5300: Section 3 Introduction to Instructional Approaches

EXAMPLES OF STRATEGIES

1. Cause and Effect - Students determine the causal relationships of two or more elements. They analyze the sequence of events and examine the comparative strengths of the elements to determine the outcome and the cause. 2. Compare and Contrast - This strategy moves through three phases: The first asks students to describe objects using specific criteria; the second focuses on discrimination, comparing, and contrasting using a visual organizer; the third is a discussion phase focusing on communicating conclusions. 3. Comparison - Students use comparison maps to sort similarities and differences among characters, concepts, events, etc. 4. Concept Definition Maps - This is a way to visually represent related concepts. It can include a definition, list of synonyms, antonyms, and related concepts. 5. Concrete Models - Use concrete material to develop mathematical concepts. 6. Content Frames - Content frames are visual representations of information. Frames work well with material that has main topics and similar subtopics. 7. Extrapolation - Students extract the structure from one content and apply the same structure to another. This strategy helps students think beyond the classroom and apply what they learn to everyday living. 8. Formulate a Mathematical Model - Given either a real-world or purely mathematical situation, identify a pattern and represent it algebraically. 9. Free Form Maps - Students represent text-based ideas through words, pictures, and diagrams. Students should use as many symbols and pictures as possible to promote the active synthesis of ideas. 10. Graduated Difficulty - Students assess their level of competence by choosing from tasks of various difficulty levels, then determine the knowledge and skills they need to advance to the next level. 11. Guess and Check - Guessing and checking is helpful when a problem consists of large numbers or many pieces of data. The student guesses the answer, then tests to see if it is correct. If the previous guess was incorrect, he/she guesses again. 12. H Chart - Students divide their papers into three columns. The outer columns are determined by the teacher/student. The center column is determined by the teacher/student, but shows how each piece of the outer columns relate "in regard to...". 13. Look for a Pattern - This important strategy is used to solve different kinds of problems. When students can identify a pattern, they can predict what comes next, helping them extend the pattern and find the solution. By organizing data in a table, patterns are often revealed. 14. Magnet Summary - On one side of a card students write the central concept in the middle with key words related to the concept in the corners. On the back of the card, students write a summary sentence about the main concept. 15. Make a Table - A table helps students to arrange data, keep track of data and spot missing data, especially numbers. Patterns often become obvious when data is organized in a table. 16. Mind Streaming - Learners work in pairs (a listener and a speaker) to build background knowledge. For one minute, speaker talks about the topic, saying whatever comes to mind until the time is up. Reverse these roles and repeat.

EXAMPLES OF STRUCTURES

1. Class Discussion 2. Computer Lab: teaching and learning that occurs in the computer lab 3. Conferencing: Individual meetings between students and teachers to discuss student progress 4. Cooperative Group: Structure for grouping students and assigning students roles to fulfill within the group 5. Demonstrating/Modeling: teacher demonstrates and models concepts that are being taught 6. Exhibition: student work is displayed 7. Field Trip: an educational activity undertaken by students outside of their classroom 8. Gallery Walk: each group selects a speaker to explain their work as the students rotate among the exhibits 9. Give One-Get One: Students pair with a partner, work in small groups, or go on a walk-about review, (find description below). Students give a piece of information and get one piece of information before moving to the next topic or person. 10. Guided Discovery : This approach invites the learner to think, to go beyond the given information and discover the correct information. The teacher sequences information and questions to elicit a corresponding set of responses. By combining information and questioning, the teacher elicits a correct response from the learner. This converging process leads the student to discover the sought concept or principle. 11. Inquiry: Students collect data to generate a hypothesis/conjecture given a situation/event. 12. Jigsaw: This is a cooperative learning structure. Students work in learning teams composed of experts who research subtopics. Experts from each team meet to discuss their findings, return home to their original team, and teach their findings to the group. 13. Labs/Experiments: Student-centered hands-on activity using tools to explore scientific principles. 14. Peer Evaluation: A form of collaborative, usually small-group, learning in which students informally discuss the results of their efforts. 15. Small Group Instruction: Teachers create groups for targeted learning. 16. Student Presentations: Students formally present their work to an audience, such as their classmates, parents, teachers, students, or the general public. 17. Ticket Out: Students are offered "tickets" out of class for their answers to reflective questions. A review of key points from the lesson helps students sort through what they have learned. These can be written on a small piece of paper and handed to the teacher at the end of class. 18. Tutorials: Small-group teaching sessions led by a tutor to provide individual assistance. 19. Walk-About Review: Students walk around the room and gather information from others at random. They collect new information to add to their own notes. 20. Whole Class Instruction: Teacher-led whole class instruction.

