After finding what current levels of performance are, define the desired levels of performance.
The best people to discuss this with will usually be people who have some responsibility for the performance, such as managers or those affected by the performance.
When you have defined both the existing and desired levels of performance, you will have identified the performance gap. When people say what the desired level of performance is, you must try to make sure that they provide a measure of performance. They should also be able to define the levels of performance required for the sub-tasks that must be carried out in order to achieve the overall performance. |
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Writing the desired performance as an objective
Once you have defined the desired levels of performance, you use this information to develop clear objectives.
They are particularly important if you decide to develop any distance learning. Face to face trainers monitor their groups to see if the training is adequate so that they can make appropriate changes to the workshop so that people finish subsequent sessions being able to do what they need to do.
This is not possible with distance learning. The course stays the same forever, as making changes to a finished course is much more expensive than getting it right first time.
Different objectives in learning materials
Objectives are used in a number of different ways in learning materials.
Performance objectives
Performance objectives describe what someone actually does in the workplace.
Training objectives
Training objectives describe what a learner will be able to do after completing the training.
Enabling objectives
Enabling objectives apply to the small tasks that when all completed will mean that the learner has completed the overall performance. In terms of learning design, the enabling objectives define the individual bricks with which a course is put together.
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(C) Bryan Hopkins, 2005