UNIT II.

PREPARATION FOR THE TEACHING OF

SCIENCE

2.1 Behavioral Objectives: Its Definition

2.2 Writing of Behavioral Objectives, and
2.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Behavioral
Objectives

Unit Outline

1 Definition of Behavioral Objectives

2 Learning Competencies

The Concept of Most Essential Learning

3 Competencies (MELCs)

Characteristics of an Essential
4 Learning Competency

5 Writing of Behavioural Objectives

“Goals are your destinations in life:
objectives are the stops along the way.”
6 Components of a Behavioral Objectives
– Gerard de Marigny
7 Advantages and Disadvantages of
Behavioral Objectives

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, the students should be able to:

1. define what behavioral objectives are;
2. discuss the concept of learning competencies;
3. organize how to write behavioral objectives;
4. distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of behavioral objectives; and
5. create a well-defined behavioral objective.

UNIT II – SCIED 61 (THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE) 1

 Checkpoint

1. Are objectives important in the teaching-learning process?

2. What is your idea about behavioral objectives?
3. When do we use behavioral objectives?

Overview
Objectives may vary in several respects. They may be general or specific, concrete or
abstract, cognitive, affective, or psychomotor. Objectives must be stated clearly and
concisely at the start teaching-learning process. These objectives will help students and
teachers understand what steps are needed to reach the final goal.
A well-written objective should meet the following criteria: (1) describe a learning
outcome, (2) be student-oriented, (3) be observable or describe an observable product.
Behavioral objectives became known to many educators through a book entitled
Preparing Instructional Objectives, written by Robert F. Mager, published in 1962. During
the '60s and early 70's that many public school teachers were required to write behavioral
objectives as a critical component of their daily lesson plans. Many workshops for
teachers were conducted, and the Mager model for writing behavioral objectives was
taught.
Providing students with objectives will help them understand what he/she will
accomplish by the end of the lesson and will provide them with measurable signs of their
progression. Behavioral objectives are measurable objectives of what the students can
do, and the curriculum will focus on behavioral objectives. They will describe a clear
learning objective that can be measured and observed.

DEFINITION OF BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES

What are Behavioral Objectives?

Behavioral objectives, also known as learning objectives, are very well-defined and
clear-cut. They are simple behaviors and skills the teacher wants the student to learn.
These are very measurable and can be observed easily. Behavioral objectives are skills
and .behaviors the students need to grow familiar with and become skilled at.

Because of Robert F. Mager (1962) through his

book entitled Preparing Instructional Objectives,
Behavioral objectives became known to many
educators. The Mager model recommended that
objectives be specific and measurable and specified
three parts to an objective as follows:
1. it should have a measurable verb (an action
verb);
2. it should include a specification of what is given
to the learner; and
3. it should contain a specification of criteria for
success or competency.

UNIT II – SCIED 61 (THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE) 2

 According to Mager (1984), behavioral objectives must be stated clearly
and precisely so that everyone who reads them will know the desired outcome
of the teaching-learning process. By ensuring this precision, at the end of the
teaching-learning process, everyone can easily agree whether or not the
objectives of the study or lesson were achieved.

A behavioral objective is also a one-sentence statement that describes

learning in terms of behavior. As a result of your teaching, what will students do
at the end of the lesson? Put your initial purpose statement into the form of a
specific behavior you would like to see. Teachers and learners should answer
yes or no about whether the objectives were accomplished because it is
common to come back and tweak this after designing the rest of the lesson. It is
recommended that a very flexible behavioral objective be used initially.

LEARNING COMPETENCIES

Learning competencies are the general statement

that describes the desired knowledge, skills, and
behaviors of a student completing a course.
Competencies commonly define the applied skills and
knowledge that enable people to successfully perform in
professional, educational, and other life contexts.
Learning competencies help students draw and build
upon what they know, how they think, and what they can
do. In school, students develop and apply competencies
through subject-area content and learning experiences.
The most important learning competencies include
the cognitive skills of critical thinking, problem-solving,
knowledge application, and creativity; the interpersonal
skills of communication and collaboration, leadership,
and global and cross-cultural awareness.

