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Table 7.1 Choosing an instructional strategy
Classroom Composition and Grouping Techniques
Focusing on the Individual: Differentiated Instruction
Beyond Planning: Flexibility and Feedback
Important Terms that Relate to Instructional Strategies
Having set learning goals based on the type of thinking skills expected of students, teachers must identify the most appropriate instructional strategy to meet those goals. Instructional strategies vary along a continuum, from largely teacher-directed to largely student-directed strategies. The choice of instructional method depends on the objectives the teacher wants the students to achieve, and no single model is most effective for all students or for helping students reach all learning objectives. Additionally, the choice of instructional strategy depends on the cognitive processes that are expected of the students during the lesson, as discussed throughout this chapter.
Types of Instruction
Teacher-Directed Instruction
Teacher-directed instructional strategies are so named because the teacher controls the content and the progression of the lesson. One primary model of teacher-directed instruction is thus known as direct instruction. Direct instruction is not just one-way presentation of material by the teacher — it can take many forms, including lectures, demonstrations, drills, guided practice (e.g., seatwork with teacher assistance as needed), and opportunities for independent practice (e.g., homework). Because this method allows teachers to present a large amount of material to many students in a relatively short time, it is most appropriate for teaching basic and lower-level thinking skills such as concept learning and recall or recognition of facts, procedures, formulas, and other content (see Chapter 3 of this tutorial for additional details on information processing and the memory model). Direct instruction is best used for material that is difficult for students to learn independently and may be especially useful for students with learning disabilities.
Student-Directed Instruction
Indirect instruction, in contrast, is a student-directed (or learner-directed) model. The teacher sets up the environment and provides a basic framework for the learning activities but then serves as a facilitator for (i.e., scaffoldslearning; see Chapter 3 of this tutorial) student interaction and thinking, rather than as a primary source of information; the student serves as the “director” of the learning process. Indirect instruction generally encourages higher-level (i.e., critical) thinking. Note, however, that direct and indirect instruction are often used together within a lesson or curricular unit. Instructional strategies and cognitive processes associated with indirect instruction include:
Problem solving, including critical and creative thinking.
Reading for meaning (may involve summarizing or sequencing information, making inferences, inductive and deductive reasoning, and predicting outcomes or events).
Inquiry (e.g., gathering information about an issue or problem; may involve evaluating, comparing and contrasting, synthesizing, and generalizing).
Case studies (e.g., detailed analyses of particular individuals, situations, or events; may include summarizing, analyzing, making inferences, and generalizing beyond the case).
Concept mapping (e.g., developing graphical representations of links among topics and concepts; may include categorizing, sequencing, and comparing and contrasting).
Cloze procedures (e.g., using context to fill in missing words in a paragraph or story; may involve evaluating, making inferences, deductive reasoning, and decision making).
Another student-directed instructional model is experiential learning. In this instructional model, students engage in some type of activity, which they analyze and share with classmates. Examples of experiential learning include field trips, experiments, simulations, role playing, games, and observations. Experiential learning emphasizes higher-order thinking skills, with a focus on the learning process itself. For example, the primary goal of an activity in which students observe animals at the zoo may be for students to become objective observers, with conceptual knowledge about the specific animals as a secondary goal. Experiential learning also encourages planning, questioning, and inductive reasoning, as well as transfer of knowledge from one situation to another. Experiential learning often allows teachers or experienced mentors to serve as models or coaches.
Educators use the term interactive instruction to refer to educational activities that emphasize discussion and cooperation among participants. Interactive instruction is largely student-directed and can take any of the following forms:
Brainstorming (e.g., free association or unedited, stream-of-consciousness generation of ideas)
Cooperative learning groups (e.g., students work in small groups to achieve a common goal, with success based in part on the collaborative interactions among the participants)
Interviews
Discussions
Peer practice
Debates
Interactive instruction encourages higher-level thinking, such as questioning, problem solving, and metacognition, as well as development of social skills. Interactive instruction also may provide practice in distinguishing fact from opinion, detecting bias, comparing and contrasting, and generalizing. During interactive activities, the teacher can scaffold student learning and model appropriate behaviors.
Independent instruction is perhaps the most student-directed model of instruction; in this approach, teachers may (or may not) initiate a project, but the learner generally takes responsibility for setting goals, planning learning activities, and completing the work. Independent projects can take the form of learning contracts, research projects, computer-mediated instruction, and distance learning. A particular strength of independent instruction is that it encourages student self-reliance, self-regulation, and self-evaluation. Effective teachers can help students learn to set goals, manage their time, monitor their own progress, and reflect on their achievements.
