Educational aims and objectives
Encyclopedia
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary and others interchangeably define the noun "objective" as, Objective: noun 1 a goal or aim. While the noun
forms of the three words aim, objective and goal
are often used synonym
ously, among professionals in organised education
, the words aim and objective are more narrowly defined and are distinct from each other. An objective is a measurable, observable behavior of less than a day's duration; a goal is the outcome of a series of successfully completed objectives, possibly measured over a series of days; while an aim is an expression of a long-term purpose, usually over the course of one or more years.
singular
form of the verb with the subject
course, programme or module is often used as an impersonal way of referring to the teaching staff and their goals. Similarly the learner is often referred to in the third person
singular even when he or she is the intended reader.
For example,
The goal which is explicitly expressed here is owned by the teachers and its scope lies within the duration of the course but that goal is determined by the learner's personal goal to become a successful dietician, the scope of which lies beyond the course. The latter aim is strongly implied by the stated course aim.
This explicitly sets a goal for teaching staff which they will try to achieve by the end of the course but implies that teachers will consider carefully the longer term goals of learners in all their diversity. I.e. the aim is both time-bound and forward looking.
course may include very specific aims related to performance in a specific career. Another course may aim simply to provide entertainment and enjoyment to its learners.
This aim is very general and includes the concept of enjoyment which can be surveyed but not reliably quantified.
This aim is specific to how this course module fits within a complete programme of study. The verbs review and develop refer to the actions of the teachers whereas the verb evaluate refers to the learner. Teachers will review principles, develop theory and practice with a view to the students achieving the goal of being able to evaluate performance of certain systems. The latter is presumably a skill which will be required of a learner for progression in the programme of study and in employment when the programme is complete.
education processes are put in place to evaluate the achievement of aims. There are a number of ways to judge the success of an aim. If learners succeed or fail to achieve learning objectives this may indicate success in some aspects of the aims but other aims relate to things which are less easily measured. For some courses it is more important to ask learners to subjectively judge whether the aims were achieved and for vocational courses it may be necessary to track the careers of learners for several years after leaving the course.
The use of objective as a noun and as an adjective is a source of potential confusion especially when the adjective objective is applied to assessment. The noun is used in the sense of goal while the adjective is used in the sense of independent of personal judgement. Thus objective assessment and assessment of objectives have entirely different meanings. Although the achievement of objectives is usually assessed this need not necessarily rely on objective assessment. Objectives can also be assessed via subjective assessment.
education. For this reason some educational organisations use the term learning outcome since this term is inclusive of education in which learners strive to achieve goals but extends further to include other forms of education. For example, in Learning through play
children are not made aware of specific goals but planned, beneficial outcomes result from the activity nevertheless.
Therefore the term learning outcome is replacing objective in some educational organisations. In some organisations the term learning outcome is used in the part of a course description where aims are normally found. One can equate aims to intended learning outcomes and objectives to measured learning outcomes. A third category of learning outcome is the unintended learning outcome which would include beneficial outcomes that were neither planned nor sought but are simply observed.
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
forms of the three words aim, objective and goal
Goal
A goal is an objective, or a projected computation of affairs, that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve.Goal, GOAL or G.O.A.L may also refer to:Sport...
are often used synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
ously, among professionals in organised education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, the words aim and objective are more narrowly defined and are distinct from each other. An objective is a measurable, observable behavior of less than a day's duration; a goal is the outcome of a series of successfully completed objectives, possibly measured over a series of days; while an aim is an expression of a long-term purpose, usually over the course of one or more years.
Course aims
The course aims are the raison d'être of the course. In the context of an organised unit of education, such as a course module or course programme, an aim is a (relatively) long term goal. Sometimes an aim sets a goal for the teacher to achieve in relation to the learners, sometimes course aims explicitly list long term goals for the learner and at other times there is a joint goal for the teacher and learner to achieve together. While the aim may be phrased as a goal for the teacher within the scope of the course it can also imply goals for the learner beyond the duration of the course. In a statement of an aim the third personThird person
Third person may refer to:* A grammatical person, he, she, "them" and they in the English language* Third-person narrative, a perspective in plays, storytelling, or movies...
singular
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
form of the verb with the subject
Subject (grammar)
The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...
course, programme or module is often used as an impersonal way of referring to the teaching staff and their goals. Similarly the learner is often referred to in the third person
Third person
Third person may refer to:* A grammatical person, he, she, "them" and they in the English language* Third-person narrative, a perspective in plays, storytelling, or movies...
singular even when he or she is the intended reader.
For example,
The goal which is explicitly expressed here is owned by the teachers and its scope lies within the duration of the course but that goal is determined by the learner's personal goal to become a successful dietician, the scope of which lies beyond the course. The latter aim is strongly implied by the stated course aim.
This explicitly sets a goal for teaching staff which they will try to achieve by the end of the course but implies that teachers will consider carefully the longer term goals of learners in all their diversity. I.e. the aim is both time-bound and forward looking.
