Relationship Between Evaluation Instruments and Objectives

General Objective: Learners will become familiar with a variety of evaluation instruments

Specific Learning Objectives: Learners will be able to describe the relationship between objectives and evaluation.

Content

We have identified a number of evaluation instruments and classified them in various ways,. Now we need to examine the relationships between objectives and evaluation. Lets begin by examining the cul-de-sac diagram.

Once again, the cul-de-sac metaphor suggests that it does matter where you start and that it does not matter which direction you go.

The verb written in the objective will indicate how it will be taught and how it will be evaluated. The rest of the objective dictates the content that will be taught. Let us examine one objective and determine how it dictates how the learners will be evaluated. We have already examined this objective from the instructional strategies that could be planned.

Objective: Learners will be able to use the four-step approach to writing business letters. (The verb is use. and it answers the How question. The content is business letters and it answers the What question.

Use is listed in Bloom's Taxonomy at an application level. Therefore the instructor is responsible for teaching about the four-steps for writing business letters. (knowledge) This might be delivered by a lecture by the instructor.

To evaluate this objective, students must be able to use the four-steps to write business letters; therefore, students must complete an assignment or test that requires them to write one or more business letters using the four steps. The assignment or test question will likely require the students to indicate the four steps.

It does not matter if the strategies and content are planned first or the evaluation instrument is planned first. The planning is centered around the specific learning objective that is written in the course outline. The course specific learning objective may be broken down into several smaller parts and more specific learning objectives that are taught in one or more lessons.

All three component (objective, content and teaching strategy, and evaluation) must be reflected in each other.

Activity

In a paragraph describe the relationship between lesson objectives and evaluation.