History and Evolution of Tyler’s Objective Model

Prior to 1900 very little educational theoretical framework available

School and Society and Interest and Efforts in Education by John Dewey published around the turn

of the centuryRalph Tyler was born in Chicago in 1902Tyler enters high school in Nebraska about

the time WWI starts and emersion of the U.S. Army test

History and Evolution of Tyler’s Objective Model

The testing movement emerged following the U.S.

Army ‘s Intelligence Test (“ Ralph Tyler’s little book, n. d.”)

History and Evolution of Tyler’s Objective Model

Tyler came to view testing as a problem requiring his attention resulting in his involvement in a controversial project in 1933, The Eight Year Study

The Eight Year Project

Students from alternative high school curricula can succeed in college

The Eight Year Project

Refined the procedures for writing instructional objectives

The Eight Year Project

Formative evaluation – objectives and their assessment were used to revise and refine

The Eight Year Project

Confirmed that objectives should be written in terms of student behaviors

Tyler’s Philosophy and Influences

Tyler describes education as an “active process”

Tyler was influenced by John DeweyTyler called the father of behavioral

objectivesTyler’s studies were stimulated by the Soviet

Union’s launch of Sputnik in 1957Benjamin Bloom and Hilda Taba were

influenced by Tyler’s Eight Year Study

Tyler’s Approach to Evaluation

Establish broad goals and objectivesClassify the goals or objectivesDefine objectives in behavioral termsFind situations in which achievement in term

of objectives can be shownDevelop or select measurement techniqueCollect performance dataCompare performance data with behaviorally

stated objectives

References

University of South Florida College of Education. (n. d.). Ralph Tyler’s little book. Retrieved from www.coedu.usf.edu/agents/dlewis/publications/tyler.htm