Pick one for me
If you cannot decide, this chooses one prompt from the 42 on this page.
All 42 prompts
Each line works on its own. Read the group heading to choose by situation rather than by topic.
Communication and writing
Objectives for writing, speaking and listening at work. Each one names what the learner produces or says, and how a colleague could tell that it worked.
- Rewrite a fictional 300-word email as a message of no more than 120 words that puts the request and its deadline in the first two lines.
- Give a three-minute spoken update on a piece of their own work that states the status, one risk and one request, finishing within 15 seconds of the time limit.
- Summarise a colleague’s two-minute account of a work problem in three sentences that the speaker confirms as accurate, without adding advice.
- Rewrite a fictional one-page notice to staff with headings, an average sentence length of 20 words or fewer and every abbreviation spelled out on first use.
- Write a request to another team for two fictional cases, each stating what is needed, by when, why, and whom to contact.
- State a disagreement in a practice meeting in two sentences: what they see differently, and what they propose instead.
- Write a how-to note of no more than ten numbered steps for a task they do every week, which a colleague new to the task follows to the end without help.
Leading people
Objectives for team leads and managers. Practice happens in role-plays with fictional briefs, so nobody has to bring a real team member’s situation.
- Brief a team member on a delegated task in under five minutes, covering the result wanted, the deadline, the limits of their authority and the first check-in date.
- Give feedback on one observed behaviour from a fictional brief in four parts (what they saw, its effect, a question, an agreed next step) in a role-play of up to four minutes.
- Prepare a one-to-one agenda with three items, at least one of them chosen by the team member, and send it a day before the meeting.
- Agree one development goal with a team member in a practice conversation, naming the skill, one practice activity and a review date within eight weeks.
- Restate both positions in a fictional dispute between two team members so that each role-player confirms their view was stated fairly, before proposing any next step.
- Score two fictional interview answers on the four-point scale in the interview guide, within one point of the reference score for every question.
- Read a fictional team workload sheet and name the two people most over capacity and one task that could move, giving a reason for each from the sheet.
Procedures, safety and quality
Objectives for routine procedures and checks. The standard comes from the procedure itself. These examples are fictional: use your own organisation’s procedure and its owner’s wording.
- Sign in a fictional visitor using the site procedure, completing all six steps in the right order without the checklist.
- Complete the incident form for a fictional near miss within ten minutes, recording what happened, where, when and the immediate action taken.
- Find the current version of three named documents in the document system and point to the version detail that shows each one is current.
- Inspect ten sample items against the quality checklist and find all three planted defects, with no more than one good item rejected.
- Sort twelve fictional emails into “report as suspicious” or “safe to open”, with at least eleven correct, and name the warning sign in each suspicious one.
- Count the items on one practice shelf with the count sheet and record every difference from the system figure, with no errors when a second person recounts.
- Check five fictional expense claims against the expenses policy and approve, return or reject each one correctly, citing the policy section for each return or rejection.
Software and tools
Objectives for systems and tools. Use a training environment or test data, never live customer records, and set the time limit from what an experienced user takes.
- Create a customer record in the training system from a fictional customer brief within five minutes, with every mandatory field complete and no duplicate record.
- Build a spreadsheet that totals a fictional monthly budget by category with SUM formulas, so that changing any amount updates the totals.
- Set up three breakout rooms in a practice call, assign participants from a list and bring everyone back to the main room.
- Log, categorise and assign three fictional support requests in the ticketing tool, giving each the category and priority that the triage guide sets.
- Share a document with one named colleague as view only, switch off link sharing for anyone outside the team, and show both settings in the sharing panel.
- Filter the reporting dashboard to one region and one quarter and read off the three figures asked for on a written question sheet, all three correct.
- Find a past message, a shared file and a named channel in the team chat tool with the search filters, within three minutes for all three.
Customer service
Objectives for calls, emails and conversations with customers. Run them as role-plays with fictional customers and a fact sheet, and keep the standard to what the learner controls.
