AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

In course construction, the aims and objectives of the course have to be

established to give a guide to the course. This involves defining the conceptual map
on which the teacher draws the learning outcome which must agree with both the
societal and the learners’ needs. Aims are the expected end results of an activity
which direct the behaviour and activities involved in an education programme. Aims
are expected outcome of educational programme. They provide the teacher with a
road map of what is expected of him in a broad sense. Therefore, aims are usually
broad and are general statements of what education is hoped to achieve. Education
is veritable tool for human development..
Education is a process, the chief goal of which is to bring about change in human
behaviour. Every individual should have access to a type of education that permits
maximum development of his potential and capabilities. Every task is done for
particular purpose; it becomes easy to achieve it when the teacher knows its
objectives or goal as well. In any educational programme to be effective the
purposes and objectives are to be clearly stated so that it is easy to select the right
subject matter, the clinical experience and the right methodology and to effectively
evaluate students’ performances and the teaching learning processes. The entire
society, philosophy, values, circumstances under which students are going to
perform should be taken into account comprehensively before planning educational
objectives. Thus the objectives are desirable outcomes of intended actions through
the mode of education.
Educational objective is the result sought by the learner at the end of the
educational program, i.e. what the students should be able to do at the end of a
learning period, that they could not do beforehand . It is learner centered or
behaviour centered and subject centered.
The educational objectives are expressions of what a teacher hopes his/her
students can accomplish as a result of his/her teaching. Educational objectives are
policy statements of direction and provide foundation of the entire educative
structure. These are the statement, which express specifically and in measurable
terms, an attitude that will be developed cognitive or psychomotor skills that the
students would be able to do as a result of prescribed treatment method or mode of
instruction. Educational objectives can be classified as:
A) Type of objectives: Institutional, Departmental (Intermediate) and Specific
instructional/ behavioural.
B) ) According to domain: Cognitive domain, Affective domain and Psychomotor
domain.
C) ) According to person: Teacher centered. and Student centered.
A well written objective has the following characteristics: describe a learning
outcome, be observable,
1. Relevant: conform to the needs of the learner and institutional objectives),
2. Logical unequivocal: clear action verbs to be used,
3. Feasible: be within the time limit and resources available,
4. Observable: able to see the action performed e.g. Writing, spoken, performed,
5. Measurable: able to evaluate, check and recheck e.g. rating, grading,
marking,
6. Sequentially appropriate: must be logical ordered,
7. Attainable: be achievable within a reasonable amount of time, and
8. Developmentally Appropriate: be well within their level of intellectual, social,
language, or moral development