Goals, objectives, results, words that are common in the training vernacular, but do they hold the same importance for learners? Is understanding the intent of a training programme as important as retaining the content?

Objectives or Content : What Matters More to the Learner

Know your Target Audience

According to the McGill Journal of Education, sociodemographics surpass well-defined outcomes when it comes to predicting a successful training. In other words, it is factors such as gender, employment status, available time, and the professional category of the individual that play a far greater role in determining success.

Objectives : “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater”

Basically, a learning objective is a tool for the learning specialist. The exercise of defining objectives brings rigor and a framework that serves as the basic structure for choosing and organizing content in the most optimal way. Following a course without objectives is a bit like going on a road trip without a GPS. You might make some wonderful discoveries, but you might also get pretty lost. Thus objectives, albeit less important to learners, remain a crucial tool in building a solid training road map.

Different Objectives for Different Purposes

The fact that objectives are less important to the learner than to the instructional designer doesn’t lessen their importance in gaining learner engagement. It bears highlighting that an objective can take many forms: it can be content oriented, or task-oriented or target a competency, and even a behaviour.

Looking back in the history of training design, the main objective of any training was to “understand” the content, sometimes at the expense of a connection to real-life applications.

The importance of real-life application of knowledge came as the field of training evolved. Interestingly, Bloom’s Taxonomy a well-known framework for writing action-oriented objectives, was presented in 1950 but only became popular in the new millennium with the arrival of e-learning. This tool helps training professionals articulate clear actions that demonstrate that knowledge transfer has occurred.

In parallel, competency-based approaches have also evolved in order to create a more direct connection between training and application. Examples of competencies include problem-solving, setting priorities, good communication skills, etc. Competency-based approaches have been introduced in youth education as a response to rising drop-out rates. While learning objectives may not be a priority for learners, they are shaping the very philosophy of learning and fostering more purposeful learning experiences.

Back Stage Pass

In the end, what really motivates an individual to follow a training? Well-thought-out objectives or the course content? You guessed it, it’s probably the content. And even as a success predictor, objectives are more like the stagehands and the sociodemographic profile of the learner the star. So why so much ado about nothing over objectives? Just like in theater, it’s what happens behind the scenes as much as front and center that make everything shine.