Objectives

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Objectives

What can you do on this screen?

On the Objectives tab, you can build the learning objectives based on your completed task analysis. LEAD will automatically generate the learning objectives by using the verb, skill text, and any selected conditions and standards from the task, subtask, and step information you entered for the task analysis. A task becomes a Terminal Objective (TO), while subtasks and steps become Enabling Objectives (EOs). From this baseline, you can change the objective type from Terminal to Enabling or vice versa. You can also change the Skill Basis the objective is based on (i.e., the task, subtask, or step), where an objective can be based on more than one skill). An objective can also be based on the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) entries of a task (and yes, you can select more than one KSA for an objective).

 

Initiatives > Objectives

Figure 101: Initiatives > Objectives

In the Design tab > Curriculum Development folder you will build out the table of contents structure. The Scope of the initiative determines what each level in the table of contents structure is named. In that table of contents structure, the EO is linked to the lowest level (e.g., section), while a TO is linked one level higher, i.e., to the second lowest level (e.g., lesson).

Note: Each TO must have at least one EO associated (underneath) with it. If the scope of your initiative is set to: Lesson, Distance Learning Lesson, Mentoring, or Workshop, you can have only ONE TO. You can have as many EOs as you would like. All other initiative scopes allow you to have as many TOs and EOs as you can come up with (and as you need).

In general, learning objectives should state what the participant will be able to do after they complete a piece of learning content, using the construct of:

Condition, under which the participant will be required to perform the desired behavior - this could be a list of things they are allowed to use, or not allowed to use, or it could be a location or time of day.

Behavior, what the participant will be required to be able to do.

Standard, to which the participant should perform the behavior - this should be measurable! That is why LEAD does not come with the verbs "Understand" or "Know" as standard, as those are not measurable.

However, this will depend on your organization's standards for learning objectives. Some organizations want very specific learning objectives, while others only want to see those conditions and standards that are different from the expected conditions (e.g., in a classroom) and standards (e.g., without errors).

Once you've added the automatically generated objectives using Add Missing AddMissingIcon, you can:

View Table-View the objective.

Edit Table-Edit the objective, including the:

oObjective text.

oObjective type (TO or EO).

oSkill basis of the objective; an objective can be based on one or more skills or KSA entries from the task analysis.

oAssessment information, including the learning domain, passing criteria, and criticality index information, and for EOs also test item type and number of test items.

Select View Comments Table-Comment to view, edit, and add to the comments for that objective.  

Select Show History Table-History to review the changes made to the objective, including the user name and date/time of saved changes, and revert to an earlier saved revision.

Delete Table-Delete the selected objective, as long as it is not linked/used in the Curriculum Development folder on the Design tab. Once you've selected OK to the confirmation message, an Undo button displays on the bottom left of the screen that allows you to revert the deletion.

Add a NewIcon objective, based on one or more skills or KSA entries from the task analysis.

Resequence Resequence the objectives in the teaching or learning order.

Export Export-Blue the Objective Assessment Information spreadsheet that is generated to list all objectives, along with the assessment information that is gathered for the objective.

Add Missing AddMissingIcon to add objectives, after amending the task analysis on the Analysis tab.

Select Explain Flag ExplainFlag to review the reasons the objective has been flagged.

Lock Lock the objective to prevent edits from taking place.

Unlock Unlock a locked objective to allow edits to take place again.

Select View Comments Table-Comment-Blue to view, edit, and add to the comments for all objectives on the screen.  

Before you start editing the objective text and the objectives themselves, we recommend that you first:

Sort the learning objectives in teaching/learning order.

Change the objective type (TO to EO and EO to TO) to reflect the importance each skill has in the initiative.

Add new objectives, where needed, based on one or more skills or KSA entries.

Add to the skill basis of an objective (in effect basing an objective on more than one skill or KSA entry).

Delete any objectives that are not needed (specifically those that have been subsumed by another objective). Once you've selected OK to the confirmation message, an Undo button displays on the bottom left of the screen that allows you to revert the deletion.

