USING LEARNING OBJECTIVES IN CHRISTIAN LIFE EDUCATION

By Noel P. Miranda

Beginning with the End in Mind

Writing educational objectives is an essential aspect of
effective teaching. Framing objectives well helps us clarify
what we expect our students to learn from our instruction.
Well-written objectives guide us in planning our curriculum,
selecting the best teaching strategies to use, and
constructing or choosing our assessment tools.
But how do we use learning objectives in Christian life
education (CLE) or religious education? How should we write
and use good educational objectives in CLE?
Let us begin by examining the following objective in CLE:
Explain the importance of the Sacrament of the
Eucharist in one's moral life.
You will notice that this objective has two basic parts:
1. A description of the content to be learned: the Sacrament of the Eucharist
2. A statement of what is to be done with the content (the verb or process): to
explain its importance
Both parts of the learning objective are important. Can you imagine what kind of
educational goal we would have if we did not specify the content or the process of
using this content?

A Holistic View of Faith

When talking about objectives, CLE teachers immediately bring up DMW –
doctrine, morals, worship – the three dimensions of the Catholic faith. This
traditional way of classifying CLE educational objectives is important but focuses
primarily on the content of instruction.
This holistic view of faith, though, affirms the truth that the Christian faith is not
merely an intellectual assent to God's revelation but rather the total response of our
whole lives to God who loves us. This total response entails our believing, following,
and praying.
DMW, thus, refers to the content or object of our believing, doing, and praying.
We believe in doctrine, as expressed in our Creed. We live out our morals by
following the Commandments, the Beatitudes, and Christ's own life and example.
We worship God in personal prayer and the Sacraments.
Thus, the "DMW-ness" of a CLE learning objective is not just a function of its verb
but of its content. Of course, some verbs are more appropriate to use than others for
particular dimensions of faith. While the verbs "follow," "live out," and "act" usually
pertain to morals, the following are also morals objectives because of their content:

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 w Enumerate the four misconceptions of conscience
w Explain the modern understanding of the meaning of the fourth
commandment
w Give examples of violations of the seventh and tenth commandments
Worship objectives are often signaled by the verbs "pray," "offer," "thank," or
"praise." But worship objectives can also use other verbs. Here are some
examples:
w Explain the meaning of the Eucharist as a presence-, sacrifice-, and
communion-sacrament
w Differentiate a sacrament from a sacramental
w Describe the importance of personal prayer in one's moral life (This objective
actually touches on morals as well.)
As in the last example, an objective may sometimes contain two related
dimensions of faith. For such objectives, the teacher should simply decide whether
the objective is more about doctrine, moral, or worship depending on his/her
emphasis in class.

Bloom's Taxonomy in CLE

If DMW focuses on the content of educational objectives, the six verbs of Bloom's
Taxonomy (as revised by Krathwohl et al in 2001) focus on the cognitive or thinking
processes involved in learning. The following are the verbs of the Revised Bloom's:
remember, understand, apply, analyze, judge, create. It is presupposed that the first
three thought processes build upon each other and are hierarchical. That is,
understanding presumes remembering and applying presumes understanding. Let's
look at these three processes first and see how they apply to CLE.
1. Remember: to learn and recall facts, terms, symbols, conventions,
classifications, events, trends, principles, ways of working, and theories. Related
to remembering are recognizing and recalling. In CLE, remembering means
recalling facts, definitions of concepts, terminologies, prayers, passages,
teachings, guidelines, and other relevant quotes. Below are examples of
objectives and test items that demonstrate remembering.
The most effective test types to use for this level are the following:
identification/enumeration, fill-in the blanks, matching type, true or false, short
answers, and multiple choice.
YL OBJECTIVES TEST ITEMS
Describe the events of the First Creation (MC) What happened during the fourth day
1 Story. of Creation?
Enumerate the three temptations of Jesus (Short answer) List down the three
2 Christ as found in Matthew. temptations of Jesus Christ as found in the
Gospel according to St. Matthew.
Define each of the different kinds of laws. (T or F) The natural law is the "law of our
3 human nature."
Identify some examples of Catholic social (Fill-in the Blanks) The first social encyclical is
4 teachings. __________________.

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2. Understand: to interpret content, translate it to another form, and make
inferences. The following thinking processes are related to understanding:
interpreting, paraphrasing, classifying, summarizing, inferring, and explaining. In
CLE, understanding is seen in how students are able to explain concepts and
principles in their own words, explain the meanings of Bible passages and
Church teachings, discuss the basic relationships of concepts or events, and
state the Christian message of a particular passage or topic.
The best test types to use for this level are identification, fill-in the blanks,
matching type, true or false, short answers, multiple choice, and short essays.
YL OBJECTIVES TEST ITEMS
Explain what the two Creation stories reveal (MC) Which of the following expresses what
1 to us about our dignity as human persons. the two Creation stories reveal about our
dignity as human persons?
Discuss in their own words the meaning of (T or F) The temptation of Jesus tells us that
2 Jesus' temptation. we should seek and welcome temptation in
our lives.
Explain the importance and purpose of each (Short answers) What is the value of civil
3 of the four kinds of law. laws for the ordinary Christian?
Explain how Catholic social teachings are (Essay) If Catholic social teachings are
4 both permanent and developing. rooted in Christ's Gospel, why are they
described as developing and changing?

