Smart objectives

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Developing SMART objectives

+Aim and Objectives Aim

To develop a greater understanding of the value and purpose of SMART objectives and plan for improvements in the writing of lesson objectives.

Objectives Explain the difference between an aim and an

objective. Explain the difference between SMART and NOT

SMART objectives. Produce a set of SMART objectives. Evaluate how SMART objectives are on 3 session

plans

+Aims – what are they?

Clear and concise statements that describe what the TEACHER hopes to achieve.

To improve the learners’ ability to communicate effectively in formal written English.

To develop an understanding of the role of an Artist.

Compass Directions

Aims are like compass directions – indicating the general direction the TEACHER wishes to travel.

To explore open and closed questioning techniques

Aims are not specific or SMART enough to assess whether learning has taken place.

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The difference between aims and objectives

Aims are teacher-centred.

Learning outcomes or objectives are learner-centred and if written SMART(ly) progress can be measured.

+ Writing aims

To develop an awareness of

To develop an appreciation of

To develop an understanding of

To explore

+SMART

The acronym SMART is widely used to describe learning outcomes and objectives.

A learning outcome or objective is a personalised target.

SMART objectives identify what’s going to happen, who’s going to do it, and when it’s going to be done by.

This is easy to say but much harder to do in practice.

+Making sense of SMART SPECIFIC

They say exactly what you mean (overall main aim, broken down into small steps).

MEASURABLE You can prove that you’ve reached them.

ACHIEVABLE You can reach them (broken down into small steps to make

their achievement more obvious to the learner)

REALISTIC They are about the action you take

TIME-RELATED They have deadlines (broken down for any small steps that

might be required).

+SMART in action: Activity 1 SMART in action

(see Setting SMART Objectives Help Sheet)

Activity 1 : Making targets SMARTER.

Decide whether the objectives are SMART or NOT SMART. SMARTen up those which are not.

Bloom’s TaxonomyHigh cognitive demand – reasoning

requiredEvaluation

Judge, evaluate, give arguments for and against, criticiseSynthesis

Summarise, generalise, argue, create, design, explain the reason for

AnalysisBreak down, list component parts of, compare and contrast,

solve, differentiate betweenApplication

Use, apply, construct, solve, selectComprehension

Explain, describe, give reasons for, identify causes of, illustrate

KnowledgeList, recognise, select, reproduce, draw

Low cognitive demand – little reasoning required

+ Challenge is good!

Staying at the bottom of Bloom’s Taxonomy can lead to surface learning eg learning without understanding.

Knowledge tasks are fine as a start, (list, recognise) but we must build in more difficult tasks into our teaching (lesson plans) which cover higher levels of learning for learning to be effective. (explain, compare, evaluate, analyse, give arguments for and against)

Some questions to consider when looking at objectives:

Are your lesson objectives appropriate?

Who really owns the objectives?

Are they challenging (Bloom’s taxonomy)?

Are lesson objectives sufficiently specific and measurable?

Are your lesson objectives achievable?

Do your lesson objectives relate to your overall aim?

Aim and Objectives

Aim To develop a greater understanding of the

value and purpose of SMART objectives and plan for improvements in the writing of lesson objectives.

Objectives Explain the difference between an aim and an

objective. Explain the difference between SMART and NOT

SMART objectives. Produce a set of SMART objectives. Evaluate how SMART objectives are on 3

session plans