Students are the artists, scientists, thinkers, innovators, and leaders of the
future. They will be tasked with solving the problems of today while imagining
and creating a new tomorrow. Competencies are critical for equipping students
with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to navigate their journeys in
learning, living successfully, and working.

THE CONCEPT OF MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCIES

(MELCs)

The Department of Education releases (DepEd) the Most Essential

Learning Competencies (MELCS) to be used nationwide by field implementers
for SY 2020-2021 only. DepEd emphasizes that the K to 12 curriculum review
remains ongoing, and the experience with MELCs for this school year will be
used to inform and enrich the curriculum review.
The MELCs will enable the Department of Education to focus instruction on
the most essential and indispensable competencies that our learners must
acquire as we anticipate challenges in learning delivery. MELCs also lighten the
burden of converting classroom-oriented learning resources into learning
resources adapted to distance learning.
According to DepEd, essential learning competencies are defined as what
the students need, considered indispensable, in the teaching-learning process
to building skills to equip learners for subsequent grade levels and
subsequently, for lifelong learners.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCY

1. It is aligned with national and/or local standards/frameworks.

2. It connects the content to higher concepts across content areas.
3. It applies to real-life situations.
4. If students leave school, it would still be important for them to have this
competency above others.
5. It would not be expected for most students to learn this in settings other than
through formal education.

According to the New Hampshire Department of Education (2012), these

characteristics are based on a US-developed competency validation rubric
intended to assure that learning competencies can reach the highest level of
quality and comparability across schools. However, adaptations were made for
relevance in the Philippine context.
With the challenges on learning delivery posed by COVID-19, the Bureau of
Curriculum Development accelerated identifying the essential learning
competencies. It streamlined these further into the Most Essential Learning
Competencies (MELCs).

Additional Learning Material: K-12 MELCs with CG codes (can be found in

your respective Google classroom).

WRITING OF BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES

According to Corpuz & Salandanan (2003), a particular content or

informational group should be defined when writing behavioral objectives.
Behaviorally stated objectives contain three essential elements:
1. the actions to be observed and measured must be given a name to
indicate that learning has occurred (Performance).
2. The conditions under which the behavior and learning are expected to
occur should be described (condition).
3. The criteria for acceptable performance should be specifically described
(acceptable performance).

Wiles and Bondi (1998) described the development of the A, B, C, and D

methods. "A" is for audience/who, "B" is for behavior/what, "C" is for
condition/givens, "D" is for the degree of completion/criterion for success, and
"E" is for Goals (should also be S.M.A.R.T). A behavioral objective containing all
of these components will be completely objective and has the potential to be well
written.
COMPONENTS OF A BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVE

A
Audience/Who - for whom the objectives are
intended: "The General Science students will. . ."

B
Behavior/What - Specific observable
actions/behaviors the student is to perform or
exhibit. Use Bloom's taxonomy to identify a verb
that distinguishes the level of the behavior.

C
Conditions/ ”Givens” - relevant factors are
affecting the actual performance.

D
Degree/Criterion for Success -
- level of achievement indicating acceptable
performance

E
Ends/Goals should also be "S.M.A.R.T."
S: Specific - a specific behavior/activity/task
M: Measurable - units of measurement
A: Attainable - achievable and appropriate
R: Relevant - realistic and focused on results
T: Time-based - within a specific time frame
 The instruction that leads to the behavior is not, nor ever should be included
in the actual objective. The performance condition should concentrate only on
describing the conditions under which the desired learner behavior is
performed.

Examples of a well-Written Behavioral Objective

 At the end of the lesson (acceptable performance), given information

from the textbook Physical Geology (condition), the learner can
differentiate the types of folding and faulting (performance).
 In an hour (acceptable performance) and given a light microscope
(condition), the teacher can demonstrate how to focus the microscope
under the L.P.O and the H.P.O. (performance).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Behavioral Objectives

