An Objective Hierarchy is a structure that shows the terminal and enabling objectives in the context of their prerequisite relationships. Think of it as a framework, or a kind of architecture that organizes the individual parts with respect to each other.
An Objective Hierarchy has the "terminal" or higher level objectives at the top, and the prerequisite enabling objectives under them. On the very bottom of the objectives hierarchy are the basic, fundamental objectives. This means that the first things to be learned are at the bottom, and the final things to be accomplished are at the top of the hierarchy.
For help on performing objective related activities, select from one of the following "how to" topics. A "how to" topic contains step-by-step instructions on how to perform an activity in addition to tips and links to the VISION Instructional Advisor topics.
How to Back-link Objectives to Analysis
How to Find Analysis Nodes Used to Create Objectives
How to See Where Objectives are Trained
How to View Consolidated Analysis Nodes
How to View Questions Linked to Objectives
How to Create, Delete, and Preview Questions
How to Move, Share, or Copy Questions
How to View Sequenced Objectives
How to Back-link Objectives to Analysis
Typically, objectives are created directly from analysis items. When this happens, VISION registers a link in the database that identifies the two items that are linked. However, you may already have an objective or objectives that exist and you want to simply link them to their analysis counterparts without creating new objectives. This is often the case for organizations that imported data from a legacy system into VISION where the legacy system did not support this type of link.
The process of linking an objective back to its analysis counterpart without creating a new objective is called "back-linking". To back-link an objective to an analysis item, follow these steps:
1.In the Objective Hierarchy Window, select the objective you want to back-link.
2.Drag the objective and drop it onto the analysis item in the Analysis Hierarchy window to which you want the objective linked.
3.Click the OK button.
Note: VISION will not allow you to back-link an objective to an analysis item that is already linked to a different objective.
How to Find Analysis Nodes Used to Create Objectives
To find the analysis item that an objective was created from, follow these steps:
1.In the Objective Hierarchy window, select an objective.
2.Look in the analysis links window, normally located below the hierarchy. The window title bar reads "Analysis Linked to Objective".
a.If you don't see that window, then right-click on the objective, move the mouse to the sub-menu "View Links Windows", and check "Analysis". This sub-menu also appears on the "View" menu on the main menu bar.
3.If the objective was created from an analysis item, the analysis item will be displayed in the links window, under the heading "Directly Linked".
4.If you want to see where the linked analysis item resides in the Analysis Hierarchy, then right-click on the item and select "Go To Analysis Hierarchy".
Tip: Use the color attributes to identify objectives that were created from analysis items.
How to See Where Objectives are Trained
An objective is "trained" if it has been sequenced into one or more program training units. To see the program training unit(s) where an objective is trained, follow these steps:
1.In the Objective Hierarchy window, select an objective.
2.Look in the program links window, normally located below the hierarchy. The window title bar reads "Programs Linked to Objective".
a.If you don't see that window, then right-click on the analysis item, move the mouse to the sub-menu "View Links Windows", and check "Program". This sub-menu also appears on the "View" menu on the main menu bar.
3.If the objective is trained, the program training unit(s) will be listed in the links window.
4.If you want to see where a linked program resides in the Program Hierarchy, then right-click on the program and select "Go To Program Hierarchy".
Tip: Use the color attributes to identify objectives that are trained.
How to View Consolidated Analysis Nodes
To view the analysis items that have been consolidated into an objective, follow these steps:
1.In the Objective Hierarchy window, select an objective.
2.Look in the analysis links window, normally located below the hierarchy. The window title bar reads "Analysis Linked to Objective".
a.If you don't see that window, then right-click on the objective, move the mouse to the sub-menu "View Links Windows", and check "Analysis". This sub-menu also appears on the "View" menu on the main menu bar.
3.If the objective has any analysis items consolidated into it, they will be listed in the analysis links window, under the heading "Consolidated".
Tips: If you double-click on the objective and select the Consolidation tab, you can also see the analysis items that have been consolidated into the objective. This is useful if the objective shows up in a list outside the Workbench.
Use the color attributes to identify objectives that have consolidated analysis items.
How to View Questions Linked to Objectives
To view the questions that have been linked to an objective, follow these steps:
1.In the Objective Hierarchy window, select an objective.
2.Look in the question links window, normally located below the hierarchy. The window title bar reads "Questions Linked to Objective".
a.If you don't see that window, then right-click on the objective, move the mouse to the sub-menu "View Links Windows", and check "Question". This sub-menu also appears on the "View" menu on the main menu bar.
