Clearly Communicating the Learning Objective Matters!

Abstract

Clearly communicating lesson objectives supports student learning and positive behavior.Teacher performance assessment systems frequently include whether or not the learning objective was posted in the classroom or stated to students. This is considered distinct from a daily agenda of topics and tasks because the objective specifies what it is students are supposed to learn by engaging in units of activity around concepts. The expectation is to be phrased in behavioral, measurable terms (see example verbs in Figure 1), and many educators rely upon taxonomies to determine whether the wording is oriented toward a lower or higher level of cognition (e.g., Bloom, 1976). It is such a routine component of lesson planning that the role of identifying the objective is often taken for granted. However, in this age of research-based practices, its value warrants closer examination.Tell students up front what it is you want them to learnGagne (1977) and Hunter (1980) are frequently credited with developing the instructional sequences that include stating the objective at the beginning of a lesson or after a brief anticipatory activity. Although intended as models for all classrooms, the procedures are also incorporated in explicit instruction models (e.g., Archer & Hughes, 2011), which have become a hallmark of effective practices for students with learning disabilities (Carnine, Silbert, Kameenui, & Tarver 2004; Swanson, 2001). The purpose of setting the objective is twofold. First, teachers need to be cognizant of the goal of their instruction so that the lesson can be purposefully designed as a sort of road map to achieve that end (Vaughn & Bos, 2010). Second, because they are explicitly stated in behavioral terms, objectives serve as performance expectations that establish for the students and teachers, alike, what is expected of the learner as an outcome of the lesson components (English & Steffy, 2001).In essence, the objective ought to answer the question: How do we know if the student met a standard or mastered a concept? Without specifying that measurable behavior, it is impossible to determine the quality of the lesson, the preparedness of students for subsequent or the necessary adaptations to make the curriculum universally accessible. Hence, the practice would fall under the Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment characteristics expressed in This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents (National Middle School Association [NMSA, now Association for Middle Level Education], 2010), because it is part of being prepared to teach students effectively and involving them in purposeful learning.Some have argued that objective-led lessons, with their accompanying explicit instruction, make students passive and can only result in superficial learning (Blair, 2007). Such critics maintain that objectives should be negotiated throughout a lesson so that students develop an ability to guide their own learning. However, there is little evidence offered to support that these types of inquiry or facilitative methods produce the greater conceptual understanding they intend, particularly among students with learning disabilities or those demonstrating low achievement. Rather, research on instructional techniques in all core content areas has found that explicitly linking classroom activities to learning goals helps students understand the purpose of the instruction and feel motivated to engage with the ideas (Baker, Gersten, & Lee, 2002; Banilower, Cohen, Pasley, & Weiss, 2010; Torgesen et al., 2007; Twyman, McCleery, & Tindal, 2006).Students experiencing difficulty seem to need a clear picture of where the lesson is headed and what they need to do to be successful. In fact, stating the lesson objective was one of three variables found to make a significant contribution to student outcomes in special education settings (Englert, 1984). Students' academic performance, in turn, can have a reciprocal relationship with their behavior (Sugai & Horner, 2009; Shinn, Stoner, & Walker, 2002). …