Evaluating E-Learning

Stress Concrete Performance

Whenever possible, stress concrete performance rather than abstract knowledge, especially for higher-level objectives. Replace the vague form of traditional educational objectives with crisp performance objectives (table 12-2).

Table 12-2. Words that distinguish performance objectives from educational objectives.

Words Used in Educational Objectives	Words Used in Performance Objectives
Recall	Do
List	Decide
Describe	Plan
Know	Manage
Understand	Complete
Remember	Create

The problem with traditional educational objectives is that they seldom measure the things that matter. Few people get paid to recall, list, see, and so forth. Has anyone ever jumped out of bed exclaiming, “Oh boy, today I’m going to learn to recall the five advantages ...