TOPIC THREE

Educational Aims and Instructional Objectives

Introduction

This topic defines educational aims as used in the educational setup. It also gives the
characteristics of educational goals and also defines instructional objectives as used in the
classroom. It outlines the characteristics of instructional objectives as designed for the lesson.
The topic discusses the concepts in the framework of Bloom’s taxonomy. We hope that you
will enjoy this session. The topic has three sections namely; educational goals, instructional
objectives and the use of terms in the construction of instructional objectives.

Topic Objectives

By the end of the topic the learner should be able to:

1. Define the concepts: educational aims, educational goals, instructional objectives.
2. Distinguish between instructional objectives from educational goals
3. Describe the characteristics of educational goals and instructional objectives

Educational Aims

 Aims are general statements that provide direction of educational action.

 Describe expected life outcomes based on a value system.
 Aims express the views of: educators, politicians, interest groups in society, social
economic and technological forces, students and teachers.
 State the content in very broad general terms.

Educational aims have origins in education commissions formed after independence:

 Ominde Commission (1964) – to express aspirations and cultural values of an

independent African society.
 Bessie Report (1972) – change of attitude in recognizing purposes of education and
changing the inherited curricula.
 The Kenya Development Plan (1974) – laid emphasis on technical education
 Gachathi Report (1976) – recommended 9 years basic education with a bias on
prevocational subjects.
 Mackay Report (1981) – 8-4-4 and removed A-Level component.
  Kamunge Report (1988) – cost sharing.
 Koech Commission (1999)- subjects reduction

Educational Goals

Goals are statements of education intention which provide a destination of an educational action.

 Goals give the end point of an educational outcome

 Goals aim at achieving particular purposes in education
 Goals provide teachers with broad statements of what they expect to accomplish in the
teaching and learning process

Translating aims into goals is influenced by parliament which mandates the Ministry of Education
to develop a curriculum that will break the aims into broad GOALS. The goals of education in
Kenya are to:
1. Foster nationalism, patriotism and promote national unity.
2. Promote social, economic, technological and industrial needs for national development.
3. Promote individual development and fulfillment.
4. Promote sound moral and religious values.
5. Promote social equality and responsibility.
6. Promote respect for and development of Kenya’s rich and varied cultures.
7. Promote international consciousness and foster positive attitude towards other nations.
8. Promote positive attitudes towards good health and environmental protection.

The Goals of education are expressed in the following hierarchies:

 Functions of education.
 National aims of Education.
 Course goals e.g secondary.
 Subject wise goals.
 Specific instructional objectives.

EXAMPLE;

Educational aim

Promote positive attitude towards good health.

Course/program goal

To develop in individuals an appreciation of and awareness of what is necessary for good physical
and mental health
 Subject specific goal

P.E will help learner to improve and maintain bodily health and fitness

Topic objective

The learner should be able to acquire, develop and maintain efficient body movement skills

Instructional objective

By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to perform backward roll with ease

DOMAINS OF LEARNING

A specifications that shows the elements and interrelations of teaching and learning. There are 3
domains in Teaching and Learning.

1. Cognitive - learning by mental processes. Focuses on statements that specify acquisition

of knowledge i.e recall, comprehension. Leads to development of intellectual skills.

2. Psychomotor - learning by development of skills through co-ordination of the brain and

muscles.
 3. Affective - focuses on statements specifying acquisition of particular attitudes, values or
appreciations.

QUIZ 1

Classify the following objectives into the three domains discussed

1. To develop interest in reading for pleasure

2. To develop the ability to trap a ball with the inside of both feet
3. To assist learners differentiate between weather and climate
 4. To appreciate their own tribal music
5. To learn how to prepare a correct balance sheet
6. Mwanafunzi aweze kutaja aina tano za mavazi ya mwanamke
7. To write about a scaring personal experience

Instructional Objectives

These are:

 Specific statements of educational intentions which are to be achieved in specific

timelines such as in a 40 minutes lesson
 They are written in behavioral terms
 The statements that reflect the three domains of learning

An instructional objective describes:

The specific action of learning outcome

The behavior required to perform it
The condition for measuring or evaluating the outcome
The degree to which it will be acceptable that learning has taken place

Terminologies used in writing objectives

1. Instruction - the process of directing or guiding a learner towards acquiring knowledge. A

learner is helped to understand ideas, concepts and content.
2. Objective - a description of the performance you want a learner to be able to exhibit after
instruction
3. Content - specifies what is to be taught/learnt in terms of scope and role
4. Learning activities - what learners will be engaged in to ensure objective is achieved

Characteristics of an instructional objective

1. A- Audience
2. B - Behaviour
3. C - Condition
4. D - The Degree or performance standards

Audience:

 This is the learner from whom behavior/action will be observed.

Audience is always introduced by the phrase:
 By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to……………….

Behaviour
  The specific activities that show learning has taken place or that the objective has been
achieved.
 What the learner should do to demonstrate he has understood the content
 The activities that can be observed from a learner. Can be overt/behavioral (observed
directly e.g draw, write, sing, list) or covert behavior (cannot be observed directly e.g
know).

NOTE: Note that covert behavior is not measurable, therefore never used in writing
instructional objectives.

Example:
By the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to draw a circle of 3.5 cm radius.
A B C D

Conditions

 Describes the situation in which the learner is required to demonstrate the behavior learnt
 The conditions can be determined by:

- Aids or tools a student is allowed to use

- Restrictions placed on the student by the examiner

- How the information is supposed to be presented e.g a diagram, an essay

Example: By the end of …………….. able to solve a pair of simultaneous equations using the
elimination method

Degree/Standard of Performance

 Refers to the minimum level of performance that is acceptable as evidence that the
learner has achieved a set objective.

Examples:

 By the end of ………………. answer nine out of ten questions correctly

 By the end of ………………. solve a sum in three minutes

 Given a list of chemical elements, the learner should be able to…..

Use of Terms in Objectives

When stating an Instructional objective, it should be SMART:

 - S – Specific

- M – Measurable

- A – Achievable

- R – Realistic

- T – Time bound

Examples

 By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to type 25 words per minute with not
more than two errors.

(Here a learner is observed when typing within a minute and errors should not exceed two.)

 Given a pair of compasses and a ruler, the learner should be able to draw a right angled
triangle without using a protractor.

 By the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to construct simple sentences using
collective nouns.

 By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to identify the important events that
led to the start of First World War.

Uses of Objectives

 To evaluate instruction - tells us what the learner is expected to be able to do as a result

of instruction.

 To guide student learning - tells the learner what the outcome of their learning should be
thus providing criteria they can use to judge their own learning.

 To help the teacher plan and effectively use the time available for teaching.

 Acts as a means of providing feedback that learning took place.

 Provide a sound base for selecting instructional materials, content or methods.

Summary

In this topic you have learnt about educational goals and instructional objectives. You now know
the meaning of a goal, educational goals and instructional objectives. We have also looked at the
use of terms in writing objectives. You have also learnt about the relationship between educational
goals and instructional objectives. We are confident that you can clearly state an educational goal
and an instructional objective. You are therefore ready to proceed to the next topic. In topic four,
we will discuss about teaching strategies, methods and techniques.

QUIZ 3
1. Give the meaning of an educational goal (5 marks)
2. Differentiate between a goal and an objective ( 8 marks)
3. State the attributes of a well stated instructional objective (5 marks)
4. List appropriate terms used in stating an instructional objective (5 marks)
5. Write down a well stated instructional objective to guide learning of a specific concept
in one of your teaching subjects. (7 marks)