Writing Behavioral Objectives

Last Modified: 3/20/96

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Behavioral Objective Defined

• An objective is a clear and unambiguous description of your educational expectations for students. When written in behavioral terms, an objective will include three components: student behavior, conditions of performance, and performance criteria.

Three Parts of a Behavioral Objective

1. Student Behavior -- skill or knowledge to be gained (e.g., two digit numbers, vocabulary words) and the action or skill the student is able TO DO (e.g., define, count, label, categorize, analyze, design, evaluate, add, multiply, etc.)
   • Examples: Students will add two-digit numbers; Students will define the vocabulary words identified in bold print in the first story.
2. Conditions of Performance -- under what circumstances or context will the behavior be performed
   • Examples: In an oral presentation; Without the use of notes
3. Performance Criteria -- how well is the behavior is to done; compared to what standard
   • Examples: 80 out of 100; containing all components discussed in class.

Example of a well-written behavioral objective:

• In an oral presentation, the student will paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther Kings's I Have a Dream address, mentioning at least 3 of the 5 major points discussed in class.

Behavioral objectives can be written for any of the domains of instruction (i.e., cognitive, affective, or psychomotor.)

Excellent resources:

• Kizlik, B. (2002). How to write behavioral objectives. Boca Raton, FL: Adprima. Retrieved: September 2002. [http://www.adprima.com/objectives.htm]

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