- Open a practice call within 30 seconds by greeting the customer, giving their own name and confirming the customer’s reason for calling in the customer’s words.
- Name the customer’s problem and its effect on them in one sentence before offering any solution, in each of three practice calls.
- Recommend one of three fictional service plans for each of four customer descriptions, giving the reason that matches the customer’s stated need.
- Write a reply to a fictional customer email in no more than 150 words that answers every question asked, in the order asked.
- Close a practice call in under 60 seconds by summarising what was agreed, giving a reference number and checking that the customer has nothing else to raise.
- Offer at least two other ways to get in touch to a fictional customer who says they cannot use the phone, and record the chosen way in the customer notes.
- Explain a fictional price change in under one minute, stating the new price, the start date and one way to reduce the cost, then answer the customer’s first question from the fact sheet.
Facilitation and training others
Objectives for people who run sessions, train colleagues or lead workshops. They fit a train-the-trainer course or a facilitation skills day.
- Plan a 20-minute training segment in which participants spend at least half the time practising, shown in the minutes column of the session plan.
- Give instructions for a group activity in under one minute, covering the task, the time, the group size and the output, so that every group can start straight away.
- Respond in a practice session to a participant who talks over others by thanking them, naming the time limit and inviting another person to speak, within one minute.
- Write one in-session check for each of three objectives from their own course, each showing whether every learner can do the task.
- Lead a five-minute debrief after a practice activity with three questions in order: what happened, what it means for their work, and what they will do next.
- Run a 15-minute practice session online that uses the chat, a poll and one breakout round, losing no more than one minute in total to technical set-up.
- Rewrite three weak objectives from their own course so that each passes the four checks, confirmed by a partner on the check sheet.
The four checks for a learning objective
Copy this table into your design notes. A strong objective passes all four checks; then add one line on how you will observe it. The parts follow Robert F. Mager, Preparing Instructional Objectives (1962), in our own words.
| Check | Ask | Weak sign | Strong sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. The learner does it | Does the sentence describe what the learner will do, not what the trainer will cover? | “The session covers the expenses policy.” | “Check five expense claims …” |
| 2. An action you can see or hear | Could someone watch it happen, or hold the result in their hand? | Understand, know, be aware of, appreciate | Write, sort, give, find, score, book, set up |
| 3. A condition | With what, where or from what does the learner do it? | No situation named | From a fictional brief, in the training system, in a role-play |
| 4. A standard | How well, how many or how fast counts as done? | “Well”, “clearly”, “properly” | At least eleven of twelve, in under five minutes, all four parts |
Words that hide the action
When a draft uses one of these words, ask the question next to it. The list is a prompt, not a rule: it flags 30 of the 42 weak versions in this kit and none of the strong ones, and a sentence can avoid every word on it and still be vague.
| Word | Ask instead |
|---|---|
| understand | What would the learner do that shows they understand? |
| know | What would they do with what they know, and where? |
| aware | What would someone who is aware do differently? |
| appreciate | Which action shows that they value it? |
| learn | What will they be able to do once they have learned it? |
| familiar | Which task can they now do without help? |
| confident | What would you see a confident person do? |
| improve | Improve from what, to what, measured how? |
| better | Better by how much, and how would you tell? |
| effectively | Which result shows that it was effective? |
| clearly | Clear to whom, and how would you check it? |
| excellent | Which three things would you see in excellent work? |
Choose examples by group and evidence type
Each group has seven examples. The columns count how each one is observed: by watching the task, by checking what the learner made, or by comparing answers with a key.
| Group | Examples | Watch the task | Check what they made | Compare with a key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communication and writing | 1–7 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Leading people | 8–14 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Procedures, safety and quality | 15–21 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Software and tools | 22–28 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Customer service | 29–35 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Facilitation and training others | 36–42 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| All groups | 1–42 | 20 | 14 | 8 |
All 42 learning objectives examples, weak and strong
Every example has a weak version, a strong objective and a way to observe it. The scenarios are fictional and the standards are illustrations: set yours with the people who do the job. Copy the rows you need.
