Journal of Educational Sciences > Volume 2, No. 2, 1990

Toward Stating Behavioral Objectives for Social Studies / Abdulrahman M. Al-Shawan

The purpose of this study is to formulate a well defined set of behavioral objectives to be used as a frame of reference against which the goals, philosophies and directions of social studies within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, could be determined. It is argued that such an approach will hopefully lead to some sort of curriculum development in the field of social studies. The study therefore presents a strong rationale for behavioral objectives which received a great deal of attention from a large number of educators during the late sixties. To achieve this objective, the researcher presents an indepth review of behavioral objectives (i.e. their characteristics, functions, roles, limitations etc.). Means and methods for designing behavioral objectives in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains are also discussed. As such, techniques for formulating behavioral objectives in writing are described. At this point, the discussion focuses primarily on five essential components comprising a behavioral objective statement. These being: To + Verb + Agent + Goal (defined against the minimum required behavior). To illustrate this point, a number of examples drawn from social studies are discussed and analyzed. Common errors in the formulation of behavioral objectives are explored to guard educators against such pit-falls. The study concludes with a review of the rationale and argument of the pros and cons of behavioral objectives.