Using Student Centered Language to Conceptualize Learning Objectives

If your department is thinking about student centered learning and language, consider: What can a student do after completing the course, major or program? The answer is an objective – a measurable behavior that corresponds to the department goals. The answer uses verbs such as those in the right-hand column of the chart below.
 
 
Behavior verbs useful in writing student-centered objectives. 
Level-of-Learning
Definition
Example Objective Verbs
Knowledge
Recall previously learned material (facts, theories, etc.) in essentially the same form as taught.
list, name, match, describe, define, state, outline, identify, select, explain, give example, record
Comprehension
Seeing relationships, concepts, and abstractions beyond the simple remembering of material.  Typically involves translating, interpreting, and estimating future trends.
explain, compare, contrast, differentiate, predict, summarize, generalize, paraphrase, distinguish, solve, compute, identify, give example, classify, describe, estimate, understand
Application
The ability to use learned material in new and concrete situations including the application of rules, methods, concepts, principles, laws, and theories.
solve, compute, prepare, use, develop, construct, assemble, modify, conduct, identify, teach, assess, determine, implement, produce, provide, report
Analysis
The ability to break down material into its component parts so that the organizational structure may be understood, including the identification of the parts, analysis of the relationships among the parts, and recognition of the organizational principles involved.
identify, analyze, recognize, diagram, differentiate, discriminate, illustrate, separate, subdivide
Synthesis
The ability to put parts together to form new patterns or structures such as unique communications (a theme or speech), a plan of operations (a research proposal), or a set of abstract relations (schemes for classifying information).
create, conceive, hypothesize, categorize, compare, compile, contrast, design, devise, facilitate, formulate, generate, incorporate, integrate, plan, revise, structure
Evaluation
The ability to judge the value of material for a given purpose.  Learning at this level is the highest in the cognitive hierarchy because it involves elements of all the other categories plus conscious value judgments based on clearly defined criteria.
evaluate, judge, compare & contrast, conclude, critique interpret, justify, support