Written Objectives
by Daniel-Marie Lebel
1. Some Advantages to Writing Both Content and Language Objectives for Students to Hear and See
The students are able to understand what they are getting out of the lesson.
Not all students are going to understand what they are going to learn from written formal written objectives that only the teacher understands. Echvarria, Vogt. and Short (2008) state that objectives should be written based on student learning instead of as an agenda item. If the objectives are made visual and worded in a way so that the students can understand them, they will be able to understand what they need to know in the lesson being taught. If students aren't able to understand what they are getting out of the lesson then they will lose interest.
The translation of the objectives might help the students relate more to the main topic of the lesson.
Since the objectives are clear for the students if they are written for them to hear and see then they can make a connection to the lesson topic. It gives them a basis as to how they can understand the information. Vogt (n.d.) mentions that one of the three components of building background is using and connecting background to content. This may be through the objectives and constant assessment. The objectives give the students a chance to connect to the lesson because they have a chance to think more about it.
Activities are tailored to the objectives.
Without written objectives the teacher and the student would be a little lost as to what is meant to be given and taken from the lessons. The activities would not exist because there would not be an objective to tie the activity to student learning. Echvarria, Vogt, and Short (2008) state, "an objective is not a by-product of an activity but the foundation of one." Without any clue as to what the students are supposed to learn, there is no backbone for the lesson, no support or foundation. The objectives are like stepping stones or checkpoints toward the student understanding and achievement. Those stepping stones or checkpoints together make up routes called standards. The standards in turn all together make up an academic education. That academic education is the key to success in the future in careers.