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Techniques for Writing Learning Objectives in Teaching Chemistry in High School

Cao Cu Giac

School of Natural Science Education, Vinh University, Vietnam

Abstract: Determining the learning objectives clearly is to show the teacher's responsibility and commitment to the learners according to the published subject program. On the basis of specific goals, teachers easily design lessons to help students develop the necessary competencies. Based on Bloom's cognitive levels, we have proposed verbs as well as learning objective writing forms for teachers to refer to. From that applying for the specific lesson plan “Alcohol” belongs to high school chemistry program in Vietnam including: (1) objectives, (2) plan of teaching, (3) worked examples and (4) homework. The results of analyzing pedagogical experimental data on high school students show that designing teachers' teaching goals has a great influence on deciding the success of the lesson. Comparison before and after the impact of designing goals on learning outcomes of learners shows the feasibility of the study.

Keywords: learning objective, Bloom’s verbs, SMART rule, teaching chemistry, plan of lesson, high school

Received February 14, 2019; Revised March 20, 2019; Accepted April 14, 2019

Citation: Cao Cu Giac, Techniques for Writing Learning Objectives in Teaching Chemistry in High School. American Journal of Educational Research, 7 (4). 320-327. January 2019. doi:10.12691/education-7-4-4

1. Introduction

Objective (goal) is the expected result to be achieved after performing an activity.

Teaching objectives are the target learners must achieve after learning; that is the last "destination" that teachers and students have to aim for [1,2].

The learning objective (lesson goal or lecture objective) has many expressions such as: (i) The learning objective is the result that the teacher wants the learner to achieve after the lecture; (ii) Learning objectives "are statements about what learners must understand, must do after the lecture"; (iii) The goal is about what the learner will be like or be able to do after finishing a lecture.

These terms are used in a technical sense and it is important for all teaching staff to be aware of their meanings. Broadly speaking, all educational purposes can be defined in one of two ways:

(a) What it is intended that the teacher will do (an aim or a teacher-driven objective);

(b) What it is intended that the student will have learnt, or will be able to do, as a result of a learning experience, (an objective or learning outcome).

In the past, objectives have often been defined in terms of the teacher's activity; ie corresponding to definition (a) above. This is no longer adequate because teaching objectives need to be defined in terms of the ultimate purpose - student learning [3].

Thus, from the perspective of "learner-oriented teaching", the target is that of the learner, not the teacher. Therefore, the statement of the learning objective is always: By the end of the lesson student will be able to ...

Teaching goals in general and lectures in particular have a very important meaning, it not only guides and helps plan for teaching activities and when implemented will determine the success of this plan; but also the orientation for finding teaching materials; is the basis for determining the learning outcomes to be achieved, to test and evaluate learners, teachers as well as the value of a lecture, a training program.

Wesolowski's research has mentioned the concept student learning objectives (SLOs) were one of the areas of concern to district leaders, principals, and especially teachers. While there was an agreement from all groups that accountability should be equitable across all courses and disciplines, there was much trepidation about the SLO documents, targets, and process [4]. According to Suskie [5] SLOs are the ‘‘knowledge, skills, attitudes, and habits of mind that students take with them from a learning experience’’. SLOs set the tone for the class and relay expectations for student outcomes [6].

No lectures were effective but lacked a lesson goal. A lesson that lacks a goal or is incorrectly defined and unclear is like a boat going out to sea without determining the destination, not knowing where you are going, unaware of how to reach the destination, not knowing when to go to the destination and sometimes going through it without knowing it.

a) For teachers

A clear, complete, specific and exact goal will help teachers select and organize lesson content appropriately.

Learning objectives guide the next steps in the lesson plan; Based on the goal, select the content, method and form of teaching organization to give the best results.

The learning objectives are the basis for teachers to develop questions, tests and forms of tests to assess learners 'cognitive status, measure students' capacity after lectures or subjects; is the basis for teachers to assess the progress of students to what extent according to the set standards.

Targeted teaching will help teachers be confident and responsible in the process of teaching, thereby creating passion and interest in careers.

b) For learners

The learner understands the goal of the lesson that the teacher will determine the destination that he needs to be in the course of studying the subject, the lesson, ... From there, the learner knows how to choose learning materials, how to learn, organize your own learning process in a clear direction to achieve the goals set out.

Learners know the standard for self-comparison, assessing their own progress in learning.

Achieving the goal of the lecture will develop in learners intellectual abilities, thinking qualities, action skills, attitude formation and passion for the subject and therefore develop capacity for learners.

2. Requirements for Learning Objectives

The goal of the lecture must be expressed according to the learner's requirements, not the teacher's function.

The learning objectives must be appropriate (important, practical, appropriate), feasible (can be done) or in other words, when designing lesson objectives, it must ensure the "SMART" rule [7,8,9]:

Table

The learning objectives must be expressed in an action verb means only single (understandable and understood uniformly) and focus on results: (1) Expected results must be expressed in the form of observable (measurable) behavior; (2) Determine the behavioral situation that will take place: time and conditions for implementation; (3) Must be suitable for learners (psychological physiological characteristics and existing qualifications of learners).

3. Techniques for Writing Learning Objective

The learning objectives include: Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes (KSA).

The learning objectives must be written from the perspective of learners and begin with an action verb corresponding to the levels of knowledge mastering and having the complement to clarify the meaning for that verb. Non-measurable general verbs should not be used to write goals such as know, understand, master, be able, think, equip students, etc.

Opening the lesson goal is always "After completing the lesson (lecture), learners are capable of "knowledge", "skill", "attitude". Often use Bloom’s verbs to write goals.

According to Benjamin S. Bloom (1956), the cognitive scale (see Figure 1) consists of 6 levels [10,11]:

(1) Knowledge

• Definition: Knowing is the ability to recall information and events without necessarily understanding them.

• Initial verbs are often used: recall, relate, reproduce, state, define, describe, identify, name, record, outline, present/represent, narrate, quote, list, affirm, test, arrange, collect, dublicate/repeat, recognize, select, etc.

For example:

Describe the operation of the electrolyser.

List the factors that affect the equilibrium shift.

Represent atomic structure models.

Figure 1. Bloom’s Taxonomy

(2) Comprehention

• Definition: Understanding is the ability to understand the meaning of information and explain the information learned.

• Initial verbs are often used: link, change, classify/categorize, interpret/clarify, create, distinguish, compare, arrange, contrast, decode, discuss, evaluate, explain, express, extend, generalize, give example, judge, infer, report, resolve, review, change, etc.

For example:

Distinguish reactions occurring in the battery and in the electrolyte.

Explain the factors affecting reaction rate.

Discuss electrochemical corrosion.

(3) Application

• Definition: Application is the ability to apply knowledge to new circumstances, new situations, new conditions, and solve problems.

• Initial verbs are often used: apply, evaluate, calculate, demonstrate, change, select, finish, construct, prove, develop, discover, exploit, check, recognize, illustrate, interpret, adjust, control, operate, organize, create, plan, perform, outline, sketch, etc.

For example:

Outline of electric battery structure.

Apply of electrolysis to explain acid-base reaction.

Demonstrate the mechanism of metal corrosion in moist air environment.

(4) Analysis

• Definition: Analysis is the ability to divide information into elements to know their internal relationships and structure.

• Initial verbs are often used: analyze, explain, appraise, arrange, subdivide, classify/ categorize, calculate, connect, compare, confirm, distinguish/differentiate, investigate, survey, ask questions, infer, etc.

For example:

Compare the models of atomic structure.

Analyze the impact of the factors that increase the reaction rate.

Investigate the reactions that occur in the solution of electrolytes.

(5) Synthesis

• Definition: Synthesis is the capacity to link information together to create new ideas, to generalize the information that deduces consequences.

• Initial verbs are often used: form/produce, design, develop, explain/demonstrate, establish, integrate, organize, reorganize, summarize, plan, etc.

For example:

Summarize theories of atomic structure.

Design the model of electrolysis of sodium chloride solution.

Explain mechanisms of reactions occurring in solution.

(6) Evaluation

• Definition: Assessment is the ability to make judgments about the value of information, problems, things and phenomena in a specific purpose.

