Question

Describe in behavioral terms your specific planning process for your project and overall teaching goal for your participants.

Answer 1

The Learning objective or objectives that you use can be based on three areas of learning: knowledge, skills and attitudes. Learning objectives define learning outcomes and focus teaching. They help to clarify, organize and prioritize learning. Objectives for learning can be grouped into three major domains: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective.

The Learning objective or objectives that you use can be based on three areas of learning: knowledge, skills and attitudes. Learning objectives define learning outcomes and focus teaching. They help to clarify, organize and prioritize learning.

Learning Outcomes are statements that describe significant and essential learning that learners have achieved, and can reliably demonstrate at the end of a course or program. In this outcomes-based approach to education, the ability to demonstrate learning is the key point.

Specific Objectives are statements that describe: results in terms of knowledge, attitude, skill, aspiration, and behavior. participant performance, rather than trainer performance or instructional procedure. expected performance change at the job site.

Writing your research objectives clearly helps to:

•     Define the focus of your study.
•     Clearly identify variables to be measured.
•     Indicate the various steps to be involved.
•     Establish the limits of the study.
•     Avoid collection of any data that is not strictly necessary.

A project objective describes the desired results of a project, which often includes a tangible item. An objective is specific and measurable, and must meet time, budget, and quality constraints.

Objectives can be used in project planning for business, government, nonprofit organizations, and even for personal use (for example, in resumes to describe the exact position a job-seeker wants). A project may have one objective, many parallel objectives, or several objectives that must be achieved sequentially. To produce the most benefit, objectives must be defined early in the project life cycle, in phase two, the planning phase.

A well written objective is crucial because it can affect every step of the project life cycle. When you create a specific objective, you give your team a greater chance of achieving the objective because they know precisely what they’re working towards. Clear project objectives also support the current emphasis on total quality management: every member of the team can consider themselves responsible for quality, because the whole team can see the desired outcome from the beginning of the project.

All types of endeavors can benefit from objectives. As an individual, you may use an objective to target exactly what to plan for. For example, you may know you want to go to graduate school, but finding an objective will help you to understand that you want to obtain a sociology degree at your local community college and to graduate in six years. A small nonprofit group may use objectives to determine that success for a recycling education program is when 40 percent of households in a county request free composting buckets. A construction company might use objectives to keep a building project on schedule and within budget.

No matter what the project type, templates can make the job easier, from crafting the objective statements to planning the project.

The words “objective” and “goal” are sometimes used interchangeably. However, goals and objectives are actually separate items that have their own unique and important roles. In project management, you may encounter several descriptions of aspirations, intentions, and needs for an organization or project. Here are definitions of some commonly used project management terms, to help provide a better understanding of how project objectives fit in the vernacular:  

Vision Statement - A statement that expresses the high-level intention of a project (often with lofty or unachievable goals). For example, a school may aim for perfect pupil attendance or a company may strive for 100% customer satisfaction.

Business Goals - A company creates these to describe the overall outcomes it wants to accomplish in a certain time frame. Business goals are captured in business plans.   

Goals - A high-level, broad, non-specific, and long-term definition of what the group or organization wants to accomplish. Goals are not measurable, and several discrete projects may be needed to achieve a goal. Some people say that project goals do not need to be defined, so long as a project manager understands the business goals. However, project objectives are always needed. In a business, project goals are influenced by business goals.

Objectives - Influenced by goals, an objective is a low-level description of the specific and measureable outcomes desired from a project. Activities and most likely deliverables will contribute to achieving the objective. The project and its objectives must always contribute to the goal, otherwise the project should not be attempted.
      
Bottomline: Goals are high-level, general statements about the aims of the project, while objectives are detailed statements about what the project should accomplish.

Activities - This is what your team will do to achieve the objective. An activity can be a specific action or a process, and many activities will likely be involved to meet objectives. As with everything in project management, the key consideration for activities is that they contribute directly to achieving the objective, and thereby the goal.

Deliverables - A specific, tangible product or thing, like a report or a software app. One or more deliverables may contribute to achieving an objective, but it is important not to define the objective as a deliverable. In other words, if the objective is written at too low a level, you risk creating the wrong deliverables. Rather, the objective is there to guide you and the team to determine what products or processes are needed. For example, say you have difficulty falling asleep each night. You may decide that your objective is to buy relaxing chamomile tea. Drinking the tea might help, but if your objective had been to ensure at least seven hours of sleep a night by the following month, you might have explored other solutions that would have greater benefits, such as making sure to get an hour of exercise every day.
  
Requirements - A description of features and functions. Objectives should not include features and functions.

It can be stressful and difficult to write a clear objective, especially with the many moving pieces of any project and so much dependent on the objective itself. Luckily, there are several ways to approach the writing. Consider that objectives will contain key performance indicators (KPIs) that are specific to your business or area of interest. Think about how you would know that your project was successful. Does it serve a certain population group or customer base? What change do you want to see as a result of the project?

An easy way to ensure that you include enough detail in your objective is to follow the mnemonic S.M.A.R.T.:

Specific: Define your objectives clearly, in detail, leaving no room for misinterpretation. Think of the five w’s (who, what, when, where, and why).

Measurable: State the measures and performance specifications you’ll use to determine whether you’ve met your objectives.

Achievable or Attainable: Choose objectives that the team has a reasonable expectation of successfully completing.

Realistic: Set objectives the project team believes it can achieve. Relevant objectives align with group or company goals.

Time-bound: Include the date or specific period by which you’ll achieve the objectives.