Definition -- Instructional objectives describe the skills, knowledge, abilities or attitudes students should possess or demonstrate after they complete the training. The starting point for designing a course of study should include these instructional objectives; the objectives determine the intended outcomes of the training. Good instructional objectives describe an observable performance, one that can be observed and measured by an instructor or manager. In a nutshell, instructional objectives:

• Describe a skill that students are expected to possess after instruction
• Describe a measurable performance
• Describe the performance conditions

Learning Objectives -- Instructional Objectives are not just brief descriptions of lesson content or descriptions of student activities. Each question on a quiz should link to a specific learning objective in the course. One or more learning objectives are written for each module or lesson in the training.

Objectives vs. Activities -- To help distinguish Instructional Objectives from instructional activities, consider these two examples sentences:
        1. The student will view a simulation of XYZ software operations.
        2. The student will list at least three XYZ software operations.

Learning Outcomes -- Well-written learning objectives describe what the student will be able to do after the training; these objectives represent the intended learning outcomes from the training. It is a good practice to write Instructional Objectives before or while writing the course outline or Storyboard. That way, the course can "teach to the objectives." Then when the Instructional Designer or SME writes the test, they will be able to test how well the course taught the objectives and how well the students learned them. In this way, Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes are directly related.

Measurable Performance -- A good learning objective describes a measurable performance. Instructional objectives should ask students to perform a task that is observable and measurable. Thus, objectives should:
        · Include a verb that describes a student performance that can be observed
        · Include a list of criteria to be used to measure student performance

The verb in a learning objective plays a key role in determining whether the objective is measurable or observable. Verbs like "know" and "understand" should be avoided because whether or not a student "knows" or "understands" something cannot be measured.

These are some examples of poorly-written learning objectives:
      ·   Students will be able to recognize that pursuing democratic ideals requires diligence.
      ·   Students will understand the use of the Dewey decimal system.
      ·   Employees will demonstrate positive habits of the mind.

Note that these learning outcomes could only be measured "subjectively," and not objectively.

     Hierarchy -- Bloom and his co-workers established a hierarchy of educational objectives, generally referred to as Bloom's Taxonomy, an attempt to divide cognitive objectives into subdivisions. The taxonomy provides a useful structure in which to categorize test questions, since professors will characteristically ask questions within particular levels.

     Verbs -- Like writing instruction objectives, writing test questions involves verb selection. Listed below are examples of verbs often used in test questions.

Using Bloom's Taxonomy as a guide, the verbs below have been categorized according to the intellectual activity they represent, ranked here from the highest to the lowest level.

•  Knowledge:  Who fought in the War of 1812?
•  Comprehension:  Name the states in the Confederacy.
•  Application:  Why was the Boston Tea Party a significant act for the settlers?
•  Analysis:   How does the American Civil War compare with the French Civil War?
•  Synthesis:   If you can only take 10 cultural items to a new world, what will you take?
•  Evaluation:   Do you agree with the main precepts of the Green Party? Why or why not?

Definition - Traditionally, the ADDIE model is used by instructional designers and training developers. ADDIE is an acronym for the five phases of the training building process—Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. The ADDIE Model represents a flexible guideline for building effective training.

ADDIE Model Steps and Procedures

Variations of the ADDIE Model - Most of the current instructional design models are variations of the ADDIE model. One commonly accepted improvement to this model is the use of rapid prototyping: that is, receiving feedback while instructional materials are being created. This model attempts to save time and money by catching problems while they are still easy to fix. For example, the ADDIE model was used in the framework for helping create new research topics in learning technology.