| # | Group | Weak version | Strong objective | How to observe it | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Communication and writing | Understand how to write good emails. | Rewrite a fictional 300-word email as a message of no more than 120 words that puts the request and its deadline in the first two lines. | Count the words. A partner reads only the first two lines and names the request and the deadline. | Check what they made |
| 2 | Communication and writing | Improve presentation skills. | Give a three-minute spoken update on a piece of their own work that states the status, one risk and one request, finishing within 15 seconds of the time limit. | An observer times the update and ticks status, risk and request. | Watch the task |
| 3 | Communication and writing | Be a better listener. | Summarise a colleague’s two-minute account of a work problem in three sentences that the speaker confirms as accurate, without adding advice. | The speaker says whether the summary is accurate. The observer notes any advice. | Watch the task |
| 4 | Communication and writing | Learn to write in plain English. | Rewrite a fictional one-page notice to staff with headings, an average sentence length of 20 words or fewer and every abbreviation spelled out on first use. | A word-count tool gives the average sentence length. A partner circles any abbreviation that is not spelled out. | Check what they made |
| 5 | Communication and writing | Communicate better across teams. | Write a request to another team for two fictional cases, each stating what is needed, by when, why, and whom to contact. | A partner ticks the four parts in each request. | Check what they made |
| 6 | Communication and writing | Be confident speaking up in meetings. | State a disagreement in a practice meeting in two sentences: what they see differently, and what they propose instead. | The observer writes down the two sentences and ticks both parts. | Watch the task |
| 7 | Communication and writing | Appreciate the value of good documentation. | Write a how-to note of no more than ten numbered steps for a task they do every week, which a colleague new to the task follows to the end without help. | The colleague does the task from the note in a test run. Mark any step where they stopped. | Check what they made |
| 8 | Leading people | Understand delegation. | Brief a team member on a delegated task in under five minutes, covering the result wanted, the deadline, the limits of their authority and the first check-in date. | An observer times the briefing and ticks the four parts. | Watch the task |
| 9 | Leading people | Give better feedback. | Give feedback on one observed behaviour from a fictional brief in four parts (what they saw, its effect, a question, an agreed next step) in a role-play of up to four minutes. | An observer ticks the four parts and notes any comment on character rather than behaviour. | Watch the task |
| 10 | Leading people | Know how to run one-to-ones. | Prepare a one-to-one agenda with three items, at least one of them chosen by the team member, and send it a day before the meeting. | The sent agenda, with the item the team member chose marked. | Check what they made |
| 11 | Leading people | Develop the team’s skills. | Agree one development goal with a team member in a practice conversation, naming the skill, one practice activity and a review date within eight weeks. | The goal on the planning sheet, with all three parts filled in. | Check what they made |
| 12 | Leading people | Be able to manage conflict. | Restate both positions in a fictional dispute between two team members so that each role-player confirms their view was stated fairly, before proposing any next step. | Each role-player says yes or no. The observer notes when the first proposal came. | Watch the task |
| 13 | Leading people | Get familiar with the interview process. | Score two fictional interview answers on the four-point scale in the interview guide, within one point of the reference score for every question. | Compare the scores with the reference scores. | Compare with a key |
| 14 | Leading people | Be aware of workload issues. | Read a fictional team workload sheet and name the two people most over capacity and one task that could move, giving a reason for each from the sheet. | Compare with the answer key. Each reason must point to a figure on the sheet. | Compare with a key |
| 15 | Procedures, safety and quality | Be aware of the visitor sign-in procedure. | Sign in a fictional visitor using the site procedure, completing all six steps in the right order without the checklist. | An observer follows the checklist and marks each step as done and in order. | Watch the task |
| 16 | Procedures, safety and quality | Understand the incident reporting process. | Complete the incident form for a fictional near miss within ten minutes, recording what happened, where, when and the immediate action taken. | A reviewer checks the four fields against the facts of the scenario. | Check what they made |