EXAMPLES OF STRATEGIES CONT.

1. Multiple Representations - Create a variety of representations (visual, symbolic, numerical, and graphical) to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas. Include translating among the representations to solve problems. 2. Problem Solving - Understand the problem. Make a plan. Carry out the plan. Evaluate the solution for reasonableness. 3. Reciprocal Learning - Students work together as peer partners on parallel tasks. One functions as a "doer", the other as a "guide." The guide provides the doer with clues, encouragement and feedback to ensure a successful outcome. 4. Selective Underlining and Highlighting - Read through the selection first. Reread and begin underlining/highlighting. Do not underline whole sentences. Choose key ideas from the sentences. Note main ideas using symbols, and write notes in the margins. 5. Sequence Maps/Flow Charts - Students use the picture of a process to organize a sequence of events, steps, activities or tasks. 6. Simulation - Represent a real event in a compressed form that is dynamic, safe, and efficient. Use random number generators, such as dice, spinners. or graphing calculators, to solve problems. Sticky Note 7. Notation/Discussion - Students use sticky notes to mark text for their own information. 8. Sub-problems - First list the sub-problems to form the plan of attack. Each sub-problem can be used to reach a solution and focus student-thinking. 9. T Chart - Student divides paper into two columns. Categories (for each column) are determined by teacher/student. For example: Pro and Con, Past and Present, Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas, Examples and Non-examples. 10. Task Rotation - Four tasks are centered on a single topic, one in each learning style. Students may choose to complete some tasks, or they may be required to complete all four. Tasks may follow an order, or may be done at random. 11. Think Aloud - Students verbalize their thoughts as they demonstrate skills or processes. Students are aware of specific thought processes such as predicting, picturing the text, comparing, identifying a problem, or fixing a problem. 12. Think-Pair-Share - THINK about what you know. PAIR with a partner to gain more information. SHARE with the whole group. 13. Two Column Notes - Method of note taking that has many forms such as main idea-detail, opinion-proof, hypothesis-evidence, problem-solution, process notes, dialectical notebook, and right side/left side interactive student notebook. 14. Venn Diagrams - Provide students with a visual display of the similarities and differences between two items. 15. Work a Simpler Problem - Make a simpler representation of the problem by reducing large numbers to small numbers or reducing the number of items given in a problem.

OPPORTUNITY FHOULD KNOCK FOR EVERYONE

A lack of opportunity to learn is often misinterpreted as a lack of student ability. All children can learn, but not all learn at the same time or at the same pace. For example, all babies, barring physical disabilities, learn how to walk. However, some may walk at 9 months, while others begin walking at 13 or more months or older, yet they all master the task of walking. The same holds true in the classroom. Regardless of the age or level of your students, some students will grasp a concept the first time you introduce it, while it will take more time for others.

COOPERATIVE LEARNING

David Johnson and Roger Johnson (1999) identified five defining elements of cooperative learning: individual and group accountability, positive interdependence, one-on-one promotive interaction, group processing, and interpersonal small group skills.

TEACH WHAT YOU TEST

As a teacher you should commit to the philosophy that if students learn the intended curriculum, they will perform well on the assessment measures. One of the surest ways to fail, however, is to teach students one thing and test another. Students must know what material is essential to learn and what level of mastery is expected for all criterion-referenced tests, whether they are teacher-made or higher-stakes state assessments.

COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY

As you may recall, cognitive theorists compared the brain to a computer, a powerful but finite machine that stores and processes information. Limitations to the brain's processing power include the amount of information being presented and the speed at which it is presented. There is also a need to "store" information in the correct place. Therefore, cognitive learning theory has important implications for all teachers. **Always relate new material to be taught to already known material so the brain knows where to store the new information.** -This principle is particularly important to cognitive learning. Cognitive psychologists see learning as a process of learning concepts in relation to other concepts and learning how to fit concepts together to form generalizations or beliefs. In order for these concepts to be accessible it is important that they are sorted in the memory in a logical manner. --when you teach a new concept, you relate it to concepts students already know so they can file it in the appropriate location in the cognitive structure/schemata. In that way the concept will have more meaning and will be more accessible when it is needed later ***When teaching new material, do it in small segments*** -This will increase comprehension and make it seem easier to students -It is best to teach a small segment of material, do an assignment to crystallize or summarize what was taught, and then check for comprehension before introducing more new material. It is better to go slowly and be sure the material is learned than to "cover" a lot of material and have very little of it learned. You don't have to teach everything in the textbook, only the import **Instruction that is paced too fast will result in students giving up** -Beginning teachers often go too quickly through material thinking everyone is getting it. This is often a mistake. Students who did not grasp your first point will be lost and discouraged in the next few minutes. They may give up and stop paying attention. -What can you do? Keep a check on their comprehension every 10-15 minutes. This is easy to do. For example, you might say, "If you think the fibula is a bone in the thigh put your thumb up, if you think the fibula is below the knee put your thumb down, and if you don't know put your thumb sideways." Then by looking at their thumbs you can tell how many are with you.

IDENTIFYING SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Asking students to identify and represent similarities and differences in graphic or symbolic form to enhance student understanding and ability to use knowledge

STRUCTURES AND STRATEGIES DEFINED

At times, you may realize that a given approach is not working and you may need to change your approach, so work to become comfortable implementing these structures or asking students to employ a given strategy. DEFINITIONS Structure: -is a technique in the instructional process that is teacher-directed and generally involves the set-up of the classroom Strategy: -is a technique students use to learn concepts in a manner conductive to their learning styles. -Before students implement a strategy, they must be taught what the strategy looks like. Strategies are designed to be used throughout a student's educational career. When teachers model and use these techniques, they are "instructional strategies;" when students adopt and implement the same strategies, they are "learning strategies." **Often, you will find the terms used interchangeably; in particular, the term "strategy" may be used to describe both structures and strategies that the teacher employs to convey knowledge and skillls to his or her student. The most important thing to remember is that you have a variety of tools at your disposal to transfer knowledge to your students, and when you choose instructional strategies, your goal should be to help students to adopt and internalize these academic skills to the extent that they are helpful to the students' mastery of learning objectives.

CONSTRUCTIVISM

Constructivists are characterized by the belief that learners construct knowledge through their experiences. Key application for these theory includes: **MOST STUDENTS LEARN BETTER FORM EXPERIENCE** We have two memory systems; one for recalling things we have done and one for memorizing information that is presented to us **CONCEPT LEARNING OCCURS OVER TIME*** Cognitive Constructivist Jerome Bruner said a student can learn any idea as long as it is presented in a simplified form. While the first group made more individualistic gingerbread men the second group made far more. The class can talk about why the second group made more; they were repeating the same small process over and over. Then the teacher can tell them that the name for this process is mass production This lesson wouldn't teach ALL they need to know about mass production by the end of high school but they would have a basic concept that could be added to year after year. **COOPERATIVE LEARNING IS AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY TO HELP ALL STUDENTS PARTICIPATE AND LEARN** Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Why use cooperative learning? Documented results include improved academic achievement, improved behavior and attendance, increased self-confidence and motivation, and increased liking of school and classmates **Just as reinforcement is not limited to use in behaviorist classrooms, cooperative learning is not limited to the constructivist classroom—it is a proven high-yield strategy that you should seek to incorporate into the learning activities of your lesson plans.