3.If the objective has any questions, they will be listed in the question links window.
Tip: If you double-click on the objective and select the Questions tab, you can also see the questions that have been linked to the objective. This is useful if the objective shows up in a list outside of the Workbench.
Use the color attributes to identify objectives that have questions.
How to Create, Delete, and Preview Questions
To create, delete or preview questions, follow these steps:
1.In the Objective or Analysis Hierarchy window, select a node.
2.Look in the question links window, normally located below the hierarchy. The window title bar reads "Questions Linked to Objective [or Analysis]".
a.If you don't see that window, then right-click on the objective, move the mouse to the sub-menu "View Links Windows", and check "Question". This sub-menu also appears on the "View" menu on the main menu bar.
3.In the question links window press your right mouse button and select one of the following:
a.New: to create a new question. Choose a question type.
b.Delete: to delete all highlighted questions.
c.Preview: to preview the highlighted questions. If a question is a multiple choice question and the Randomize box is checked, the preview will NOT randomize the distractors. Preview will put the answer as "A" and the distractors as "B", "C", etc. If, however, this box is not checked, Preview will place the answer in the position indicated in the "Answer Position" field.
Tip: You can right-click on any hierarchy node and, from the popup menu, choose "Review Questions". That will show, in a document form, any questions associated with the hierarchy node or its descendant nodes.
How to Move, Share, or Copy Questions
To move a question from one objective to another, follow these steps:
1.In the Objective Hierarchy window, select an objective.
2.In the Question Links window highlight the question(s) that you want to move, share, or copy.
a.The question links windows is normally located below the hierarchy windows. If you don't see it, then click the View menu on VISION's main menu bar; go to the sub-menu "Links Windows"; and then check "Question".
3.Drag the questions and drop them onto a different objective. A popup window appears, entitled Confirm Drop Question.
4.In the Confirm Drop Question window, choose either Move, Copy, or Share; then click OK.
Tip: What if you want to move or copy a question, but you cannot see or haven't decided where to move or copy it to? In such cases, you can move or copy the question to a temporary area called the Holding Bin. Then once you have identified and located the destination objective, you can open the Holding Bin and drag the question(s) from there to the destination objective.
To do that, right-click on the questions and choose among the Holding Bin-related choices on the popup menu.
How to Sequence Objectives
Training Units (also known as Instructional Units) are the units that contain sequenced learning objectives. Organizers are used to organize the Training Units into the larger sections of a training curriculum.
To assign objectives to a training unit (or unit of instruction), follow these steps:
1.If you haven't already done so, click on Workbench on the Main Menu, click Design Activities, and select Sequencing.
1.In the Objective Hierarchy window, expand the hierarchy, if necessary. Highlight one or more objectives to be assigned to a training unit.
a.To highlight a range of contiguous (consecutive) items, click on the first item, then hold down the Shift key while clicking on the last item. All items between the first and last items will be highlighted.
b.To highlight non-contiguous items, click on each item while holding down the Ctrl key.
2.Drag the objective(s) to the Program window, and drop them on the target training unit. A prompt will display 'Sequence objective(s) into selected program?' Click the OK button.
3.To rearrange the sequence of the objectives within the unit of instruction, simply drag and drop the objectives to arrange them as desired.
4.Repeat the process until all objectives have been assigned to a training unit.
Tip: You can find or organize objectives to sequence into a unit of instruction by running a search. Review the searches listed in the Search 
Search, Design tab: "Objectives Associated with an Analysis Work Area Node" or "Recommended Objectives Sequence List."
How to View Sequenced Objectives
To view the objectives that are sequenced into a program training unit:
Method 1
1.Double-click on a program training unit in the Program Hierarchy window. A workscreen is opened, displaying the properties of the training unit.
2.On the program properties workscreen, click the Design tab. The "Learning Objectives" field shows all objectives that have been sequenced into this training unit.
Method 2
1.In the Program Hierarchy window, select a program training unit.
2.The objectives sequenced into the training unit will appear in the objective links window.
a.The objective links window is normally located below the hierarchy windows. If you don't see it, then click the View menu on VISION's main menu bar; go to the sub-menu "Links Windows"; and then check "Objective".
Method 2 is probably more convenient, since it enables you to see the sequenced objectives by simply clicking on a program training unit; you don't have to open the properties workscreen.
See Also
