Objetivos

Writing Objectives: A Guide
NCMS Department of Education Services

This guidance is intended to assist you in writing measurable objectives for your CME application.

Measurable objectives state:
• Who is involved
The people whose behaviors, knowledge, and/or skills are to be changed as a result of the program.
• What are the desired outcomes
The intended behavior,knowledge, and/or skill changes that should result from the program or activities.
• How progress is measured
What tool or device (surveys, tests, data from other sources) will be used to measure the expected changes. Remember you need to ensure that your department has the resources/capacity (time, staff, funding, etc.) to perform the measurement.
• Proficiency level
Identify thecriteria for success.
• When will the outcome occur
Identify the time frame for success


Example: By December 2010, tobacco use will decrease to 10% of patients seen as reported on a prevalence survey.

Who: all adult patients How measured: as reported on a prevalence survey
What: Decrease tobacco use Proficiency level: to 10%
When: By December 2010Measurable objectives can relate to the:












Concrete terms that can form the basis of specific learning objectives:




The following terms to be CONSIDERED when writing learning objectives:

To explain To apply To predict
To identify To employ To evaluate
To describe To illustrate To defend
To integrate To use To assess
To contrast To interpret Todistinguish
To sort To categorize To diagram
To solve To formulate To report
To relate To organize To restate
To recall To prepare To review
To list To arrange To classify
To name To construct To translate
To recognize To create To discriminate

General Terms such as those listed below are inadequate because they are open to many interpretations (they are non-specific) andare not accessible to quantification.

AVOID the following terms when writing learning objectives:
To know To understand To really understand
To fully appreciate To internalize To grasp the significance of
To have an awareness of

Tips on Writing
Most objectives need to have three components as follows:
• A measurable verb (also known as performance)
• Theimportant conditions (if any) under which the performance is to occur and
• The criterion of acceptable performance

It is important to say that many objectives are written in a manner in which the important conditions and criterion are implicit. If they really are implicit the argument can be made that they may not be necessary. For example, an objective might be stated as follows:
The studentwill be able to name the five stages of mitosis.
There would be no point in stating the objective as follows just to meet the requirements of it having a criterion.
The student will correctly (criterion) name the five stages of mitosis within 30 seconds (criterion).
On the other hand, there may be objectives that need to have the conditions and/or criterion specified. For example, a teacher mightbegin the process of writing an objective with a general statement such as:
The learner will be able to prepare appropriate new patient workups.
He/she then might decide that this objective is too vague or general to be instructional to the student and to also let others who teach the student know what is expected. Therefore, in an effort to improve the objective the teacher might add criteriaas exemplified below.
The learner will be able to prepare legible, comprehensive, and focused new patient workups that include the following features:
Present illness organized chronologically, without repetition, omission, or extraneous information.
A comprehensive physical examination with detail pertinent to the patient's problem.
A succinct and, where appropriate,...