NONLINGUISTIC REPRESENTATIONS

Engaging students in the creation of nonlinguistic representation stimulates and increases brain activity. The following are examples of activities that produce non-linguistic representations: creating graphic representations, making physical models, drawing pictures, and kinesthetic activities.

FEEDBACK

Feedback is when you provide students with information regarding their behavior. Corrective feedback needs to be provided as soon as possible. As a teacher, listen carefully and give frequent quizzes to see that students are learning the correct answers. These "quizzes" don't always have to be for a grade, they can be designed just to give you feedback. With this information you can correct students, so they will be practicing correctly. Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Students need corrective feedback to improve. Actually, the best feedback would be to review how to solve a multiplication problem and help her through the steps so that she cannot only solve this problem but any multiplication problem. Remember, feedback is critical to improving performance

LISTEN TO BRAIN RESEARCHERS

For learning and retention to occur, the content must be meaningful to the learner. The learner must be able to make a connection between something they already know and the material they are trying to learn. For example, most concepts in algebra can be tied to concepts in arithmetic; good teachers know the importance of making these connections. Teachers must work hard to make lessons meaningful through metaphors, interesting stories, or demonstrations of knowledge applied to real-world settings. According to brain research, one of the most important lessons to be learned is how to provide the learner with immediate feedback, which will be discussed in detail later in this chapter. Another area of classroom instruction that can and should be modified is re-teaching. In the usual sequence of teaching, the teacher plans a lesson and teaches it. In this sequence, some students learn and others do not. Most students who do not achieve mastery have the ability to do so if the teacher would teach the lesson a second time.

SETTING OBJECTIVES AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK

Goal setting is the process of establishing a direction for learning. Feedback is considered to be the most powerful single modification to enhance achievement.

HOMEWORK AND PRACTICE

Homework assignments should vary from elementary, to middle, to high school. Parent involvement in home work should be kept to a minimum. The objectives of homework should also be kept to a minimum.

GENERATING AND TESTING HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis-generating and testing can be addressed either inductively or deductively. Student should be able to explain their hypotheses and their conclusions.

USE TECHNOLOGY WISELY

If used correctly, computers and other technological resources, such as scientific and graphing calculators, can significantly enhance the learning environment. However, these tools should complement, not replace, teacher-directed instruction

CREATE ENDURING PARTNERSHIPS

In earlier times, schools focused on teaching children skills, with the assumption that parents, as partners, would reinforce those skills by supervising homework, helping their children study for tests, and providing a forum for both nurturing the child and practicing the skills learned in school. This partnership was generally dependable and effective. Today, however, teachers teach the skills, while many students go home and watch television, play on the computer, or play video games. They return to school and the teacher teaches more skills, followed by more television, computers, or video games. Parental involvement in student learning is sorely missing. For this reason, it is critical for the teacher to communicate with parents via email, a teacher web page, and/or a note sent home to let parents know how they can support their child's learning.

HIGH IMPACT TECHNIQUES FOR HIGH IMPACT LEARNING

Learning is as much a social phenomena as a psychological one. Classrooms that use appropriate, well-tested, or cooperative team learning strategies create win-win opportunities for all students. These strategies will be discussed in greater detail later in this course.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR THEORETICAL BASES

Learning theory has much to say about how a teacher plans and presents his or her lessons. For example, if your learning objective is to have students recite state capitols in a given period of time, this might lend itself best to a behavioral approach to instruction, whereas a learning objective that requires students to categorize different animals by genus and species might be accomplished with a cognitive approach. Teachers are more effective when they are aware of what theories are underpinning their instructional decisions, so it's a good idea to refer to the theory or theories and use them to guide your instructional decisions when you write your lesson plan.

