Page 31 - Making Instruction Work

chap 3 3/11/97 4:45 PM Page 19

strategy of instructional development 19

Deriving the Outcomes (Part III)

When the analysis procedures reveal a need for instruction,
the next activity is to specify the important results that the
instruction will need to accomplish for it to fulfill the need.
This is done by stating the instructional objectives, by depict-
ing the prerequisite relationships between the objectives, and
by determining which skills must be in place (i.e., prerequi-
sites) before a student will be able to profit from the instruc-
tion.

Course Objectives (Chapter 7)

Instructional objectives are statements that describe the
desired instructional outcomes (results); they describe what
students must be able to do to be considered competent (Note:
Correctly implemented instruction continues until the student
can perform as the objectives describe). Objectives are derived
from the skills that anyone would need before being able to
practice tasks described by the analyses. They describe instruc-
tional targets, much as blueprints describe the components of
a finished product.

Skill Hierarchies (Chapter 8)

Skill hierarchies are simple diagrams showing the depen-
dency relationships between the skills that must be in place
before a larger, more comprehensive, skill or task can be prac-
ticed. They are useful in determining which skills must be
learned before others can be addressed. They also provide the
substance from which course maps are derived, and with
which decisions can be made about the most efficient use of
limited practice materials and equipment.