 Mach 364 on final approach and not acknowledged for the transmission four and three-quarter miles from runway approaching glide path will should be down On course heading zero five zero begin descent on glide path on course An Air Force four-engine jet attempts an emergency ground-controlled precision radar approach landing minus two engines out over the Pacific and Complicated when bad weather closed in some thirteen hundred miles from the coast and home base The burden falls on the aircraft commander the co-pilot the navigator and the ground controller Yet it sounds rather routine holding slightly bugged like that on glide path two miles from touchdown on course On glide path on course Sliding below glide path The ability of each individual to meet the demands of the situation Represents far more than just his own efforts It is a dramatic example of training systematically planned conducted and evaluated in terms of performance requirements as reflected in meaningful criterion objectives This film another in the instructional technology series Explains what criterion objectives are and why they are the key to successful performance After viewing this film, you will be able to one Explain how criterion objectives are derived to Identify the three essential characteristics of a criterion objective three list three major benefits of criterion objectives and four Personally use and encourage others to learn about and use criterion objectives. I'm captain Bruce cross Like many other aircraft commanders in the 141 we find ourselves in very tight situations once in a while for an example Just a few weeks ago. We had to go into an airstrip of which the last 1500 to 2000 feet of runway were damaged It's a real challenge putting this airplane in an airstrip of 4500 feet I don't know too much about those criterion objectives, but I do know I'm fully qualified to handle this airplane And I guess that's saying something fully qualified Able to perform the mission That's what objectives are all about Here's a multi-engine jet How do you prepare someone to fly it? Navigate it load it land it repair it tow it Inventory it control it fuel it secure it improve it budget for it or Any of the thousand and one different things that go into getting it airborne and on its way to mission accomplishment? Having been appointed an Air Force cadet the United States Air Force And how do you graduate second lieutenants with a knowledge and character essential to leadership and a career in the United States Air Force? And that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties Of the office on which I am about to enter graduation day No matter where it occurs throughout the Air Force is a happy one, but it's also an expensive one It's estimated we spend several billion dollars a year on training and education And we've been turning out guys who can fly navigate and perform in technical specialties for years But the real question is Can we do it better and more efficiently? By now you've heard about ISD Instructional system development The five-step model where we first Analyze the system Then define the education or training requirement Develop objectives and tests Plan develop and validate the instruction Then the training requirements Then the training requirements Then the training requirements Instruction Then conduct and evaluate the instruction in step one wait to find our goal through a comprehensive task analysis Using occupational surveys interviews and work inventories When you begin course development by finding out what a worker actually does Instruction can be designed to precisely meet the demands of the job in step two Instructional standards are developed to specify the knowledge skills attitudes and the level of proficiency needed for realistic performance This step pinpoints the items requiring formal instruction and identifies the major resources which should be used Step three is the subject of this film The development of objectives that are job relevant For the aircraft commander and co-pilot seen in the first part of the film It goes back in part to an objective achieved in the flight simulator For the navigator his in-flight mission re-planning required and for the gca controller All the objectives have three things in common First they each specify the behavior or performance activity by which the student displays the skill and knowledge required for the job second They each indicate the condition or circumstances under which the student must perform and third They specify a standard or criterion which is the minimally acceptable level of student performance performance conditions Standards P C S What are the three characteristics of a meaningful objective? performance conditions Standards the performance or behavior is described in concrete action verbs Stating what the student does to display his newly acquired skill knowledge or attitude You don't say the pilot will know how to handle an in-flight emergency You state that he must maintain flight upon the loss of two engines You don't say the navigator will understand how to re-plan a mission in flight But you prescribe that he Performs in-flight re-planning and you don't say the student will learn how to control a precision approach You specify the student will control a precision approach The conditions under which the student must perform are usually expressed in terms of provisions and restrictions What the student is given and what he is denied and these should as nearly as possible Relate directly to real life Setting the standard expected of the student completes the objective Often expressed in accuracy or speed the standard specifies the satisfactory level of student performance Now here's an objective from the personnel officer course What portions specifies the performance activity? What conditions are imposed and what standard is required? You can now see how a meaningful objective is constructed and how the performance activity the conditions and The standards Combined to make the instructional intent crystal clear When objectives have been based on a thorough analysis of what is required for real-world performance The instructional designer is well on his way to the next step in building an instructional system planning Developing and validating the instruction Then conducting and evaluating the instruction You've got to know what you're trying to do before you figure out how you're going to do it a Thorough task analysis and careful definition of instructional requirements Combined with well-written objectives Provide a sound basis for the selection and development of learning activities media and the actual instruction There's no wasted time or effort on the part of the students or instructional staff The staff works together to zero in on clearly defined goals The student is continually aware of what's expected of him There's reduced frustration and an improved morale and attitude and When he graduates he'll meet the needs of the requester The need which originally instigated the requirement for the instruction Now all this sounds perfectly plausible and proper. So what's the problem? Well for one thing Objectives aren't as easy to write as we've made it appear We've given you the basics but writing a good objective can be a real challenge as You move from simple skills to knowledge to attitudes our methods for evaluation are not as precise But we are making progress Take this one for example How are you going to improve it as you work with criterion objectives? one thing you'll discover is that objectives can be rated on a scale from very fuzzy to very clear Just because you're desired learning outcomes don't it first seem to lend themselves to clearly defined Behavioral terms doesn't mean you don't need objectives Although the more clearly defined objectives can be more effectively applied to instruction It's not necessarily bad to work with less than perfectly defined objectives By continuously reexamining objectives, you will be able to clarify them You'll find they can be improved and achieved and you'll have more time to deal with other unclear objectives This objective we've used as an example is now much more useful for an instructor who wants to evaluate his students pride in their work But it can still be improved How do you define voluntarily? What is minimal assistance? How will you know if a student complains? Further refinement will produce an objective that specifically states what the student is expected to learn After all the purpose of education or training is to bring about a change in the learner learning is change and Objectives are the way you express this change So although at times this change may seem difficult to express if you expect to teach a skill in Part knowledge or effect attitudes You've got to find a way to verbalize this change and If you don't have good objectives or if they aren't based on real-world requirements You're kidding yourself and doing the Air Force at a service You'll waste time manpower and money by over training under training misdirected training or possibly in no training at all and you'll also endanger Air Force mission accomplishment Writing well-defined criterion objectives is a challenge and takes time But it is cost-effective and there's no way you're going to train or educate people effectively without them It's that simple