REINFORCEMENT

Not only do students need feedback when they are doing something incorrectly, they need feedback when they are doing something correctly. This is called reinforcement. Reinforcement speeds up learning and aids retention. Later Thorndike learned that the process of learning could be sped up by using the consequences of a behavior. If, after the appropriate response, the teacher provided reinforcement, such as a sticker or a smile, the student would learn the material with fewer repetitions. Why did this happen? As humans we are attracted to pleasant things and repelled by unpleasant things. The pleasant things are called "reinforcement" and the unpleasant things are called "punishment." The response will not be automatic after just one reinforcement but it will become a habit more quickly than if reinforcement is not used. Reinforcement is anything that the student sees as valuable. **The flip side of reinforcement is punishment. Punishment is anything that will make the response less likely to occur. You want to do something to make it less likely, which is called punishment. What might you do? You could say, "No, that is not correct." You could frown. You could schedule the student for after school tutoring. You could have him/her write "3 + 3 = 6" fifty times. Any of these would be possible punishments. Again, punishment, like reinforcement, is determined by the student's reaction. If the student goes home to an empty house in a scary neighborhood and you give her after school tutoring, it may be just what she wants, a safe place to be after school. In this case you have reinforced the student when you thought you were punishing her. Tomorrow she may misspell a word again so she can get detention. B.F. Skinner, probably the most famous behavioral psychologist, stressed the use of reinforcement and suggested that very little punishment be used. Here is why: If you can get the student to give the correct answer and reinforce it, the feeling of reinforcement will be so positive that she will want it again. On the other hand, punishment may make the student hate the teacher, hate the school, and hate education as a whole. Punishment has a negative effect on the self-concept, which is seldom a good thing. *You can't overdo reinforcement if it is genuine and given for appropriate behavior. Reinforcement will make the good behavior more frequent. Lack of reinforcement is considered a type of punishment and will make the good behavior disappear. Reinforcement has roots in behaviorism and is important for any teacher seeking to use this theory in the classroom, but it's usefulness is not limited only to the behaviorist teacher. *****Reinforcement is a high-yield strategy, supported by research, that all teachers should use in their classrooms.

MARZANO'S HIGH-YEILD STRATEGIES

Robert Marzano is another famous educational researcher who compiled his own list of high-yield strategies. The following nine strategies were identified by Marzano as having a strong effect on student learning (Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock, 2001): 1. Identifying Similarities and differences 2. Summarizing and note taking 3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition 4. Homework and practice 5. Nonlinguistic representations 6. Cooperative learning 7. Setting objectives and providing feedback 8. Generating and testing hypotheses 9. Questions, cues and advance organizers

TIME ON TASK=MASTERY

The genius of good teaching is to develop instructional tasks and activities that motivate the students and hold interest throughout the instruction. When students are asked to engage in tasks and activities that require them to be active rather than passive, their academic engagement rates tend to increase. This can be accomplished via strategies, structures and motivation which are discussed later in this course.

LEZOTTE'S HIGH-YEILD STRATEGIES

The teacher is the most important factor affecting student learning. Even if the school itself is ineffective, the individual teacher can have a profound impact on student learning. As a teacher, you must understand the powerful impact you have on your students beginning on day one. According to Laurence Lezotte in Learning for All (1997), high-yield strategies, or approaches to classroom organization and human learning, make a predictable difference in student learning and performance. In other words, high-yield strategies are teaching strategies that are substantiated by research to work in helping students learn. These concepts and strategies are research-based and have withstood application in real-world classrooms. The following are eight high yield strategies identified by Lezotte:

QUESTIONS, CUES AND ADVANCE ORGANIZERS

These are instructional strategies that help students retrieve prior knowledge. Cues and questions should focus on what is important, as opposed to what is unusual. Higher-level questioning results in deeper learning. Questions are an effective learning tool, when used prior to a learning experience, and wait time increases the depth of students' answers.

SUMMARIZING AND NOTE TAKING

To effectively summarize, students must delete some information, substitute some information, and keep some information. Note-taking is closely related to summarizing. To take effective notes, a student must make a determination as to what is most important.

