The Field Guide to the 6Ds: How to Use the Six Disciplines to Transform Learning into Business Results

H2 D1.3

How to Use (and Not Use) Learning Objectives

Introduction

Learning objectives are a critical link between the identification of a training need and the delivery of training to meet that need (Garavan, Hogan, & Cahir-O'Donnell, 2003, p. 182). They serve three vital purposes:

• To define specifically what a successful learner will be able to do as a result of the instruction
• To guide the selection of content, methods, and exercises
• To establish criteria for determining whether or not the instruction was successful.

Instructional objectives require three elements to fulfill these purposes (Mager, 1997, p. 47):

• Performance. The objective ...