| Abstract: | This experiment was designed to assess the effects of behavioral objectives on class achievement and retention. Eight experimental classes received instruction in physical science with stated behavioral objectives and six control classes received the same instruction without knowledge of the objectives. The subject matter used in this ninth-grade investigation was the third unit of the program, Interaction of Matter and Energy. Behavioral objectives and their accompanying assessment tasks were written by the investigator for the subject matter areas of heat energy, light energy, and phases of matter. The experimental classes obtained higher mean scores than the control classes on both achievement and retention tests. The overall mean differences due to treatment was found to be significant at the 0.01 level of confidence. The results of the study support the thesis that providing classes and teachers with behavioral objectives prior to instruction can enhance the performance on achievement tests. Also, the data strongly suggest that behavioral objectives and their accompanying assessment tasks will cause a resistance to forgetting. |