Remember, you can have multiple objectives based on one skill or KSA entry, and you can have one objective based on multiple skills or KSA entries. However, each skill in your task analysis must be linked to an objective.

Details on the Objectives Table

No

The number (No) column provides a sequential count of the entries, which is not attached to the entries themselves.

[Flags]

The flag indicates that the item has been modified or is impacted by a modification. Select the item and then Explain Flag ExplainFlag to view more details about the flag or flags.

Type

The Type of learning objective, whether Terminal or Enabling. You can change the type of the learning objective at any time, prior to using it in the table of contents structure that is developed on the Design tab, under the Curriculum Development folder. In that table of contents structure, the EO is linked to the lowest level (e.g., Section), while a TO is linked one level higher, i.e., to the second lowest level (e.g., Lesson).

If you no longer see a drop-down selection for the Type field, then that means the objective is in use in the table of contents structure on the Design tab.

Each TO needs to have one or more EOs underneath it in the list of objectives. That does mean that the first objective in the list should be a TO. If it is not, Resequence Resequence the objectives.

Objective Text

The Objective text is generated from the Task Attributes (the selected conditions and standards are automatically used when the learning objective is generated. You can edit this text as needed.

Skill Basis

The Skill Type that forms the basis of the objective, which could be a task, subtask, step, knowledge, skill, or ability entry that was selected for this objective.

Content Type

The Content Type of the enabling objective or this table of contents item. You have the following options:

Fact - a unique specific item or specific information (e.g., November 11 is Veterans Day in the U.S.).

Concept - a class of items that share common features and are known by a common name (e.g., chair).

Procedure - a series of clearly defined steps you perform to complete a task (e.g., starting a generator).

Process - describes how things work (e.g., operation of an internal combustion engine).

Principle - requires the use of guidelines to perform a task which cannot be performed using a defined set of procedural steps (e.g., provide financial counseling).

If you are unsure as to which content type to pick, use the Decision Wizard by selecting the question mark next to the drop-down selection. The screen that pops-up will walk you through a set of questions to help you decide which content type is most suited to your content. The questions and contents of the wizard can be customized, though the actual content types cannot be changed. The content types are based on Ruth Clark's "Developing Technical Training" book.

The content type predetermines the required elements (headings) you have available to you when developing the content on the Develop tab:

Fact content type required elements:

Introduction

Fact

Concept content type required elements:

Introduction

Definition

Example

Procedure content type required elements:

Introduction

Steps

Process content type required elements:

Introduction

Process Description

Principle content type required elements:

Introduction

Principle Statement

Guidelines

Example

You can rename all these headings/elements. In addition to these elements, you also have a Practice (for quiz questions) and an Assessment element (for test items that are output in assessments) available to you. Depending on the content type, the other elements (headings) you can add to help you organize your content on the Develop tab include:

Safety

Security

Non-Example

Analogy

Demonstration

Review

Interaction

You can change or choose a content type on both the Objectives tab and the Design tab under the Curriculum Development folder.

Status

The Status of the learning objective from lowest to highest status:

Incomplete - the objective is a work in progress and/or is missing some required data as defined in a business rule.

Complete - the objective is complete.

Lock for Review

oThe objective is complete and ready for review.

oYou can only edit the objective if you have the Review privilege assigned to your role.

oTo change the Status to Lock for Review, you need the Edit or Review privilege assigned to your role.

oTo change the Status back to Incomplete or Complete, you need the Review privilege assigned to your role.

Locked

oThe objective is complete and has been reviewed, no more work is allowed.

oNo one can edit the objective and any related content without unlocking the objective first.

oTo change the Status to Locked, you need the Lock privilege assigned to your role.

oTo change from Locked to any other status, you need the Unlock privilege assigned to your role.

Approved

oThe objective is approved when the initiative is approved.

oNo more changes can be made; you must create a new version of the initiative in order to make changes.

When you save a change in Status or lock the objective, the required Business Rules will run to check whether any fields are missing information. Any identified issues are listed on the Business Rules Results screen.