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Acronyms/Mnemonics to Remember:
SMART Specific; Measurable; Attainable; Relevant; Time-based
ABC Audience; Behavior/Action Verb; Condition
HOTS Higher-Ordered Thinking Skills
LOTS Lower-Ordered Thinking Skills
ToS Table of Specifications
AVOID!
In writing instructional objectives, words or phrases such as know, think, appreciate, learn,
comprehend, remember, perceive, understand, be aware of, be familiar with, have knowledge
of, grasp the significance, are NOT measurable and should be avoided.
COGNITIVE DOMAIN (Note: verbs are not limited to those listed below. The list is endless!)
1. Knowledge Remembering previously learned materials. Require students to recognize a concept without
necessarily understanding, using or changing it.
2. Comprehension ability to grasp the meaning of material. Require students to understand he concept
without necessarily relating it to anything else. The student must restate the concept in other words.
3. Application ability to use learned material in new and concrete situations. Require the student to use a general
concept to solve a particular problem
4. Analysis ability to break down material into its component parts that its organizational structure may be
understood. Require the student to break something down into parts.
5. Synthesis- ability to put parts together to form a new whole. Require the student to produce something
unique or original
Answers how can we improve? What would happen if? How can we solve questions?
6. Evaluation ability to judge the value of material for a given purpose. Require the student to form
judgments and make decisions about the value of a concept.
Table of Specifications
Table of Specifications (ToS), sometimes called a Test Plan, is a test blueprint which is a two-
way table that matches the objectives or content you have actually taught with the level at which
you expect students to perform. It covers the following: What is tested? How are the outcomes
and objectives linked with the topic? What were discussed and how much time was spent in each
topic? How many items/marks should be used given the amount of available time?
It is understood that there are variations of ToS formats across various educational institutions in
the world; however, at the Department of Information Technology, Higher College of
Technology, Muscat, below is the format that had been used based on the existing procedures,
guidelines, and forms being used and practiced by the department.
First Page:
Total % of
Blooms Actual
Chapter Learning Actual Total
Instructional Taxonomy Time Number Question Total
No. / Outcome Time Actual
Objectives Cognitive Spent of Marks No. Marks
Title No. Spent Time
Level (hh:mm)
(hh:mm) Spent
To be
filled-in
later.
Total
Next Page:
[Total (%)] [Total (%)] [Total (%)] [Total (%)] [Total (%)] [Total (%)] [Total (%)]
Total
[Total (%)] [Total (%)]
2. Indicate the LEARNING OUTCOME NO. that had been achieved under the second
column.
3. Write the INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES under the third column. This must be
exactly the same as what appears on the Course Material.
4. Identify the BLOOMS TAXONOMY COGNITIVE LEVEL under the fourth column for
each instructional objective.
5. Specify the ACTUAL TIME SPENT for each instructional objective based on the actual
teaching hours. Use the format hh:mm. Also, Specify the TOTAL ACTUAL TIME
SPENT. These should be consistent on what had been written on the Course Follow-Up
Form.
6. Specify the % TOTAL TIME SPENT by dividing the TOTAL ACTUAL TIME SPENT
by the GRAND TOTAL TIME SPENT multiplied by 100 to get the % OF TOTAL TIME
SPENT.
7. Specify the TOTAL MARKS by dividing the % TOTAL TIME SPENT by 100
multiplied to the TOTAL NUMBER OF EXAM MARKS.
9. The QUESTION NUMBER column should be filled-in after the ToS had been approved.
This is because ToS is a tool used to prepare test questions. At this point, you do not have
created any test item yet. In other words, ToS is a blueprint of the exam paper.
References:
[1] Bloom, B. S. ed. 1956. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals:
Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: Longman.
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