Simply put, learning objectives indicate intended outcomes students should develop or master at the end of a lesson, unit, course, or program. Learning activities, as the name applies, are a set of activities students need to complete to achieve the learning objectives. Learning objectives are the destinations/targets, whereas learning activities are the means to get to those destinations/targets.

Here are examples of activities and their corresponding objectives for your comparisons. Notice that the activities indicate what students would do in class (means for an end). The objectives indicate learning outcomes students need to develop (knowledge, skills, attitudes to be mastered) at the end of instruction.

Activity: Students practice using Excel to calculate central tendency measures.
Objective: Students select and execute the correct Excel functions to calculate central tendency measures.
Objective: Students select and calculate the correct central tendency measures based on types of data.

Activity: Students read text for main ideas and supporting ideas.
Objective: Students identify main ideas and supporting ideas in text.

Activity: Students participate in discussions to identify causes and effects of an X issue.
Objective: Students identify causes and effects of an X issue.

Activity: Students discuss strengths and weaknesses of an X system.
Objective: Students analyze an X system by identifying its strengths and weaknesses and how they are related and providing suggestions to improve.

Activity: Students take notes on main events in the Louisiana Purchase.
Objective: Students name the main events in the Louisiana Purchase.

Activity: Students share their ideas on the benefits of multivitamin on health.
Objective: Students recall the benefits of multivitamin on health.

Activity: Students role play to learn about main events in the U.S. civil war.
Objective: Students recite the main events in the U.S. civil war.

Activity: Students write down three strategies on time management and share them in class.
Objective: Students identify three strategies they find useful to effectively manage their time.

Reflection

Do any of your current objectives sound like or are they phrased like activities students will complete in class?

What's Next?

There is another practice quiz, followed by supplemental resources.