3 +3 + 3 +3

To provide evidence of knowledge, one must do things that others can observe. Likewise, to assess a student’s knowledge, a teacher must ask student to do something observable/visible that indicates presence of that knowledge. In fact, instructional objectives represent the teacher’s starting pointing in providing instruction; What should students learn? What skills and knowledge should be the focus of