Plain English Meaning

Clear, written goals that spell out exactly what a student must do, the situation they must do it in, and how well they must do it. They are the yardstick the instructor uses to decide if the student has actually learned the skill.

Full Definition

Performance-based learning objectives that state precisely what the student must be able to do, under what conditions, and to what standard, in order to be considered competent at a given task. They define the measurable outcome an instructor uses to judge whether training has been successful.

Context Anchor

Used by aviation instructors when planning lessons, choosing assessment methods, and deciding whether a student has met the required standard.

Derivation

Criterion comes from the Greek 'kriterion,' meaning a standard for judging. Pairing it with 'objective' (a goal to be reached) gives the sense of a goal that includes the standard for judging whether it has been met.