What are objectives and how do I use them?

 

 

The objectives given in each topic guide are specific indications of what we want you to know after studying each chapter. Examination questions are generally taken right from the objectives, and material in a chapter that is not indicated in an objective will not be included in examinations. Occasionally, you may encounter an examination question that does not seem to relate to any of the objectives as you understood them, so you need to use common sense and a certain amount of caution in interpreting the objectives. But on the whole the objectives are your best guide to what material to study most intensively.

 

We use a specific vocabulary in the objectives. The terms appreciate, know, understand, and be able to describe four levels of depth of knowledge.

 

·        Appreciate means be generally aware of; this is the most superficial type of learning and should take you very little time to accomplish.

·        Know indicates a knowledge of details. This type of learning is closest to the rote memorization that is used to excess in high school classes. This is ‘nuts and bolts’ learning.

·        Understand indicates a significantly deeper level of knowledge than know. When we require you to understand something, we are looking for something beyond mere rote memorization. Understanding entails synthesis and application. Often, what we want you to understand is a process of scientific discovery. Understanding means not just knowing each step in the process but grasping how all of the steps work together, and how the process would have been different if one of the steps had not occurred. Understanding also means being able to compare this process of discovery with others, and to relate this particular historical process with the scientific method. Obviously you can’t do that if you have just memorized a bunch of words without real comprehension. Understand objectives take much longer to master than know or appreciate objectives.

·        Be able to means just what it implies. This is an active kind of learning, where you demonstrate your knowledge by performing some operation yourself. Be able to objectives, like understand objectives, take longer to master than know or appreciate objectives.

·        Be familiar with indicates a non-exhaustive knowledge of details. It is similar to know except that you do not need to know every example of the thing in question