The behavioral objective is important in the teaching-learning

process since it determines the favorable outcome of learning. To identify
learning outcomes, teaching methods, and instructional materials,
teachers should prepare a Lesson Plan. Behavioral objectives are helpful
because they help the teacher to create lesson plans that work towards
students achieving these behavior objectives.
The undoubted advantage of objectives is that they provide a step-
by-step approach to lesson planning – although their success is arguably
closely tied to the taxonomies of knowledge that underpin them.
According to Brockway (2016), Behavioral objectives emphasize what
the pupils are expected to do by the end of the lesson or module – work
well when they involve mastery learning tasks, as these can easily be
measured.
Such tasks are also useful for teacher’s performance management,
as they provide a means by which the success of a lesson can be
defined. Behavioral objectives also give the learner a chance to reflect on
their learning successes. They could play a key role in metacognition –
that is, the capacity to reflect on one's mental processes, understand
what is required from the assessment, and perhaps, ultimately, take
control of the learning process.
Also, behavioral objectives help in the management of the learning of
students. Students can use objectives to guide their learning efforts, such
as choosing appropriate materials, reading selectively, etc. And, if the
students have a set of behavioral objectives that provide information
about the content to be learned and how they will have to demonstrate
adequate knowledge, they can make more appropriate choices about
study methods and content emphasis.
On the other hand, behavioral objectives have their disadvantages.
Behavioral objectives, however, are harder to use when working with
higher-order thinking tasks such as analysis, evaluation, and synthesis.
This is problematic because it assumes that all learning can be observed
and measured. This is even though we have otherwise moved towards
constructivist teaching methods in the classroom. In other words, we
accept that learners construct knowledge in their ways, in their minds,
and that it is not always observable.
Bloom’s Taxonomy was created in 1956 by psychologist Dr.
Benjamin Bloom to promote higher forms of thinking in education, such
as analyzing and evaluating concepts, processes, procedures, and
principles, rather than just remembering facts. However, these objectives
may limit inquiry and speculation despite this intention by pre-
determining the end goal rather than allowing for changes in thinking
direction.
Moreover, at the end of a lesson, each learner will remember
 Activity 2.1
Make three behavioral objectives from five topics (e.g., Diastrophism, Properties
of Matter, Interior of the Earth, etc.) that you have chosen. And identify the
performance, the condition/s, and the criterion of acceptable performance. Send
your work to your respective SCIED 61 Google classrooms. Deadlines will be
given by your instructors.

"Learn as if you were not reaching your goal and as though you were scared of
missing it." – Confucius

References:

Brockway, D. (2016). When lesson objectives limit learning. Leeds City College,
West Yorkshire.
Corpuz, B. & Salandanan, G. (2003). Principles of Teaching 1. OBE and K-12
Manila: Based. Lorimar Publishing Inc.
Department of Education. K to 12 Most essential learning competencies with
corresponding GC codes. https://deped.gov.ph
Gronlund, N.E. (2004). Writing instructional objectives for teaching and
assessment (7th ed). Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Johnson, A (2016). Purpose statements or Behavioral objectives for lesson
planning. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/purpose-statements-behavioral-
objectives-lesson-planning-johnson
Kizlik, B. (2002). How to write behavioral objectives.
http://members.spree.com/teach2prime/objectives.htm
Mager, R. (1962). Preparing instructional objectives: 2 nd Ed. Belmont, CA:
Fearon-Pitman Publishers, Inc.
Mager, R.F. (1984). Preparing instructional objectives (2 nd ed). Belmont, CA:
David S. Lake.
Professional Development Resource. Students learning through competencies.
Regional Learning Consortium.
http://arpdcresources.ca/consortia/learning=through-competencies
Wiles, J. & Bondi, J. (1998). Curriculum development a guide to practice (5 th ed).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
 RUBRICS FOR BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVE

Criteria Acceptable Needs Insufficient

(15 Points) Improvement (5 Points)
(10 Points)
Content and The student The student The student did
Understanding clearly understood the not understand
understood the objectives being the objectives
objectives made made but still he/she has made.
and provided the needs
necessary improvement in
information. making a well-
written behavioral
objective.
The student's The student’s The student’s
Originality behavioral behavioral behavioral
objective is objective is a objective is a
original and did revision of other’s copy.
not copy from any work
sources.
Organization/Word The student used The student used The student did
Fluency words or verbs words or verbs not use words or
that are SMART that are SMART verbs that are
and has a very and has a good SMART and still
good organization organization of needs
of ideas. ideas with little to improvement on
minimal the organization
improvements. of ideas.