This discussion is not exhaustive; many different instructional strategies are available to teachers (see Table7.1). Effective teachers make careful and wise choices, based on the particular learning objectives, the content of the lesson, and the characteristics and abilities of the students.
Used with permission from J. Ormrod. (2009). Essentials of educational psychology (2nd ed., pp. 310−311). Columbus, OH: Merrill. To purchase a copy of this book, click here.
Classroom Composition and Grouping Techniques
When planning and selecting an instructional strategy, consideration of the classroom composition and student grouping is key for successful learning. Direct instruction in the form of lecture or lecture-discussion may be best with the whole class, although it’s important to keep in mind that even in communities where the population is not very diverse, the students in any one classroom can be quite different from another: They will likely differ in terms of their background knowledge, learning preferences, demographic characteristics (e.g., race, sex, socioeconomic level of the family), and motivation. This diversity generally benefits the students, although research suggests particular benefits for all-girl or all-boy schools and/or instruction on particular topics (e.g., teenage girls may prefer to take health or sex education classes in single-sex classrooms; in some cases communities may encourage that the school administration make this accommodation). Furthermore, although many schools still favor tracking and other forms of ability grouping, research suggests that both high-achieving and lower-achieving students do well in classrooms where ability levels are mixed (i.e., heterogeneous ability grouping), if teachers are attuned to individual student needs and carefully plan classroom activities to address them.
Many student-directed instructional strategies require small groups or pairs. In true cooperative learning, for example, students are each responsible for the other students’ learning, which requires that they be placed into manageable groups. Group work of this sort encourages collective self-efficacy, a shared belief that students can be successful when they work together on a task. Independent work is, by definition, independent, but teachers can use one-on-one conferences to guide the project initially and to provide feedback, or small groups or pairs for students to share their final products and reflections with one another.
Teachers may place students into groups randomly (e.g., by counting, by drawing names) or more systematically, depending on the lesson objectives. Heterogeneous grouping (i.e., grouping students with diverse abilities) can be beneficial in collaborative learning, in which students work as a team. Cooperative learning is a form of collaborative learning in which students work together to achieve a common goal. During cooperative learning activities, students both teach and learn from their peers; there is direct social interaction among group members and shared responsibility for each others’ learning and for any final product or outcome. For some cooperative projects, teachers may choose to join classrooms, including those with different-age students. In fact, nongraded elementary schools can be effective, as long as the grouping allows the teachers to attend to students’ abilities and interests. Note that when young students work in cooperative groups, teachers may need to provide guidance or even direct instruction on conflict resolution and the difference between shared and individual accountability.
Most important when grouping students for activities is to be sure that students are given clear instructions about their roles and their responsibilities to one another. For example, do all students contribute to all parts of a group project, or are tasks assigned and then each individual part is joined into a shared portfolio? Note that sometimes instruction on how to work in a group is necessary, especially for younger students.
Ideally, when forming cooperative groups, teachers should follow these general guidelines:
Include students of differing abilities.
Include students who can work together successfully (e.g., students with a history of conflict should not be in the same group).
Establish or help students establish clear guidelines for the group process and for the expected outcomes.
Assign individual tasks to encourage collaboration.
Assess individual student contribution as well as the group together.
Focusing on the Individual: Differentiated Instruction
To address some of the issues raised in the discussion of grouping students, many teachers have adopted the technique known as differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is often used with special-needs students (i.e., gifted students, those with learning disabilities) and English learners. It can easily be adapted to all classrooms. The theory behind differentiated instruction is that to accommodate student diversity, teachers should plan instruction that matches students with tasks best suited to their needs and in some cases allows students to make choices for their learning. For example, teachers can differentiate the content of a lesson (e.g., specifically link to relevant individual experiences or students can choose to learn more or less about a particular topic); they can differentiate the process by which students learn (e.g., group work, peer tutoring, or independent work); or they can differentiate the required product by which students express what they’ve learned (e.g., a project, a term paper, a film, a bilingual product). Differentiated instruction can have the added benefits of increasing student motivation and self-regulation skills.
Beyond Planning: Flexibility and Feedback
As discussed in Chapter 8 of this tutorial, effective teachers recognize the importance of reflecting on, analyzing, and evaluating the effectiveness of the instructional strategies they choose. Classroom teaching, regardless of instructional strategy, needs to be seen as a two-way dialogue between teacher and students in which all participants monitor learning and help drive the classroom experience.
