Educational Psychology / Unit 10 EDP 0908 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Building and Repairing Objectives
The idea
To build a Mager objective, write each part in turn. The behavior must be observable, something a teacher could see or hear: identify, write, solve, label. Words such as understand, appreciate or know are not observable. The conditions describe the circumstances of performance, such as the materials given or the setting. The criterion states how well the student must perform: a number correct, a time limit or a level of accuracy.
In practice
Worked example: "After three days of instruction, students will understand photosynthesis." Two repairs are needed. "Understand" is not observable, so it becomes "label the inputs and outputs." "After three days of instruction" describes the teaching, not the performance, so it becomes "given an unlabeled diagram." Adding a criterion gives: "Given an unlabeled diagram, the student will label the inputs and outputs of photosynthesis with no more than one error."
Where people slip
The commonest faults are an unobservable verb and a condition that describes the teacher's schedule rather than the student's task. A missing criterion leaves no way to decide whether the objective was met.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Educational Psychology