Goals... Again

     Okay, so I know I posted about goal setting last week, but I've still been working on goals for 2015.  I came across this syllabus from a college professor about goal setting.  It was awesome, so I'm posting it here.  This is not my work, and I'm not going to filter it into my own words because I really liked the things he emphasized.

Tips for Writing Goals and Objectives

Although many different courses will cover in depth writing goals and objectives for health promotion programs, grants, and organizations, we have compiled a few tips to help write your goals and objectives early in your career.

What are goals and objectives?

A goal is an overarching principle that guides decision making. Objectives are specific, measurable steps that can be taken to meet the goal.
For example:
Goal - Develop an increased understanding of careers in health education by the end of the Fall 2015 semester
Objectives - Find five job descriptions for health education related jobs by the beginning of December
 Interview two current health education professionals by the end of November
 Identify three organizations that employ health educators by the end of September

A common way of describing goals and objectives is to say that :
Goals are broad Objectives are narrow
Goals are general intentions Objectives are precise
Goals are intangible Objectives are tangible.
Goals are abstract Objectives are concrete.
Goals are generally difficult to measure Objectives are measurable

These are not the only definitions of goals and objectives. Goals and objectives are used in different ways for different purposes and several of your classes will offer you greater insight into using goals and objectives.

Throughout your master programs, you will come to appreciate the importance of measurable goals. Measurable goals and objectives are essential for evaluating progress. Your personal goals are no different. A useful way of making goals and objectives more powerful and measurable is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants, SMART usually stands for:

S Specific
M Measurable
A Attainable
R Relevant
T Time-bound

For example, instead of saying “I will talk to people about health education” say “I will interview three current health educators including questions about their position and career development by December 1, 2016”.

Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives

Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive objectives, originated by Benjamin Bloom and collaborators in the 1950's, describes several categories of cognitive learning. These stages can be useful when writing your goals and objectives.

 Knowledge - Ability to recall previously learned material.
 Comprehension - Ability to grasp meaning, explain, restate ideas.
 Application - Ability to use learned material in new situations.
 Analysis - Ability to separate material into component parts and show
relationships between parts.
 Synthesis - Ability to put together the separate ideas to form new whole,
establish new relationships.
 Evaluation - Ability to judge the worth of material against stated criteria.

Useful Verbs for Writing Goals and Objectives

Define
Identify
List
Name
Recall
Recognize
Record
Relate
Repeat
Underline
Choose
Cite examples of
Demonstrate use of
Describe
Determine
Differentiate
between
Discriminate
Discuss
Explain
Express
Give in own words
Identify
Interpret
Locate
Pick
Report
Restate
Review
Recognize
Select
Tell
Translate
Respond
Practice
Simulates
Apply
Demonstrate
Dramatize
Employ
Generalize
Illustrate
Interpret
Operate
Operationalize
Practice
Relate
Schedule
Shop
Use
Utilize
Initiate
Analyze
Appraise
Calculate
Categorize
Compare
Conclude
Contrast
Correlate
Criticize
Deduce
Debate
Detect
Determine
Develop
Diagram
Differentiate
Distinguish
Draw conclusions
Estimate
Evaluate
Examine
Experiment
Identify
Infer
Inspect
Inventory
Predict
Question
Relate
Solve
Test
Diagnose
Arrange
Assemble
Collect
Compose
Construct
Create
Design
Develop
Formulate
Manage
Modify
Organize
Plan
Prepare
Produce
Propose
Predict
Reconstruct
Set-up
Synthesize
Systematize
Devise
Appraise
Assess
Choose
Compare
Critique
Estimate
Evaluate
Judge
Measure
Rate
Revise
Score
Select
Validate
Value
Test