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Competencies vs. Learning Objectives
Laurita Santacaterina
March 2007
One might be confused about the difference between competencies and learning
objectives. From an educational standpoint, competencies can be regarded as the logical
building blocks upon which assessments of professional development are based. When
competencies are identified, a program can effectively determine the learning objectives
that should guide the learners’ progress toward their professional goals. Tying these two
together will also help identify what needs to be assessed for verification of the
program’s quality in its effectiveness towards forming competent learners.
Competencies define the applied skills and knowledge that enable people to successfully
perform their work while learning objectives are specific to a course of instruction.
Competencies are relevant to an individual’s job responsibilities, roles and capabilities.
They are a way to verify that a learner has in fact learned what was intended in the
learning objectives. Learning objectives describe what the learner should be able to
achieve at the end of a learning period. Learning objectives should be specific,
measurable statements and written in behavioral terms. In short, objectives say what we
want the learners to know and competencies say how we can be certain they know it.
So how does one write good learning objectives? First of all, it is important to focus on
the learner’s performance rather than the instructor’s performance. For example, an
objective written with a learner in mind might read, ‘Describe the differences between
traditional and crisis leadership.’ While an objective written from an instructor’s
performance focus might read, ‘Discuss traditional and crisis leadership.’ Second, each
learning objective should begin with a behavioral verb and should not include more than
one general learning outcome. A behavioral verb is a word that denotes an observable
action or the creation of an observable product. An example of a behavioral learning
objective is, “List examples of possible air contaminants resulting from a disaster.’ An
example of a non-behavioral learning objective would be an objective beginning with the
verb ‘understand’ because one cannot see ‘understanding.’ Third of all, it is essential the
learning objectives not only tie back directly to the course content but also that they
represent the most significant information for the learners to grasp.
As mentioned above, one of the key elements to writing a good learning objective is to
use behavioral verbs. Here is a short of list of behavioral verbs that should serve as a
useful guide to preparing good learning objectives.
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Classify
Compose
Construct
Decode
Define
Demonstrate
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Describe
Diagram
Distinguish
Estimate
Evaluate
Identify
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Interpret
Label
List
Locate
Measure
Name
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Order
Reproduce
Solve
State (a rule)
Translate
Additional Information on Creating Learning Objectives
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a
classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. This classification
of levels is called Bloom’s Taxonomy. It is the most widely used system of its kind in
education. Bloom’s Taxonomy divides educational objectives into three "domains:"
affective, psychomotor, and cognitive. Within each domain there are different levels of
learning.
Traditional education tends to emphasize the skills in the cognitive domain. Bloom
identified six levels within the cognitive domain, from the simple recall or recognition of
facts (knowledge), as the lowest level, through increasingly more complex and abstract
mental levels to the highest level that is classified as evaluation.
Here is a table illustrating the different levels of the cognitive domain as identified by
Bloom’s Taxonomy. The lower levels require less in the way of thinking skills. As one
moves down the hierarchy, the activities require higher level thinking skills. Verb
examples that represent intellectual activity on each level are also listed.
This list can serve as a valuable tool to use when creating learning objectives,
assessments and even competencies.
Cognitive
Verbs Used for Objectives
Domain Levels
Lowest
Knowledge
level
define, memorize, repeat, record, list, recall, name, relate, collect, label,
specify, cite, enumerate, tell, recount
Comprehension
restate, summarize, discuss, describe, recognize, explain, express, identify,
locate, report, retell, review, translate
Application
exhibit, solve, interview, simulate, apply, employ, use, demonstrate, dramatize,
practice, illustrate, operate, calculate, show, experiment
Higher
Analysis
levels
interpret, classify, analyze, arrange, differentiate, group, compare, organize,
contrast, examine, scrutinize, survey, categorize, dissect, probe, inventory,
investigate, question, discover, text, inquire, distinguish, detect, diagram,
inspect
Synthesis
compose, setup, plan, prepare, propose, imagine, produce, hypothesize, invent,
incorporate, develop, generalize, design, originate, formulate, predict, arrange,
contrive, assemble, concoct, construct, systematize, create
Evaluation
judge, assess, decide, measure, appraise, estimate, evaluate, infer, rate, deduce,
compare, score, value, predict, revise, choose, conclude, recommend, select,
determine, criticize
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More on Competencies vs. Learning Objectives
All objectives and competencies should be written in specific, measurable and behavioral
terms. However, as mentioned earlier, competencies and objectives are different. Their
difference lies in the level at which they are written. Competencies are more complex
(higher level) than learning objectives. One competency generally requires a multitude of
applied skills and knowledge while learning objectives are more specific and generally
relate to one learning outcome. In short, one learning objective does not equal one
competency.
Here are some examples of competencies and learning objectives relating to the
competency:
Example 1
Competency:
 Utilizes appropriate methods for interacting sensitively, effectively, and
professionally with persons from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, educational,
racial, ethnic and professional backgrounds, and persons of all ages and lifestyle
preferences (competency from: Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public
Health Practice)
Learning objectives from a course that relate to the above competency:
 Describe the demographic trends and epidemiological trends related to diverse
populations in the United States and abroad
 Compare and contrast diversity and cultural competency in the public health
context
 Identify a framework to design culturally competent public health care services
for diverse populations
In example 1, one can see that the person would need to achieve several objectives in
order to achieve the competency. It is also important to keep in mind that this list of
objectives is not a complete list of objectives needed to reach competency. The purpose
of this example is to simply demonstrate how a learning objective can be written to tie
back to a competency. For example, in order to “utilize appropriate methods for
interacting sensitively, effectively…” it would be important for the person to be able to
“describe the demographic trends and epidemiological trends related to…” It would also
be important for the person to be able to “identify a framework to design culturally
competent public health care…” etc.
Example 2
Competency:
 Develops and adapts approaches to problems that take into account cultural
differences (competency from: Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public
Health Practice)
Learning objectives from a course that relate to the above competency:
 Develop an action plan at the level of the individual, group, and organization by
strengthening diagnostic skills
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 Use data collected in the diagnostic phase to develop an action plan at the
individual, group, and organization level
 Present individual, group, and organization action plans for feedback
Example 2 also illustrates how one competency would require several objectives to
successfully achieve this competency. Again, it is also important to keep in mind that this
list of objectives is not a complete list of objectives needed to reach competency. The
purpose of this example is to once more demonstrate how a learning objective can be
written to tie back to a competency. For example, in order to “develop and adapt
approaches to problems…” it would be important for the person to be able to “develop an
action plan at the level of the individual, group…” It would also be important for the
person to be able to “use data collected in the diagnostic phase…” etc.
In summary, competencies define the applied skills and knowledge that enable people to
successfully perform their work while learning objectives are specific to a course of
instruction. Both should be written in specific, measurable and behavioral terms.
Competencies are generally written at a higher level than a learning objective because
they require more complex levels of performance. Since traditional education tends to
emphasize skills in the cognitive domain, one can use the six different levels of Bloom’s
Taxonomy as a valuable tool when creating both competencies and learning objectives.
Reference:
Bloom, Benjamin S. and David R. Krathwohl. (1956). Taxonomy of educational
objectives: The classification of educational goals, by a committee of college and
university examiners. Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. New York, Longmans.
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