3. Apply: using in new situations that which one has previously learned. In CLE,
we deal mostly with factual or conceptual knowledge (rather than procedural
knowledge such as answering a word problem in Math). Therefore, application in
CLE basically means relating concepts and principles discussed to actual or
hypothetical "life" cases. Application here does not entail a detailed analysis of
cases or situations but rather a mere recognition of concepts and principles
related to the "life" example.
At this level, test types such as fill-in the blanks, identification, or matching type
are not very effective to use. Multiple choice, short answers, and essays are the
best test types to use for this particular skill. True or False provides limited
possibilities.
YL OBJECTIVES TEST ITEMS
Relate our call to stewardship to our call to take (MC) Which of the following examples is a
1 care of our environment. concrete way of living out our call "to fill the
earth and subdue it"?
Give examples of "Beatitude" people (MC) Which Beatitude is exemplified by Ali
2 in the film "Children of Heaven"?
Give examples of the different kinds of laws. (T or F) The guidelines on fasting during
3 Lent are an example of natural law.
Relate our Christian call to uphold human (Essay) Based on your knowledge and
4 dignity to current events and issues. reading

The next three processes are called higher-order thinking skills. They are not strictly
hierarchical, but some skills are more applicable to CLE than others.
4. Analyze: consists of breaking up wholes into their component parts, noting the
nature of the parts, their relationship to one another and to an overall structure or
purpose. Related skills are differentiating/contrasting, organizing (e.g. finding
patterns or themes), attributing (e.g. causes and effects, stating reasons or
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 supporting arguments, etc.) In CLE, analyzing means explaining the reasons for
particular teachings, principles, or Christian values, identifying common themes
among passages and readings, comparing and contrasting concepts/examples,
and explaining the details and nuances of Catholic teachings, passages, or
practices.
The best test types for this level are the following: Multiple Choice, Interpretation
of Graphs (Econ), Case Study, and Essay.
YL OBJECTIVES TEST ITEMS
Explain the meaning of original sin. (MC) Which of the following is not an effect
1 of the sin of our first parents?
Explain the meaning and value of the (Essay/MC) Some theologians describe
Sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation as the sacrament that
2 celebrates our growing up in the Holy Spirit.
What does this mean?
Analyze a moral act according to its object, (Essay) Identify the object, intention, and
3 intention, and circumstances. circumstances of John Proctor's act.
Analyze the kind of justice involved in particular (MC) Based on the issue presented, which
4 cases. of the following is an example of a violation
of social justice?

5. Evaluate: making judgments based on criteria and standards discussed; judging

the worth or merits of something or somebody based on certain criteria. In CLE,
to evaluate entails asking students to judge a real-life or hypothetical
case/situation based on principles, concepts, values, or other criteria discussed in
class. Usually, tests of evaluation have the following tone: "Do you agree or
disagree? Is this a moral decision? Defend your answer using the following
concepts . . ."
The best test types for this level are essays.
YL OBJECTIVES TEST ITEMS
Explain how God's love and mercy are shown (Essay) Is God as depicted in Gen 1-12 a
in the sin stories. vengeful, merciless God? Cite concrete
1 details from the sin stories to support your
answer.
Reflect on their own parish experience based (Essay) Based on your Parish Alive activity,
2 on the threefold mission of the Church. which of the threefold mission of the Church
is your parish strongest in? Weakest in?
Evaluate the morality of an act based on the (Essay) Is this an example of "good ends
object, intention, and circumstances. justifying evil means": using painkillers to
3 alleviate the pain of a patient suffering from
cancer even if the painkillers may hasten
the death of the patient?
Evaluate the social effects of price ceilings and (Essay) Based on our discussions of
floors. economics and the CST on human dignity,
4 is having a minimum wage advantageous
for our society? Defend your answer.

6. Create: putting elements together to form a novel, coherent whole or make a new
and original product. This involves generating planning, or producing something
new and original. In other subject areas, creation is best demonstrated when
students come up with original poetry, songs, plays, productions, artwork, and
projects. In CLE, creation is demonstrated especially in projects and efforts like

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 Gulong (where the students produce a business plan and actually execute it) and
test items where they are asked to come up with a synthesis statement or an
original prayer. Creation is not a major skill in CLE (unlike the communication
arts, music, visual arts, and computer) and does not need to be emphasized so
much in written tests because authentic creation demands time, skill, and
opportunities for revision and improvement.
Usually, creation in CLE is best seen in projects. In a test, the best test type for
creation is the essay.
YL OBJECTIVES TEST ITEMS
1 Write their original, modern-day psalm. (Project) Psalm-writing activity
Compose their own original, modern-day (Homework) Writing their own modern-day
2 parable about the youth. parable
Research on the context, nuances, and (Project) Presentation of the students'
3 morality of particular moral acts. research on cyber-bullying.
Construct a well-made lesson plan based on (Lesson Planning) Students submit lesson
4 the agreed-upon rubrics. plans that comply with set standards.

References:

Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D.R., et al (2001) A taxonomy for learning, teaching

and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York:
Longman.