Using a Content / Behavior Matrix in the Instructional Planning Process

Instruction is more likely to be successful when the instructor is clear about his/her goals. Upon this axiom, a large number of instructional practices are based. One derivative of this axiom is the following: instruction is more likely to be efficient and effective when the instructor can state his/her instructional goals in clear be-havioral objectives. To further clarify the instructor's goals, one might undertake a task analysis, job analysis, content analysis, an analysis of competencies, a needs analysis and/ or a learning hier-· archy. The results of such "front-end" analyses are usually displayed in the form of page after page of goals, objectives and enabling objectives statements. Theoretically the instructor uses behavioral objectives to create evaluation items which will allow him/her to decide whether the instruction is successful in its present form or needs to be revised. While there are no definitive surveys of the use of behavioral objectives by faculty in higher education (Davies, 1976), it is safe to say that few faculty use behaviorally stated objectives in planning· their instruction or in constructing tests and evaluations. For example , in his extensive survey of faculty development practices in United States colleges and universities, Centra (1976) found that· only 4% of the institutions surveyed estimated that a majority of the faculty receive assistance from specialists in writing course objectives. Sixty-four percent (64%) of the institutions indicated that such assistance was not available at all. Needs analyses, task analysis, behavioral objectives, taxonomies, and systematic evaluation procedures are powerful tools in the 5 hands of instructional developers. However, faculty members rarely utilize these tools at their own initiative. In this paper, the use of a "content/behavior matrix" for instructional planning is proposed as an alternative to writing behavioral objectives. The advantages of such a system are described and several detailed examples are provided. The concept of an analysis chart to clarify the relations between ideals and activities in a curriculum was first proposed by Werrett Charters (1924). Ralph Tyler (19 50) advanced the notion of a two-dimensional chart to express objectives clearly and concisely, whereby one. axis of the graph represents "behavior" and the other, "con-tent." The relationship between content and behavior is indicated at the intersection of the rows and columns with an x. Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues (Bloom, 1971), following closely the work of Tyler, promoted the use of content/behavior matrices for instructional planning and evaluation, and issued …