A learning objective is a brief statement that describes what someone will learn by the end of a successful learning experience. It serves as a clear goal, helping you – as an L&D professional – stay focused on relevant content. Learning objectives also guide the design of instruction and give you a measurable way to evaluate both the learning experience and the learners themselves.
If you've been in L&D for a while, you're probably familiar with the ongoing debate around learning objectives. Some argue that they should be placed at the beginning of a course, while others feel they aren't necessary at all. There's also criticism of Bloom's Taxonomy, with some saying it's outdated or only relevant in academia. And of course, we've all seen the bad examples: "By the end of this course, you will understand everything you need to know about X." But instead of dismissing learning objectives or Bloom’s entirely, I’ve developed a strategy that keeps the useful parts while avoiding the common pitfalls. Whether you choose to include them at the start of a course or not, here’s a way to create performance-based learning objectives that truly show value to your organization - and steps to implement it yourself.
Using Mager’s Characteristics of Useful Objectives
In the 1960s, Robert Mager created Criterion Referenced Instruction (CRI) a framework for instructional design that is based on using instructional objectives, which he argued should be both specific and measurable and should accurately reflect behavior change. They really get to the heart of what someone should be able to do by the end of the experience.
Here are the three characteristics Mager says every useful objective should include
- Performance – what the learner is to be able to do
- Conditions – important conditions under which the performance is expected to occur
- Criterion – the quality or level of performance that will be considered acceptable
When creating learning objectives using Mager’s approach, you ensure that learners not only understand the content but also demonstrate specific, actionable performance outcomes. This is critical in aligning training with organizational goals and measuring its effectiveness in driving real business results.
The Problem with Bloom’s Taxonomy
Before we discuss the benefits of Bloom’s Taxonomy, let’s first address its shortcomings. You may have heard of Bloom’s Taxonomy and seen lists of verbs associated with a Bloom’s Taxonomy pyramid. The taxonomy was created by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950s and has faced some heavy scrutiny. However, I think it can still be beneficial if we recognize the issues with Bloom’s and learn how to incorporate it properly when creating performance-based learning objectives.
Here are some of the common misconceptions associated with Bloom’s Taxonomy:
- Bloom’s Taxonomy presented as a pyramid was never what Bloom intended – it wrongly suggests a hierarchy and a linear learning path, when different learning projects require different levels. Those levels aren’t better or worse than the others, like the pyramid shape suggests – it gives a negative connotation to the lower levels, like knowledge and comprehension, when we know – as L&D folks – that different projects have varying outcomes and require different interventions.
- Bloom’s cognitive domain (knowledge, comprehension, application, etc.) is only one of three domains that we can use for inspiration. There are also the affective and psychomotor domains, which we’ll discuss in more detail later.
- The original Bloom’s Taxonomy levels for the cognitive domain have been revised to better reflect how learning happens in modern contexts. For example, 'Synthesis' has been replaced with 'Create,' emphasizing creativity and the learner’s ability to produce new work. This updated version is more relevant to today’s learning environments, making it essential to use the revised taxonomy when creating learning objectives.
Benefits of Bloom’s Taxonomy
Despite the misconceptions and criticism of Bloom’s, I find that it can still be helpful.
- Bloom’s still helps us communicate objectives in the language of learning and performance, so we can share with our audience and stakeholders.
- It helps us focus our learning objectives on one thing at a time and break down tasks. Coming back to our objectives can help us stick to them and avoid scope creep.
- It helps make sure we cover the breadth of the performance we expect by giving us ideas – looking at the lists of verbs can help us make sure we’re achieving all the goals of the learning project.
Remember, too, that Bloom also addressed the affective and psychomotor domains and what we’re used to seeing is only the cognitive domain. Let’s go over each of those domains.
Cognitive Domain
The cognitive domain refers to what you should know after a learning experience. Here are the levels from the revised version of Bloom’s, including verbs that are widely accepted for each level:
- Remember – List, define, recall, state, label, repeat, name
- Understand – Translate, paraphrase, discuss, report, locate, generalize, classify, summarize
- Apply– Operate, apply, use, demonstrate, solve, produce, prepare
- Analyze– Analyze, question, differentiate, experiment, examine, test, categorize, distinguish, calculate, contrast, outline, infer, discriminate, compare
- Evaluate – Rate, evaluate, assess, judge, justify
- Create – Create, compose, argue, design, plan, support, revise, formulate
Additionally, here are some words you should avoid when creating cognitive domain learning objectives: appreciate, know, familiar, aware, understand, select, explain, relate, arrange, and choose.
Affective Domain
The affective domain of Bloom’s addresses how your perceptions or beliefs should change after a learning experience. A friendly reminder – these are not in hierarchical order, but here are the levels, their definition, and some example verbs:
- Receiving – Listening and being attentive to the experience (attend, discern, hear, listen, notice)
- Responding – Participating in, reacting to, and communicating about the learning experience (discuss, answer, ask, contribute, inquire, participate, question)
- Valuing – Finding worth in and displaying a positive attitude about the learning experience (accept, commit, describe, debate, demonstrate, initiate, justify, refute)
- Organization – Committing to a set of values and being able to compare and make appropriate choices based on the committed values (adapt, classify, compare, defend, integrate, rank, relate)
- Characterization – Showing consistent values in behavior, proving that beliefs or perceptions have solidified or changed (act, characterize, display, exemplify, incorporate, influence, maintain, practice, perform)
For Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, the affective domain is crucial because these programs often aim to shift deep-seated beliefs and biases. By using the affective domain in your objectives, you can target changes in attitudes and behaviors, which are often more challenging to measure but are critical for lasting cultural change. The affective domain is also really great for any soft skills, such as leadership, communication, and change management.
Psychomotor Domain
The psychomotor domain is what you should be able to do with your body after the learning experience. Here are the levels and some example verbs:
- Preparing for a task – identify, separate, begin, show
- Performing the task – assemble, build, calibrate, combine, construct, design, dissect, fasten, grind, heat, manipulate, measure, mix, organize, originate, work
- Identify problems and correct – adapt, alter, change, rearrange, revise
This domain is great for task-based work and technical skills.
Creating an Example
Let’s put this together in an example. Let’s pretend that you are an instructional designer that works for an organization, and you are responsible for all HR training. You’ve recently rolled out a new end-of-the-year review process as a company (which is part of a larger organizational goal to provide more employee and leadership feedback and upskilling), and it’s your job to create training on that process for managers and leaders to review their teams.
1. Define the objective of the training using Mager:
- Performance – You want the leaders to complete thorough and fair reviews for their employees
- Conditions – The reviews will happen every year
- Criterion – The reviews need to be completed fairly for every employee
2. Use Bloom’s to break down the tasks associated with the performance:
- Cognitive Domain (Remember) – we definitely want our leaders to recall the process after the training when they apply it to the review
- Cognitive Domain (Apply) – we also want the leaders to use the process to assess their teams completely and fairly
- Psychomotor Domain (Performing the task) – we want the leaders to compose complete reviews after the training
- Affective Domain (Characterization) – we want leaders to incorporate the review process into their work
3. Put it all together into a performance-based learning objective:
Leaders at X company will be able to recall the review process and incorporate it into their work, using the process to compose fair, thorough reviews for each of their employees at the end of the year.
Not only have you shown what and how the leaders at the organization will do, but you’ve made an objective that is relevant to your organization’s goal of providing more feedback.
By using Robert Mager’s characteristics for useful objectives to align learning objectives with your organization’s goals to measure performance and then using Bloom’s Taxonomy to break down specific tasks associated with that performance, you can come up with effective, easy-to-measure objectives for your learning projects.