• Initial verbs are often used: argue, defend, criticize, confirm, contact, appraise/assess, compare, explain, interpret, decide, judge, recommend, edit/repair/correct, summarize, approve, rate, support, predict, etc.

For example:

Summarize Mendeleep's important contributions in laying the foundations of the periodic table.

Assess the role of the factors of equilibrium shift.

Predict the oxidation - reduction reactions that occur in solution.

4. Plan of Lesson: ALCOHOLS

Applying the above-mentioned learning objective techniques, we have designed a number of lessons in order for pedagogical experiment and bring some positive results. Below is an illustration of the chemistry lesson plan in Vietnam high school [12,13,14,15].

A. OBJECTIVES

By the end of the lesson student will be able to:

1. Define what alcohol is

2. Name the alcohol

3. Determine the structure of the alcohol and identify the functional group of alcohol

4. Describe the physical and chemical properties of alcohol

5. Describe the principles and methods of producing alcohol by fermentation

6. Apply alcohol oxidation reaction in your life

B. PLAN OF TEACHING

Table

C. WORKED EXAMPLES

Exercise 1. Ethanol vapour burns in air according to the following equation:

If 2.5 L of ethanol burns at s.t.p., what volume of oxygen is required? What volume of carbon dioxide will be produced?

Solution:

Exercise 2. Methanol is soluble in water. What is the molality of a solution made by dissolving 8.0 g of CH₃OH in 250 g of water?

Solution:

The mass of solution 8 + 250 = 258 (grams) C % CH3OH solution = .

D. HOMEWORK

1. An alcohol has the molecular formula C₄H₁₀O.

a) Draw the full structural formula of this alcohol.

b) Give one physical property and one chemical property of this alcohol.

2. The figure here shows the apparatus used for fermentation (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. The apparatus used for fermentation

a) Name the substances present in the fermenting mixture.

b) Write the word equation for the reaction that takes place inside the apparatus.

c) Describe what will happen if the resulting mixture is exposed to air.

3. State two differences between the hydroxide group in sodium hydroxide and the hydroxyl group in alcohols.

5. Results and Discussion

The statistical criteria of the two experimental groups and the control groups also showed a big difference (see Table 3). The results in Table 3 show:

(i) The average value of the experimental group is high, the control group is 0.90 points with relatively small errors, variances and standard deviations, which proves high average values. The SE mean (0.096), the variance (0.618) and the standard deviation (0.779) of the experimental group are lower than the error (0.122), the variance (0.943) and the standard deviation (0.971) of the control group show the data of the experimental group were less dispersed than the control group, the average value was high, the data was reliable.

(ii) The largest and the smallest score of the experimental group were higher than the control group. This proves that the spectrum of post-impact testing score is higher than before.

(iii) Influence level (ES = 0.84), from ES value, look up Cohen table [16], showing that applying measures has a big impact on how to write learning objectives.

Table 3. Statistical criteria of experimental and control group

Thus, the calculation results show that the average score of the experimental group is higher than that of the control group, which indicates the experimental group with reduced dispersion and higher score spectra. To test the difference between the two mean values is meaningful, we rely on the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis H0: The average score between experimental and control groups is not significantly different.

Hypothesis H1: The mean score between the experimental and control groups is significantly different.

The results are determined by Independent Samples Test shown in Table 4.

Table 4 shows the significance of variance Sig. = 0.086 > 0.050 so the average value will be tested by equal variances assumed. Accordingly, with the meaning of observing 2 sides Sig.(2-tailed) = 0.000 < 0.050, rejecting the H0 hypothesis to accept hypothesis H1, ie, the average score of the experimental and control groups was significantly different with a 95% confidence level.

Table 4. Quantities of the summarized score average value of the experimental and control group

6. Conclusion

In fact teachers face many difficulties when determining the learning objectives to be achieved. Through studying how to write learning objectives, we have successfully applied to many chemistry lessons. Teachers mastering how to write learning objectives will design a teaching plan to develop students' abilities effectively. Clear learning objectives will guide teachers in developing appropriate teaching plans.

Acknowledgements

This research is funded by the Centre for Research – Entrepreneurship Innovation, Vinh University, under contract No 04/2018/TTNC-KNST. We sincerely thank that support.

References

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