Timescales for Aims
While teachers' aims are bound by the duration of the course, these aims are predicated on the needs and desires of learners, learners' families and society. The ultimate fulfilment of the aspirations of the learner and of stakeholders may come to fruition while the course is running, immediately after the end of the course or in the distant future depending on the course and on circumstane.Specificity of Aims
Aims vary in degree of specificity from one course to another. Some aims are set knowing that it will be impossible or difficult to judge whether they have been achieved by each learner. A vocationalVocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
course may include very specific aims related to performance in a specific career. Another course may aim simply to provide entertainment and enjoyment to its learners.
This aim is very general and includes the concept of enjoyment which can be surveyed but not reliably quantified.
This aim is specific to how this course module fits within a complete programme of study. The verbs review and develop refer to the actions of the teachers whereas the verb evaluate refers to the learner. Teachers will review principles, develop theory and practice with a view to the students achieving the goal of being able to evaluate performance of certain systems. The latter is presumably a skill which will be required of a learner for progression in the programme of study and in employment when the programme is complete.
Structure of Aims
Aims can be aggregated and grouped in courses that are structured into modules. In these cases an audit process may be needed to ensure that the sum of the aims for course modules align with the overall programme aims. A programme aim may be addressed in a single module aim or may be addressed repeatedly by multiple course modules within the programme.Achievement of Aims
In quality assuredQuality Assurance
Quality assurance, or QA for short, is the systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects of a project, service or facility to maximize the probability that minimum standards of quality are being attained by the production process...
education processes are put in place to evaluate the achievement of aims. There are a number of ways to judge the success of an aim. If learners succeed or fail to achieve learning objectives this may indicate success in some aspects of the aims but other aims relate to things which are less easily measured. For some courses it is more important to ask learners to subjectively judge whether the aims were achieved and for vocational courses it may be necessary to track the careers of learners for several years after leaving the course.
Course objectives
An objective is a (relatively) shorter term goal which successful learners will achieve within the scope of the course itself. Objectives are often worded in course documentation in a way that explains to learners what they should try to achieve as they learn. Some educational organisations design objectives which carefully match the SMART criteria borrowed from the business world.The use of objective as a noun and as an adjective is a source of potential confusion especially when the adjective objective is applied to assessment. The noun is used in the sense of goal while the adjective is used in the sense of independent of personal judgement. Thus objective assessment and assessment of objectives have entirely different meanings. Although the achievement of objectives is usually assessed this need not necessarily rely on objective assessment. Objectives can also be assessed via subjective assessment.
Timescales for objectives
Objectives are achieved while the course is in progress. Within a course, objectives may be spread out across sub-divisions of the course or may be assigned to the course as a whole. Generally a process of assessment is used to determine if learners have achieved objectives. That assessment may occur all at the end of the course or may occur at intervals during the course. When in-course assessment is used it occurs closer to the time when the learner should have met the objective.Specificity of objectives
Objectives vary widely in their level of specificity but generally they are more specific than their related aims. Increased specificity may be required so that they are measurable and suitable assessments can be devised. Increased specificity often means that many objectives come under the umbrella of the same aim. Some organisations prefer large numbers of highly specific objectives such that each one can map onto a single question within an examination whereas others prefer small number of objectives where each one can map onto an aspect of the marking criteria for a single assessment such as a thesis. A short categorical list of objectives may be presented in course documentation but is also split into more specific objectives for the purposes of the design of assessment.Structure of objectives
Sometimes the achievement of one objective is required as a prerequisite for the achievement of another objective. This may lead to quite complex structures of course objectives.Selection of Objectives
In most courses objectives are set by teachers and apply to all learners who enrol on the course. Sometimes individual learners set their own objectives in collaboration with teachers. The objectives always relate to the same course aims but according to the individual's interpretation of those aims and how they relate to personal goals.Learning outcomes
Since both aim and objective are in common language synonymous with goal they are both suggestive of a form of goal-orientedGoal-oriented
The concept of goal orientation was developed to describe variability in dispositional or situational goal preferences that an individual implicitly sets for him/herself in achievement situations. GOs assist in providing a motivational framework for how individuals perceive, interpret, and judge...
education. For this reason some educational organisations use the term learning outcome since this term is inclusive of education in which learners strive to achieve goals but extends further to include other forms of education. For example, in Learning through play
Learning through play
-Learning Through Play :Learning Through Play is a term widely used in education and psychology to describe how a child can learn to make sense of the world around them...
children are not made aware of specific goals but planned, beneficial outcomes result from the activity nevertheless.
Therefore the term learning outcome is replacing objective in some educational organisations. In some organisations the term learning outcome is used in the part of a course description where aims are normally found. One can equate aims to intended learning outcomes and objectives to measured learning outcomes. A third category of learning outcome is the unintended learning outcome which would include beneficial outcomes that were neither planned nor sought but are simply observed.