guidelines for writing learning objectives

[stacy]

For a presentation of the rationale behind taking the time to develop explicit learning objectives, see Robert Mager's 1962 book, Preparing Instructional Objectives.

You can find a reasonable concise set of guidelines for writing learning objectives here:

http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/desweb/RES/OBJECT.HTM

You can find a sample set of learning objectives for a economic geography course here:

http://faculty.washington.edu/krumme/courses/geog350lo.html

This is a useful set of verbs for formulating objectives:
(from http://www.distance.uvic.ca/faculty/learning_objectives.htm)

USEFUL VERBS AND PHRASES:
state
describe
demonstrate
compare
suggest reasons why
give examples of
explain
evaluate
pick out
distinguish between
analyse
carry out
summarize
show diagrammatically

VERBS AND PHRASES TO AVOID:
appreciate
be familiar with
be aware of
become acquainted with
gain a working knowledge of
know
understand
If you start with verbs like "know" or "understand", make sure that you state how the learner will demonstrate their "knowing" or "understanding".