8.2 Instructional Planning: Objectives, Lesson Plans, and Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

8.2 Instructional Planning: Objectives, Lesson Plans, and Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

Core Principle: Instructional planning is the systematic process of designing, organizing, and aligning learning goals, instructional activities, and assessment instruments. In the Philippine basic education system, planning is governed by DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2016 (Policy Guidelines on Daily Lesson Preparation for K to 12 Basic Education Program), which mandates constructive alignment between standards, competencies, and classroom procedures.

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The Instructional Planning Cycle

Effective teaching is never accidental; it is the result of deliberate forward planning. The instructional planning cycle follows a continuous, iterative five-stage sequence:

                   INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING CYCLE
  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ 1. Assessment of Learner Needs & Prior Knowledge           │
  └─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ 2. Formulation of Behavioral Objectives & Standards       │
  └─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ 3. Selection of Content & Instructional Resources          │
  └─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ 4. Designing Learning Experiences & Scaffolding            │
  └─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                                ▼
  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ 5. Formative & Summative Assessment / Evaluation          │
  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Formulating Behavioral Learning Objectives

Learning objectives explicitly define what students should know, understand, and be able to perform at the conclusion of a lesson. Objectives must satisfy the SMART criteria: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Robert Mager's ABCD Model of Objective Writing

Robert Mager established that a complete behavioral objective contains four distinct elements:

1. Audience (A): Specifies the target learners ("Given a Grade 8 Mathematics class..." or "The Grade 10 students...").
2. Behavior (B): Describes the observable, measurable action verb ("...will calculate the standard deviation..." or "...will compose a four-stanza poem..."). Avoid vague non-measurable verbs like understand, know, appreciate, learn, or be familiar with.
3. Condition (C): Outlines the circumstances, tools, or constraints under which the behavior is performed ("...given a scientific calculator and raw data set..." or "...without referring to textbook notes...").
4. Degree / Criterion (D): Establishes the acceptable standard of performance ("...with at least 85% accuracy" or "...containing zero grammatical errors").

• Example Objective: "Given a sample Philippine topographic map (Condition), the Grade 7 Social Studies student (Audience) will identify five major landforms (Behavior) with 100% accuracy (Degree)."

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Bloom's Revised Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

In 2001, Lorin Anderson (a former student of Benjamin Bloom) and David Krathwohl revised the original 1956 Cognitive Taxonomy. Key changes included changing categories from nouns to verbs, swapping the top two levels (Synthesis/Evaluation became Evaluate/Create), and establishing a two-dimensional framework.

             BLOOM'S REVISED TAXONOMY (COGNITIVE PROCESS)

         [ CREATE ]     ── Put elements together to form a coherent whole
       [ EVALUATE ]    ── Make judgments based on criteria and standards
      [ ANALYZE ]     ── Break material into parts & determine relationships
     [ APPLY ]       ── Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation
    [ UNDERSTAND ]  ── Construct meaning from messages or instruction
   [ REMEMBER ]    ── Retrieve relevant knowledge from long-term memory

The Two-Dimensional Framework

The Revised Taxonomy intersects the Cognitive Process Dimension (how information is processed) with the Knowledge Dimension (what type of knowledge is learned):

Affective and Psychomotor Taxonomies

Instructional planning must also target non-cognitive domains:

• Affective Domain (Krathwohl, Bloom, Masia): Focuses on feelings, attitudes, values, and appreciation. Levels: Receiving (awareness) $\rightarrow$ Responding (active participation) $\rightarrow$ Valuing (attaching worth) $\rightarrow$ Organization (synthesizing values) $\rightarrow$ Characterization by Value Complex (internalizing a consistent lifestyle).
• Psychomotor Domain (Simpson / Harrow): Focuses on physical, motor, and manipulative skills. Levels: Perception $\rightarrow$ Set $\rightarrow$ Guided Response $\rightarrow$ Mechanism $\rightarrow$ Complex Overt Response $\rightarrow$ Adaptation $\rightarrow$ Origination.

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Philippine DepEd Lesson Plan Framework (DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2016)

Under DepEd Order 42, s. 2016, lesson preparation is mandatory for all public school teachers to guarantee curriculum coverage and instructional quality.

Daily Lesson Log (DLL) vs. Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP)

• Daily Lesson Log (DLL): A template used by experienced teachers (with at least one year of teaching experience) to log daily instructional coverage. It features tabular entries for objectives, content, learning resources, and procedural steps across the week.
• Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP): A comprehensive, step-by-step instructional guide required for newly hired teachers during their first three (3) years of service, master teachers conducting demonstration teaching, or teachers undergoing formal evaluation.

Core Components of a Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP)