Module 4: Planning for Learning - Those Obnoxious Objectives

Developing clear goals and objectives or describing the outcomes will improve any scholarly endeavor, especially teaching. These two terms—Goals and Objectives—are often confused or used synonymously.

Goals are general guides to the intended outcome. A goal is usually too global to be evaluated and is not observable or measurable.

Goal: To understand the immune response.

Objectives are specific and operational. That is, who will do what to whom.

Objective: The student will be able to describe the function of the T and B cells.

Write an objective for teaching students how to take a blood pressure. Which of these objectives can be evaluated? The medical student will understand how to measure blood pressure. The medical student will be able to take a blood pressure and identify Korotkoff's sounds with +/-5% accuracy.