Writing Mastery Objectives By: William McCann and Shakira Wimberly
Feb 22, 2016
Writing Mastery Objectives
By: William McCann and Shakira Wimberly
DO NOW ACTIVITYWhat makes a Mastery Objective?
Compare and contrast two objectivesPoor mastery objective
vs. Quality mastery objective
Compare and contrast objectives. Record the similarities and differences. Discuss outcomes of mastery objectives
Professional Learning ProcessActivity
Think, Pair, Share…How does this
process help improve student outcome?(1 member from each group will share group ideas)
Cycle Component Process Time Frame
Mastery Objectives Do Now
4-8 Week Learning Process
Direct Instruction/ Explicit Teaching
4-8 Week Learning Process
Checking for UnderstandingGuided Practice
4-8 Week Learning Process
DifferentiationIndependent Practice
4-8 Week Learning Process
Closure Exit Ticket
4-8 Week Learning Process
Mastery Objectives should be:Common Core Standards DerivedBased on explicit behaviorsEstablish specific conditionsDependant on certain criteriaAble to communicate relevance.
How are the Common Core Standards correlated to the Mastery Objective?Common Core Standards are focused around
either a process or content. Process Content
Focuses on students’ learning (strategies) or a skill.
• Example: Student knows how to explain how an author uses irony.
Emphasizes content knowledge; what students need to know and understand.
• Example: Student knows the meaning of irony
Restate: Mastery objectives will either focus on a process or content from Common Core standard.
ACTIVITY #1Given a Common Core standard, determine whether
it is process or content driven?
Guiding QuestionsWhen reading the standard, is the
process or content implied or explicit?Are prerequisite skills implied in either?
STANDARDSStandards tend to be abstract and broad
based.
What should teachers do?
“UNPACK” the standard.( Unpack= Breakdown)
“Unpacking” the StandardsGuiding questions to ask when
unpacking standardsWhat do you want students to know?What are the pre-requisites to attaining
what you want students to know?What do you want students to do with the
knowledge?
Note: One standard may need to be chunked into several mastery objectives/ lessons. (Eligible Content)
Objective VariationsGronlund
The focus should be on the learning outcomes attained by the students. The objectives should direct attention to the student and to the types of behavior he/she is expected to exhibit as a result of the learning experience. Our focus shifts from the teacher to the student and from the learning process to the learning outcomes. ”Norman Gronlund
Mager
Robert Mager type objectives should include three parts:
Conditions under which you expect the behavior to occur. Given a set of 10 two-digit
multiplication problems and without a calculator . . . .
State the terminal behavior you wish to see . . . . a student will correctly
complete the problems . . .
State the criterion for acceptable achievement . . . . with 8 out of 10 correct
within 15 minutes.
Gronlund Objectives V. Mager ObjectivesUses appropriate
experimental procedures in the lab setting.
Identifies important dates, events, and people in the Battle of Gettysburg.
Creates a 16 measure song including appropriate meter, melody, and notation.
Categorizes polynomials according to their characteristics.
Given six different types of quadrilaterals, the student will create a Venn diagram classifying the shapes by characteristics of sides and angles with five of six shapes correctly classified.
What are mastery objectives?(Alcorn’s Blended Model)
An objective is a description of a performance you want learners to be able to exhibit before you consider them competent.
An objective describes an intended result of instruction, rather than the process of instruction itself.
4 Key Components BehaviorConditionCriteriaRationale
BehaviorsA. Behavior : (Blooms, Webb’s) The verb used to describe a
desirable behavior in an instructional objective must be observable.
B. Should move from levels 1 to 4 (DOK) during units covering standards…fluid
C. Two types of behaviors: OVERT refers to any kind of performance that can be
observed directly, whether that performance be visible or audible ( observed by the eye or ear).
COVERT refers to performance that cannot be observed directly, performance that is mental, invisible, cognitive, or internal (asking someone to say something or do something).
Conditions B. Condition: To state an objective clearly, you will
sometimes have to state the conditions you will impose when students are demonstrating their mastery of the objective. Below are some examples:
Given a problem of the following type…
Given a list of…
Given any reference of the learner's choice…
When provided with a standard set of tools…
Without the aid of references…
With the aid of references…
Without the aid of a calculator…
CriteriaC. Criteria: An explicit description of acceptable
performance. Teacher should write mastery objectives with the
expectation of the minimum required performance.
Minimum Maximum (Setting the Bar Too High)
Allows for differentiation Does not allow for differentiation
Enrichment No enrichment
Allows room for growth Does not allow for growth
Rationale/ImportanceWhy is this important to students? Any skill is learned more effectively if the learner
understands the reason for learning and practicing it.
Students should be able to connect to either the process or content identified in the mastery objective to future learning and/real world applications. So, this is important to me because…
Good vs. Poor ObjectiveGOOD POOR
• “The student will be able to evaluate the different theories of the origin of the solar system as demonstrated by his/her ability to compare and discuss verbally or in writing the strengths and weaknesses of each theory.”
• “Given a description of a planet, the student will be able to identify that planet, as demonstrated verbally or in writing.”
• “ The student will be able to understand the origin of the solar system and discuss it by writing it in the science journal.”
• “ The student will be able to identify planets.”
Lets look at this as a team on Monday!
ACTIVITYAs a group, analyze the Mastery Objective for all necessary components.( Behavior, Content, Criteria)
If needed, rewrite the mastery objective using the blended model.
Recap: Common Core Standards UnpackedGiven a Common Core standard, determine :
What students need to know?What are the Pre-Requisites?What do you want students to do with the
knowledge:
STOP & THINK
How does your unpacking generate mastery objectives?
ACTIVITY- EXIT TICKET
In groups, create at least 2 mastery objectives that have a behavior, condition, and criteria.
Professional Learning Cycle1. Support and Training2. Safe Practice: Time to practice writing mastery objectives. 3. Article/ Best Practice: Each teacher will be given an article to use as a resource for writing mastery objectives3. Coaching: Each teacher will have coaching available.4. Feedback: Teachers will receive feedback from their coach for improvement.5. Accountability: Teachers will be expected to write mastery objectives that contain behavior, condition, and criteria. The mastery objective must also be written as a reflection of the standard.
Exit Ticket – 3, 2, 1Write 3 of the most important
things you learned today.Write 2 questions that you still
need to be answered today. Write 1 way your new learning
connects to what you knew before.