| 17 | Procedures, safety and quality | Follow document control rules. | Find the current version of three named documents in the document system and point to the version detail that shows each one is current. | The trainer checks the three version numbers and the detail each learner pointed to. | Watch the task |
| 18 | Procedures, safety and quality | Appreciate the importance of quality checks. | Inspect ten sample items against the quality checklist and find all three planted defects, with no more than one good item rejected. | Compare the results with the answer sheet for the sample set. | Compare with a key |
| 19 | Procedures, safety and quality | Have an awareness of information security. | Sort twelve fictional emails into “report as suspicious” or “safe to open”, with at least eleven correct, and name the warning sign in each suspicious one. | Compare with the answer key, including the warning sign for each suspicious email. | Compare with a key |
| 20 | Procedures, safety and quality | Understand the stock count procedure. | Count the items on one practice shelf with the count sheet and record every difference from the system figure, with no errors when a second person recounts. | A second person recounts the shelf and compares the sheet. | Check what they made |
| 21 | Procedures, safety and quality | Comply with the expenses policy. | Check five fictional expense claims against the expenses policy and approve, return or reject each one correctly, citing the policy section for each return or rejection. | Compare with the answer key: the decision and the section for each claim. | Compare with a key |
| 22 | Software and tools | Get to know the new CRM. | Create a customer record in the training system from a fictional customer brief within five minutes, with every mandatory field complete and no duplicate record. | The trainer opens the record in the training system and notes the time taken. | Check what they made |
| 23 | Software and tools | Be comfortable with spreadsheets. | Build a spreadsheet that totals a fictional monthly budget by category with SUM formulas, so that changing any amount updates the totals. | The trainer changes one amount and watches the totals update. | Check what they made |
| 24 | Software and tools | Learn the features of the video meeting tool. | Set up three breakout rooms in a practice call, assign participants from a list and bring everyone back to the main room. | In the practice call, the rooms hold the right people and everyone returns. | Watch the task |
| 25 | Software and tools | Use the ticketing system effectively. | Log, categorise and assign three fictional support requests in the ticketing tool, giving each the category and priority that the triage guide sets. | Compare the category and priority of each ticket with the answer key. | Compare with a key |
| 26 | Software and tools | Understand file sharing. | Share a document with one named colleague as view only, switch off link sharing for anyone outside the team, and show both settings in the sharing panel. | The trainer opens the sharing panel and checks both settings. | Watch the task |
| 27 | Software and tools | Be able to use the reporting dashboard. | Filter the reporting dashboard to one region and one quarter and read off the three figures asked for on a written question sheet, all three correct. | Compare the three figures with the answer key. | Compare with a key |
| 28 | Software and tools | Work more efficiently in the team chat tool. | Find a past message, a shared file and a named channel in the team chat tool with the search filters, within three minutes for all three. | The trainer times the search and sees each item on screen. | Watch the task |
| 29 | Customer service | Deliver excellent customer service. | Open a practice call within 30 seconds by greeting the customer, giving their own name and confirming the customer’s reason for calling in the customer’s words. | An observer times the opening and ticks the three parts. | Watch the task |
| 30 | Customer service | Be empathetic with customers. | Name the customer’s problem and its effect on them in one sentence before offering any solution, in each of three practice calls. | The observer writes down the first sentence after the complaint in each call. | Watch the task |
| 31 | Customer service | Know our product range. | Recommend one of three fictional service plans for each of four customer descriptions, giving the reason that matches the customer’s stated need. | Compare with the answer key. Each reason must refer to a need in the description. | Compare with a key |
| 32 | Customer service | Write better replies to customers. | Write a reply to a fictional customer email in no more than 150 words that answers every question asked, in the order asked. | A reviewer ticks each question as answered and counts the words. | Check what they made |
| 33 | Customer service | Manage call times better. | Close a practice call in under 60 seconds by summarising what was agreed, giving a reference number and checking that the customer has nothing else to raise. | An observer times the close and ticks the three parts. | Watch the task |
