IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING WITH OBJECTIVES

  As a teacher, you are responsible for guiding the activities of the learners, whether in classroom or outside the classroom whenever they are engaged in related school activities.Your understanding of the objectives the students should attain largely determines the quality and extent of their learning.
Planning an educational activity without considering the desired goals is grossly absurd.Where objectives are vague to the teacher, the students are more likely to become confused because they are prone to learn whatever comes from the teacher.It is however important that a teacher should construct his educational objectives in the light of the conditions in the country and of the needs of the local children.Having known the needs of the children, he could then proceed  state the objectives in terms skills,appreciation,attitudes,and understandings that the learners can reasonably be expected to develop.
   Learners are motivated to learn in order to reach a desired goal when they see the purpose in a project or unit of study; in other words, they participate eagerly and willingly endeavor to over come many obstacles  in other to attain an objective they understand and desire to accomplish.
  In talking about objectives,there are certain questions, which a teacher should ask himself pertaining to the goals he wants to attain.Some these questions are;
      -What do I expect the students to do to attain their objectives?
      -How do they behave when they have reached them?
      -What are the reactions to indicate that they are far from their objectives?
      -How can I evaluate  the progress they are making in reaching the goal?
All teachers need to consider instructional objectives very seriously.It has been observed that many teaching failures occur as a result of teachers not selecting the correct strategies and tactics for instructional goals.Again,other failures occur because teachers do not have any real objective in mind.To succeed in your teaching, you must select the right teaching methods and tactics combined with realistic goals.
   Instructional objectives have been classified into three major categories; the Cognitive domain, the Affective dormain and the Psychomotor domain.
-The Cognitive domain  involves objectives that deal with knowledge or intellectual skills.
-The Affective domain is concerned with the cultivation of emotional responses, attitudes,appreciations,ideals and sensitivity.Very important and will occupy central role in our schools in the future.
-The Psychomotor domain involves objective used in teaching practical and vocational subjects.It is concerned principally with the acquisition of skills
  The Affective and Psychomotor domains contribute immensely in understanding and they are essential for developing good thinking.Hence they cannot be divorced from cognitive learning.The following examples illustrate where to use of the various objectives:
  -To develop the ideal of being able to successfully lead a group discussion(Affective domain)
  -To develop the of reading books outside his area of specialization (Affective domain)
  -To develop an understanding of the digestive process in ruminant animals(Cognitive domain)
  -To be able to balance a fattening ration for digestible protein and net energy for your home farm fattening pigs weighing approximately 100kg (Cognitive domain)
  -At the end of this course the learner will be able to sharpen the saw blade to correct specification (Psychomotor domain)
  -The learner will be able to write a will for his father that will meet the requirements as set up by the lawyer whom we had as a resource person in class.(Psychomotor).
With the above information, it is necessary that a clear and achievable objective be laid down for any instruction to be carried out.