RESTRUCTURING THE RIGHT WAY BASED ON RESEARCH

University of Chicago Researcher Benjamin Bloom found that teachers can develop approaches to group instruction that are nearly as effective as one-on-one tutoring models. Bloom reported significant increases in student achievement when teachers used strategies based on mastery of learning precepts. Further gains were noted when teachers provided enhanced instructional cues, making sure students had opportunities for active participation.

REINFORCING EFFORT AND PROVIDING RECOGNITION

When recognizing the accomplishment of a performance standard, it is best to make this recognition personal to the students. Marzano states that "reinforcing effort can teach students one of the most valuable lessons they can learn, the harder you try, the more successful you are."

BEHAVIORISM IN ACTION

behaviorism focuses on a measurable change in behavior, instead of more intangible ways of measuring a student's learning. This typically results in a more controlled and predictable classroom environment, because the teacher is trying to help students to behave in a consistent new way. A teacher relying on behaviorist theory might follow the following steps in presenting a new lesson: -create an objective telling exactly what the students will be able to do at the end of the lesson -create learning activities to achieve the objective -have students do the first activity -assess to see if they were successful -reinforce those who completed it correctly and help those who did not -have students do each succeeding activity and assess each as you go along -reinforce and redirect students -give final assessment of the objective -reinforce as appropriate **Not all teachers will choose the behaviorist approach when planning instruction and making instructional decisions. -drawbacks to behaviorism can be the repetitiveness of the instructional strategies as well as its limitations in promoting higher-order thinking. -however, there are some important high-yield strategies associated with behaviorism: REPETITION, FEEDBACK AND REINFORCEMENT

INTRO TO STRUCTURES AND STRATEGIES

if learning objectives are the "why" of lesson planning, instructional structures and strategies are the "how" Begin by realizing that there are many ways to teach the same lesson. If the learning objective is: "Students will differentiate between four periods of art history by correctly labeling 10 works of art with an 80% rate of accuracy," approaches to teaching this objective could include: 1. Lecturing about the characteristics of different artistic periods and the history that shaped each period 2. Asking students to make their own works of art demonstrating characteristics of each artistic period 3. Putting students in groups with each group responsible to research and present about one period 4. Showing slides of works of art from different periods 5. Arranging a museum field trip to see and compare works from the periods of study 6. Listening to music from the same periods and contrasting the musical characteristics with the visual art qualities ...And the list goes on. Most teachers will need to use a variety of instructional approaches to help all students master the objectives. When you choose one approach, you may be limiting time available for another, so your goal should be to choose the structures and strategies that will be the most effective for the greatest number of students. Instructional strategies that are proven by research to have significant impact on increasing student learning are called "high yield strategies"

REPETITION

repetition is an effective way to learn a piece of knowledge or a skill Psychologist E.L. Thorndike proposed the concept of "connectionism" in the early 1900s. He said that if a stimulus and a response were paired together many times they would eventually bond to one another so that the stimulus would trigger the response. For example, 3 + 3 = 6. What is 3 + 3? That is the stimulus. "6" is the proper response. If a student is drilled over and over by her parents or the teacher, the student will eventually make a habitual response of 6 when this stimulus is presented. The student will not have to "think" about the answer, the response will be automatic. during the 20th century, this was the dominant method of teaching and was often referred to as "drill and practice" EX: math facts, states, names of bones, presidents, names of artists and composers, etc This is called "ROTE" learning. Rote means from memory, without thought of the meaning or in a mechanical way. Like teaching a parrot to say "Polly wants a cracker" The parrot doesn't understand that "Polly" refers to itself of "cracker" is a baked piece of starch. It only says it because it has been trained by repetition to say it. *This is a dangerous type of learning because: ** Since there is no meaning attache to the memorized material it cant be transferred and used in any other way. Up to 200 repetitions are. necessary to completely connect the stimulus with the response. The material is only in short term memory for a short while after the test; then it is all forgotten. ***Repetition works, but be careful to use it only for essential information that students will need, like the multiplication tables.