| 34 | Customer service | Be aware of customers’ access needs. | Offer at least two other ways to get in touch to a fictional customer who says they cannot use the phone, and record the chosen way in the customer notes. | The observer ticks the options offered. The trainer reads the note. | Watch the task |
| 35 | Customer service | Improve customer satisfaction with price changes. | Explain a fictional price change in under one minute, stating the new price, the start date and one way to reduce the cost, then answer the customer’s first question from the fact sheet. | An observer times the explanation, ticks the three facts and checks the answer against the fact sheet. | Watch the task |
| 36 | Facilitation and training others | Understand how adults learn. | Plan a 20-minute training segment in which participants spend at least half the time practising, shown in the minutes column of the session plan. | The plan: practice minutes divided by total minutes is one half or more. | Check what they made |
| 37 | Facilitation and training others | Facilitate engaging sessions. | Give instructions for a group activity in under one minute, covering the task, the time, the group size and the output, so that every group can start straight away. | An observer times the instructions and counts the questions asked before the groups start. | Watch the task |
| 38 | Facilitation and training others | Be able to handle difficult participants. | Respond in a practice session to a participant who talks over others by thanking them, naming the time limit and inviting another person to speak, within one minute. | An observer ticks the three parts and times the response. | Watch the task |
| 39 | Facilitation and training others | Know how to evaluate training. | Write one in-session check for each of three objectives from their own course, each showing whether every learner can do the task. | A partner reads each check against its objective and confirms that it tests the action named. | Check what they made |
| 40 | Facilitation and training others | Use questions well in a debrief. | Lead a five-minute debrief after a practice activity with three questions in order: what happened, what it means for their work, and what they will do next. | An observer ticks the three questions in order and times the debrief. | Watch the task |
| 41 | Facilitation and training others | Be confident delivering virtual training. | Run a 15-minute practice session online that uses the chat, a poll and one breakout round, losing no more than one minute in total to technical set-up. | An observer logs each tool used and the minutes lost to set-up. | Watch the task |
| 42 | Facilitation and training others | Understand learning objectives. | Rewrite three weak objectives from their own course so that each passes the four checks, confirmed by a partner on the check sheet. | The partner check sheet: four ticks for each objective. | Check what they made |
Filled example: rewrite worksheet
A fictional example. A trainer at a housing association prepares a half-day course on Tuesday 17 November 2026 for new customer advisers who take repair requests from tenants.
| Objective 1 | Objective 2 | Objective 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The weak version, as it is written now | Understand the repairs priority categories. | Be confident booking repair appointments. | Communicate clearly with tenants about delays. |
| 1. Who does it: the learner … | Sorts repair requests | Books the appointment | Tells the tenant |
| 2. The action you could see or hear | Sort repair requests into the four priority categories | Book a repair appointment | Tell a tenant about a delayed repair |
| 3. The condition: with what, where | Twelve fictional requests and the priority guide | In the training system, during a role-play call with a tenant | In a practice phone call with a role-play tenant |
| 4. The standard: how well, how many, how fast | At least 11 of 12 match the guide, and every emergency is correct | The correct priority, a date within that priority’s target, and the access details recorded | In under two minutes, giving the new date, the reason and what to do if the problem gets worse |
| How you will observe it | Compare with the answer key | The trainer opens the booking after the call | An observer times the call and ticks the three parts |
| The strong version in one sentence | Sort twelve fictional repair requests into the four priority categories with the priority guide, with at least eleven matching the guide and every emergency correct. | Book a repair appointment in the training system during a role-play call, with the correct priority, a date within that priority’s target and the tenant’s access details recorded. | Tell a role-play tenant about a delayed repair in under two minutes, giving the new date, the reason and what to do if the problem gets worse. |
Filled example: partner check sheet
The first drafts of the same fictional objectives. 9 of 12 checks passed and 1 of the 3 drafts was ready. The workbook’s example checker holds the same drafts and gives the same counts.
| Check | O1 | O2 | O3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The draft objective | Sort twelve fictional repair requests into the four priority categories with the priority guide, with at least eleven matching the guide. | Book repair appointments in the training system during a role-play call. | Explain repair delays clearly to tenants. |
| The learner does it | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| An action you can see or hear | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| A condition | Yes | Yes | No |
| A standard | Yes | No | No |
| A vague word left in? | No | No | Yes: “clearly” |
| How to observe it is written | Compare with the answer key | The trainer opens the booking after the call | No |
| Checks passed, out of 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| One change I suggest | Add “every emergency correct” to the standard: one wrong emergency matters more than one wrong routine request. | Add a standard: what makes a booking correct? The priority, the date and the access details. | “Clearly” is not a standard. Name the three facts, a time limit and the practice call, then say how you will observe it. |
What you'll leave with
By the end of 30 minutes each participant has rewritten three objectives from their own course so that each names an action someone could observe, a condition and a standard, has had them checked by a partner, and has written how they will see each one met.
Before the session
- For trainers, instructional designers, subject experts and team leads who write objectives for workplace courses, with 2–16 adults working in pairs. It is not written for school or university teaching.
- Ask each participant to bring three objectives from a course they run or are planning. Anyone without a course uses three weak versions from the example table.
- Print the four checks page, the example table (four landscape pages), a rewrite worksheet and a partner check sheet per person, and one copy of the filled examples per pair.
- Send the four checks and the example table a day early in plain text for screen readers. Everyone works in writing first, may pass on reading aloud, and keeps cameras optional online. No movement or colour is needed.
The run of show
Open: what an objective is for
One minute. Say: “An objective says what a learner will be able to do after the training, and how we would see it. Today you fix three of your own.” Two minutes: show the four checks and read the question for each check aloud. One minute: each person reads one pair of weak and strong versions in the example table, silently, and marks the part that changed most.
Demonstrate one rewrite
Write “Understand the incident reporting process.” where everyone can see it. Take one minute per check (four minutes) and ask the group each question. Who does it? What would we see? With what? How well? Build the strong version in front of them: “Complete the incident form for a fictional near miss within ten minutes, recording what happened, where, when and the immediate action taken.” In the last minute ask: “How would you see that it was met?” and write the answer: the reviewer checks the four fields against the scenario.
The 10-minute rewrite exercise
Each person works alone on the rewrite worksheet. Two minutes: write three objectives from your own course in the first row exactly as they are now, or copy three weak versions from the example table. Six minutes, two per objective: fill in the four checks and write the strong version in one sentence. Two minutes: write how you will observe each one. Call each change of phase. Say: “If an objective will not pass, it may be two objectives, or no objective at all. Write that down.”
Swap and check in pairs
Pairs swap worksheets. Three minutes: each person fills in a partner check sheet for the other’s three strong versions, in writing: yes or no for each check, any vague word left in, and one change to suggest. Four minutes, two each: talk through the sheet and agree one change. The writer decides. In a group of three, each person checks the next person’s sheet and the talk takes six minutes, two each, so the round runs one minute longer; take that minute from the close.
Fix and choose where each objective goes
Two minutes: each person makes the agreed change on their worksheet. Two minutes: ask each person to say or type in the chat which of their three objectives they will put into their course outline or training plan first, and when. Anyone may pass. Collect the worksheets only if people offer them, and give them back.
