Script writing behavioral objectives
- 1. EDU 287 1 Joan Ehrlich SCRIPT – Writing Behavioral Objectives Slide 1: Title: Writing Behavioral Objectives This presentation explains the importance of writing behavioral objectives and provides some steps to help you get started in the process. Slide 2: Photo of Child Working on an Art Project Children learn by doing, and by observing them, we are able to ascertain what they have learned. Behavioral objectives describe what one should expect to see as evidence that the child has learned. Therefore, behavioral objectives are a critical part of any lesson plan. Slide 3: List of components of a lesson plan The following are the components you should expect to see in a lesson plan. Some of the categories or headings may vary somewhat, but generally speaking; these should appear in one form or another in a well-organized lesson plan. Goal Behavioral Objectives Activity Procedure Materials Environment Measurement/Assessment Reflection/Assessment
- 2. EDU 287 2 Joan Ehrlich Slide 4: List of components of a lesson plan For the purpose of this discussion, we are going to focus on the Behavioral Objective component of the lesson plan. Goal Behavioral Objectives Activity Procedure Materials Environment Measurement/Assessment Reflection/Assessment Slide 5: The goal describes, in general, what you hope to achieve in your lesson Here you can see that, very generally speaking, the teacher wants to help the children develop and use appropriate social skills. Getting a little more specific, the teacher wants the children to take turns while playing games. However, the teacher will have to get even more specific as this goal becomes articulated as a behavioral objective. Slide 6: Objectives describe, specifically, what the student will do to Demonstrate Mastery of the Goal Based on your goal of developing social skills, here is an example of a behavioral objective you might have, that could be accomplished in a game of Follow the Leader.
- 3. EDU 287 3 Joan Ehrlich Slide 7: Objectives are Observable One of the key requirements of a behavioral objective is that whatever is to be measured must be observable. So for example, to Count, Recite, Move, Tell, and Describe. These can be observed. These, on the other hand, can NOT be observed: Think, Understand, or Know. These things go on inside a child’s head. You must see the child do something – like count, for example – in order to say that he or she understands or knows numbers. Slide 8: Objectives are measurable In addition to stating an observable behavior, you must also indicate a way to measure success. What determines mastery of the skill or concept? You might want the child to perform an activity 80% of the time, or another way of saying that would be 4 OUT OF 5 trials or 8 out of 10 opportunities. You might want a child to retell a story he has heard, with 70% accuracy or 7/10 details included. Slide 9: Behavioral Objectives have 3 main components Performance describes what you want the student to do to show that he/she has mastered the skill or the information? This part of the objective includes an active verb like describe, define, tell, and recite. These are behaviors that can be observed. Condition describes the situation or conditions under which you expect this behavior to occur. For example, given a prompt from the teacher … Measurement (Criteria) tells how many times (or how well) the behavior must occur to be considered mastery. You may have noticed that the previous slide, showing measurement, did not include 100% accuracy. That is because 70% - 80% accuracy is usually considered mastery. You always want to leave room for error, even for a skill or subject that has been mastered.
- 4. EDU 287 4 Joan Ehrlich Slide 10: Using the example from before Using our example of behavioral objective from before, here are your components: Performance (the student) will go to the back of the line. Condition In a game of Follow the Leader With prompt from teacher Measurement (Criteria) – in 4/5 opportunities Slide 11: The Ultimate test of a behavioral, measurable objective is that anyone reading it can picture what the student will do to demonstrate that the skill has been mastered. When writing a behavioral objective, you want to keep this rule of thumb in mind. Anyone who reads your objective should be able to understand exactly what skill or concept is to be mastered, what the student is expected to do to demonstrate mastery, and what criteria will be used to measure mastery.