Successful training is driven and measured by learning objectives. Without well-defined learning objectives you cannot develop useful training materials, and it is not possible to measure whether the training provided any benefit to the students.

Learning objectives relate to tasks, skills, and knowledge needed on the job.

All learning objectives must relate to the tasks, skills, and knowledge that the student uses on the job. The purpose of training is to teach students how to do something. The prime objective is not to learn about something, it is to learn to do something. 

Learning objectives are action oriented.

Learning objective statements must always describe actions the student will be able to do when finished with the training; they do not describe what they will be doing during the training. 

Structure of a Session Learning Objective

• Start with the consistent starting sentence, such as: "After completing this session, you will be able to:"
• State the action-oriented learning objective as: "<perform an action> <using this feature> / <to achieve this result>."

Depending on the type of objective you are writing, you will use either the <using this feature> phrase or <to achieve this result> phrase. Sometimes you will use both.

Example objective

Here is a  learning objective that matches this format:

"After completing this session, you will be able to:

Create a layout using multiple shaded viewports for a presentation drawing."