Most important, effective teachers must check for student understanding regularly, especially when working with students at risk, such as English language learners or students with other special learning needs. If students don’t understand a particular concept, teachers need to select alternative strategies or in some cases adjust the lesson or unit plans to ensure that learning takes place. In some cases, teachers may have planned specific approaches to check for understanding as well as approaches to enrich or remediate the lesson. For example, a lecture-discussion on civics could be enriched with authentic activities such as one-day “internships” at City Hall, or even something simpler such as a guest lecture from the town mayor or police chief. In other cases, the situation may arise unplanned, based on classroom interactions. For example, if students show particular interest in a topic that may at first seem tangential, teachers should seize the “teachable moment” and present a spontaneous lesson (e.g., a class discussion or debate in response to a student question about current events). These spontaneous activities can be energizing for a teacher and especially meaningful for students.
Important Terms that Relate to Instructional Strategies
The following definitions come from Ormrod, J. (2009). Essentials of educational psychology (2nd Ed., pp. G1-G5). Columbus, OH: Merrill. To purchase a copy of this book, click here.
Ability grouping. The process of placing students of similar abilities into groups and attempting to match instruction to the needs of these groups.
Authentic activity. Approach to instruction similar to one students might encounter in the outside world.
Cognitive apprenticeship. Mentorship in which a teacher and a student work together on a challenging task and the teacher gives guidance about how to think about the task.
Collaboration. A philosophy about how to relate to others—how to learn and work.
Collective self-efficacy. Shared belief of members of a group that they can be successful when they work together on a task.
Computer-based instruction (CBI). Instruction provided via computer technology.
Convergent thinking. Process of pulling several pieces of information together to draw a conclusion or solve a problem.
Cooperative learning. Approach to instruction in which students work with a small group of peers to achieve a common goal and help one another learn.
Creativity (creative thinking). New and original behavior that yields a productive and culturally appropriate result.
Critical thinking. Process of evaluating the accuracy and worth of information and lines of reasoning.
Deductive reasoning. Process of drawing a logical inference about something that must be true, given other information that has already been presented as true.
Differentiated instruction. Practice of individualizing instructional methods, and possibly also individualizing specific content and instructional goals, to align with each student’s existing knowledge, skills, and needs.
Direct instruction. Approach to instruction that uses a variety of techniques (e.g., explanations, questions, guided and independent practice) in a fairly structured manner to promote learning of basic skills.
Discovery learning. Approach to instruction in which students develop an understanding of a topic through firsthand interaction with the environment.
Divergent thinking. Process of moving mentally in a variety of directions from a single idea.
Expository instruction. Approach to instruction in which information is presented in more or less the same form in which students are expected to learn it.
Guided participation. A child’s performance, with guidance and support, of an activity in the adult world.
Heterogeneous ability grouping. A strategy that groups students of varied ability instead of by grade/age level.
Inductive reasoning. Collecting data to draw a conclusion that may or may not be true.
Learner-centered instruction. Approach to teaching in which instructional strategies are chosen largely on the basis of students’ existing abilities, predispositions, and needs.
Learner-directed instruction. Approach to instruction in which students have considerable say in the issues they address and how to address them.
Learning strategy. Intentional use of one or more cognitive processes for a particular learning task.
Long-term memory. Component of memory that holds knowledge and skills for a relatively long time.
Mnemonic. Memory aid or trick designed to help students learn and remember a specific piece of information.
Model. Person who demonstrates a behavior for someone else.
Modeling. Demonstrating a behavior for another; also, observing and imitating another’s behavior.
Peer tutoring. Approach to instruction in which one student provides instruction to help another student master a classroom topic.
Problem-based learning. Classroom activity in which students acquire new knowledge and skills while working on a complex problem similar to those in the outside world.
Project-based learning. Classroom activity in which students acquire new knowledge and skills while working on a complex, multifaceted project that yields a concrete end product.
Reciprocal teaching. Approach to teaching reading and listening comprehension in which students take turns asking teacher-like questions of classmates.
Scaffolding. Support mechanism that helps a learner successfully perform a task within his or her zone of proximal development.
Service learning. Activity that promotes learning and development through participation in a meaningful community service project.
Teacher-directed instruction. Approach to instruction in which the teacher is largely in control of the content and course of the lesson.
Working memory. Component of memory that holds and actively thinks about and processes a limited amount of information.
Zone of proximal development (ZPD). Range of tasks that a child can perform with the help and guidance of others but cannot yet perform independently.
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