Behavioral objectives assert the teacher's intent of the lesson and learning activity. These objectives explain what the students will learn and do upon completing a lesson or activity, and should be specific to the task students can perform to demonstrate the learning outcome of a lesson. Appropriate behavioral objectives describe behavior that is observable. The action or skill students demonstrate must be something that the teacher can observe and evaluate for proficiency and mastery. Many schools require teachers to regularly submit lesson plans that include clear and specific behavioral objectives that outline what students will be able to do, under what conditions they will complete the task, and how they will be evaluated.
Behavioral objectives explain what the teacher expects the students to learn or be able to do. Student learning should be organized according to learning goals or objectives. Most teachers must operate within a curriculum framework set by the state, district and school. The objectives outline the learning and skills students should be able to demonstrate after fulfilling the requirements of a lesson or activity. These same objectives should guide teachers in their selection of learning and teaching materials, learning activity design, assignments and assessments. The behavioral objectives set for a lesson guide the teacher in creating the learning experience, which will lead the student toward acquiring the learning described in the behavioral objective.
Badly written behavioral objectives are vague and ambiguous. They don't clearly delineate the learning goals of the lesson, and the behavior students will demonstrate is not specified. Behavioral objectives containing words like know, understand, comprehend or believe are not appropriate to assess and determine student learning because such actions are not observable or measurable. For example, "The student will know the difference between compound and complex sentences" is a poor behavioral objective because the teacher cannot measure or observe any action. Behavioral objectives contain verbs describing what the student will do.
Appropriately written behavioral objectives are clear and specific. They use words like write, differentiate, compare, solve, construct or list. Behavioral objectives clearly state the action a student will complete. For example, "The student will differentiate between compound and complex sentences given a list of 10 sample sentences" is a good behavioral objective because it clearly states what the students should be able to do -- tell the difference between compound and complex sentences -- and the condition under which they will complete the task -- given a list of 10 sample sentences.