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Explicit Teaching & Modeling
Explicit Teaching & Modeling
Explicit instructional guidance where teachers clearly show students what to do and how to do it has been proven to reduce students' cognitive load and lead to more successful learning outcomes. Conversely, classroom environments where students are expected to learn with little to no instruction generally lead to less successful learning outcomes and raise cognitive load. When teaching a new concept or skill, teachers are more effective when they provide explicit guidance accompanied by practice and feedback. (Clark, Kirschner & Sweller 2012).
When explicit instruction is not provided, students are required to discover the many aspects of what they must learn, adding strain to their already limited working memory and impeding their ability to process new information and learn. Explicit teaching is almost always necessary for younger students who do not know how to learn independently, but students should also have opportunities for individual learning and exploration as they get older. If relied upon too heavily, explicit teaching can become redundant and ironically increase cognitive load instead of reduce it. Therefore, explicit teaching should be limited to teaching new content and skills to novices, not for subjects and topics where students need to discover information themselves in order to learn.
Modeling is an effective form of explicit instruction that allows students to see, hear, and/or experience how to do something before they are asked to do it themselves. In the music classroom, modeling is helpful for introducing students to new concepts and performance skills (Haston, 2007). Since music is an abstract art form, new concepts almost always have to be taught through modeling or students have no reference for what sounds they're supposed to imitate. Showing students what to do by modeling it for them lowers their intrinsic load and generally leads to more successful learning outcomes when used appropriately.
Don't overload them
Don't overload them
According to cognitive load theory, we can not overload the students with information or else it is less likely for the students to retain that information. This is because our working memory has a very limited capacity and can only store a few things at a time in order for this to be converted into long-term memory. Therefore, it is important to make it so your instruction is not focusing on multiple concepts at one time. When planning a lesson, it is important to limit any intrinsic or extrinsic factors in the learning. We, as teachers, should teach focus on one specific topic. If we need to do deeper into the topic, it would be best to split this into multiple days so the students can process the information into their long-term memory.
An example of this music can include teaching syncopated rhythms. If you are teaching syncopated rhythms and are having the students play syncopated rhythms on their instruments, it is important the students to play the rhythms on one note. Playing the syncopated rhythms on changing notes, like a Bb major scale, can overload the students and make it too complicated. Even though the students already know the Bb major scale, adding in something that does not pertain to learning the rhythm can give an extra challenge that can confuse them and overload them. This can end up having the students not even retain the information for the topic at hand--syncopated rhythms. The students will eventually have to learn how to play syncopated rhythms on changing notes, but it is important to start by teaching the students the rhythm itself first and not go into changing notes that same day.
Avoid Redundant Information
Avoid Redundant Information
Similar to "don't overload them", don't provide students with redundant information because that is makes the students use their working memory and overloads their cognitive load with useless information. Remember that working memory only allows to process 2-3 things at the same time. Therefore, it’s essential that we reduce the intrinsic cognitive load of our student’s working memory because working memory is so limited.
An example in the music classroom setting would be going over instrument families in general music and then adding on professional musicians' salary and how it compares from instrument to instrument. Students would only be required to learn which woodwinds fit in the woodwind family, not whether the contrabassoon player gets paid more than the oboist. Although that is interesting to know about, that is not what students need to know in order to be an informed listener before their trip to the symphony.
Environmental Awareness with Cognitive Load
Environmental Awareness with Cognitive Load
When considering the model for cognitive load theory (presented to the left), simple adjustments to a classroom such as music playing at a low volume during student entrances and exits to facilitate a desired behavior can be a useful classroom management strategy. Movement of the clock from behind the instructor on the podium to the back of the classroom, where it will be out of the student's immediate eyesight could prove beneficial as well. Even something as simple a color change in the classroom could have a large effect on the student's overall mood and performance abilities as individuals and in ensemble settings.
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