In this recorded discussion, we talk with learning researcher and instructional designer Dr. Patti Shank about learning assessments in general and, in particular, multiple-choice questions.

In the discussion, Dr. Shank talks about the relationship between learning objectives and learning assessments; how learning activities are influenced by leaning objectives and lead to learning assessments; the purpose of creating learning assessments; authentic learning assessments; tips for writing multiple-choice questions, including the stem, answer options, and feedback for correct answers; passing scores; and more.

This is one of two related discussions with Dr. Shank. Be certain to check the discussion about Learning Objectives as well.

As always, thanks to Dr. Shank for sharing her time and knowledge and for all the great learning research she compiles and shares.

Here are some related links to check out:

• Dr. Patti Shank’s website
• Dr. Patti Shank’s courses on Learning Assessments and Learning Objectives
• Best Practices for Writing Workplace Tests
• Writing multiple-choice questions
• Writing true/false, matching, dragging, and other types of questions
• Using scenario-based learning and assessments
• Testing and fidelity
• The “testing effect” and the forgetting curve
• Interview with learning researcher Dr. Patti Shank on writing better learning assessments and multiple-choice questions
• The discussion we had with Dr. Patti Shank on Learning Objectives
• Discussion with Dr. Patti Shank on Deep Learning, Deliberate Practice & Desirable Difficulties

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[This is the the first in a series of posts about learning objectives. We’ve now compiled all the posts into a single downloadable guide to writing learning objectives if you want to check that out.]

If you’re new to the learning and training world, you may not yet know what a learning objective is.

To put it simply, a learning objective describes what the learners should be able to do after they complete your training materials. In many cases, you’ll probably have a series of learning objectives instead of just one.

The point of a learning objective is that you’re holding training for a larger, more general reason–to help your organization achieve some goal. And employees need to learn to perform tasks on the job to help the organization achieve that goal. And your training should help employees learn to perform those tasks, and therefore help the organization achieve that goal.

You should create your learning objectives before creating your training content. Use the information you gathered during the Training Needs Assessment and the Analysis (or first) phase of the ADDIE instructional design process to create your objectives.

We’ll explain more below and will provide links to even more information about learning objectives, including how to write them, tests to see if they’re written well, different types of learning objectives for different types of learning, and key thinkers in the development of the idea of learning objectives.

There’s even a great free guide to writing learning objectives at the bottom you can download. 

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[This is the the third in a series of posts about learning objectives. We’ve now compiled all the posts into a single downloadable guide to writing learning objectives if you want to check that out, PLUS check out our Introduction to Learning Objectives recorded discussion with learning researcher Dr. Patti Shank.]

As a kid, I loved the campy TV detective show “Get Smart.”

Now that I’m an adult and work as an instructional designer, I still like to get smart. Except now I get SMART when creating learning objective for workforce training and performance improvement.

We’ll discuss the importance of learning objectives and explain teh SMART test for learning objectives below.

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We’re going to start this article assuming you know what a learning objective is. If you don’t, check out our What Is a Learning Objective? article or this free downloadable guide to writing learning objectives first.

And now that we’ve got that covered, in this article we will present some reasons why you should use learning objectives when you create training materials.

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You don’t have to read up on learning objectives for too long before you run into the name of Robert Mager and hear about his performance-based learning objectives. These are also sometimes called three-part learning objectives, behavioral learning objectives, or criteria-based learning objectives.

This isn’t necessarily the only way to write learning objectives. Smart people have continued to think about training and the development of learning objectives since Mager’s time, after all.

But even though there are other schools of thought about learning objectives, what Mager had to say is still solid advice in many cases.

Mager outlines his theory about the best way to create learning objectives in his classic book Preparing Instructional Objectives. You can read our review of Preparing Instructional Objectives if you’re interested, and we highly recommend reading the book, which is informative, quick, and fun. Oh, and here’s a free online version of Mager’s book for you!

Otherwise, here’s the crux of what Mager has to say, below. When you’re done with this article, you might also be interested in our recorded discussion with learning researcher & instructional designer Dr. Patti Shank on Writing Performance-Based Learning Objectives (she calls them “performance objectives” because she focuses so much on job performance).

And hey, since you may be here because you’re interested in Robert Mager’s work, and also because people interested in learning objectives may also be interested in performance analysis, don’t forget to check out our article about Robert Mager’s Performance Analysis book and flow-chart, which is one of the seminal works in the field of human performance improvement, or HPI.

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