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THE BEHAVIOR ELEMENT
The behavior defines what the learner should be able to do as an outcome of training. It may
include application of knowledge, accomplishment of a skill, or demonstration of an attitude.
This element of the objective always specifies student performance. You must be able to observe
the behavior and to measure what the student must do to demonstrate accomplishment of the
objective. The significant parts of the behavior element are the (1) subject, (2) performance-
oriented verb, and (3) object.
The student is always the subject. Commonly, the phrase: “Upon successful completion of
this topic, the student will be able to . . .” introduces learning objective statements. When a
topic lists several learning objectives, the introductory statement appears once with all of the
objectives grouped beneath it.
The performance-oriented verb, or “action” verb, immediately follows the introductory
statement and expresses the student performance required to demonstrate achievement of the
objective.
Learning objectives should contain only verbs that express active, measurable
performance. Objectives should not contain verbs that are vague, such as “understand,” “know,”
and “realize,” as they are open to interpretation and can be measured in many different ways.
The object of a behavior element is a word or phrase that denotes what is acted upon. The
object should include all modifiers needed to define what the student will be acting upon. For
example, consider the following objective:
“Upon successful completion of this topic, the
student will be able to state the three elements of a learning objective.” The “student” is the
subject, “state” is the action verb, and the phrase “the three elements of a learning objective” is
the object.
THE CONDITION ELEMENT
The condition basically defines aiding and limiting factors imposed upon the student in
satisfying the performance requirements of the objective.
This element may also define the
degree of interaction with the training environment that the learner may expect. One of the
major concerns in Navy training is to ensure that the conditions of the training environment
approach those of real life. You may encounter objectives that contain several conditions or
none at all. In some instances, objectives may contain no aiding or limiting factors, or the
conditions of performance may be obvious. The objective should not include conditions that
are not legitimate training concerns. The following are some examples of conditions:
. . . given a list of . . .
. . . without the use of references . . .
. . . provided with a Model X calculator . . .
. . . in a damage control wet trainer . . .
When combined with the behavior element, the condition element provides a clearer
understanding of the learning outcome defined by the objective.
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