Participant worksheet
Copy this table into a document, or print the worksheet from the bundle. Share only what you choose.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Weak version | One objective from your own course, exactly as it is written now |
| Action | What the learner will do that someone could see or hear |
| Condition | With what, where or from what the learner does it |
| Standard | How well, how many or how fast counts as done |
| How to observe it | Watch the task, check what they made, or compare with a key |
| Strong version | The objective in one sentence, checked by a partner |
Debrief questions
- Which of your three objectives changed most, and which check caused the change?
- Did any objective turn out to be two objectives, or not an objective at all?
- For which objective is the way to observe it hardest to arrange in your course, and what would make it possible?
- Which objective will you put into your course outline or training plan first?
Adapt it for your group
- For one person working alone, do the rewrite exercise and then fill in the partner check sheet yourself the next day, with fresh eyes. Or send the worksheet to a subject expert and ask only: “Could you see this happen?”
- For a 15-minute version, skip the demonstration, open in 2 minutes, run the 10-minute exercise with two objectives instead of three, and use 3 minutes for a written partner check: 2 + 10 + 3 = 15.
- Online, paste the four checks and the example table in the chat as plain text, use breakout rooms of two, and share the worksheet as a document each person can edit. Cameras are optional.
- For quiet participants and people working in a second language, keep every step in writing first. Anyone may pass on reading aloud, and the partner check works as a written exchange with no talk at all.
- For subject experts who are new to training, start from the example group for their field. Ask them to choose one weak version that sounds like their own course, rewrite it, and then turn to their own objectives.
After the session
Within a week, put the rewritten objectives into your course outline or training plan, with the way you will observe each one next to it. Then check that every objective has a practice activity in the course where learners do the action. Before the course runs, ask a subject expert to read the standards and say whether they match the job. After the course, note which objectives most learners met in the session and which they did not. The kit has not been field-tested, and a well-written objective does not by itself show that the training works.
Questions people ask
What is a good example of a learning objective?
A good objective says what the learner will do, with what, and how well. For example: “Sort twelve fictional emails into ‘report as suspicious’ or ‘safe to open’, with at least eleven correct, and name the warning sign in each suspicious one.” You can watch it happen and compare the result with a key. The weak version, “Have an awareness of information security”, gives you nothing to see.
How do you write a learning objective for workplace training?
Start with what the learner will do, using a verb someone could see or hear. Add the condition: with what, where or from what. Add the standard: how well, how many or how fast. Then write how you will observe it. These parts follow Robert F. Mager’s Preparing Instructional Objectives (1962). The four checks in this kit put them in plain questions.
Do I need Bloom’s taxonomy to write objectives?
No. Many designers use Bloom’s taxonomy (Bloom et al., 1956; revised by Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001) to choose verbs and levels, and you can use it next to this kit. This kit does not reproduce it. The test here is simpler: could someone see the action, under a named condition, to a named standard?
Are these examples for school or university teaching?
No. All 42 examples are for adults at work: communication, leading people, procedures, software, customer service and facilitation. The scenarios are fictional and the standards are illustrations. Set the standard for your own course with the people who do the job, and use your organisation’s own procedures.
How is this different from the course outline template and the training plan template?
The course outline template links each objective to a practice activity and a module, and the training plan template maps objectives to sessions and evidence. Both assume you already have good objectives. This page helps you write them: a bank of weak and strong examples by topic, the four checks, and a 10-minute rewrite exercise. Write the objectives here, then put them into the outline or plan.
What is included in the free and editable files?
The open PDF has the four checks, the words that hide the action, all 42 examples in one table, the rewrite worksheet, the partner check sheet, a filled example of each and the 30-minute facilitator plan. Subscribers also receive the editable Word file, an Excel workbook with an objective checker and the example bank, and a CSV of the 42 examples.
How to use the files
Print the PDF, edit the Word file in Word or Google Docs, or open the CSV or XLSX in a spreadsheet. Open files need no email.
Can I use this with paying clients?
Yes. Use and adapt this original Superglue kit in your own training, including paid client sessions. Please share this page rather than redistributing the unmodified kit. Read the full usage terms.