Station Rotation Model
What is the Station Rotation Model?
The idea of having students rotate through stations is not new to those in education; teachers, particularly those in elementary, have rotated students through centers or stations for decades. At the turn of the twenty-first century, blended learning emerged in classrooms as a result of innovative educators seeking ways to incorporate online learning into the brick-and-mortar school environment (Tucker et al., 2017).
The station rotation model's design allows teachers to use various modalities to cover curriculum content in small groups. Students rotate on a fixed schedule (or teacher's discretion) between learning modalities, one of which is online learning (Tucker et al., 2017). It is important to note that the stations do not build on one another; therefore, the order of the rotation is not important.
Instructional Tech Tube [Video Image]. (2021). https://www.youtube.com/embed/V_iu_aQCiyk
Click on the image and watch the video to learn more about Station Rotation.
Video Length- 1 minute, 23 seconds
Role of Teachers:
Provides differentiated, targeted instruction to small groups that align with learning outcomes and challenge the various skill levels of students.
Tailors instruction to meet each student's learning goals (based on observations, student work, and data).
Confers with individual students to meet needs and provides personalized feedback to help students progress toward learning outcomes.
Role of Students:
Actively participate to accomplish tasks or activities; they select tasks based on learning needs, interests, and preferences in learning modalities.
Controls the pace of learning using digital and physical resources; they have more opportunities to take ownership of their learning.
Works in small groups, they are able to ask questions and receive individual feedback; move to the next pathway after demonstrating mastery of learning outcomes.
Benefits:
Places students at the center of learning;
Utilizes a variety of tasks to increase student engagement and provides students with opportunities to engage with information at differentiated levels; and
Provides opportunities for teachers to individualize their teaching and directly with an individual or small group of students to improve learning outcomes.
Challenges:
All students do not need access to technology; however, it is ideal for each student at the online learning station to have access to a device.
Having larger class sizes makes it more challenging to keep groups small enough to ensure students stay on task and productive.
Classes with a wide range of skill sets or language proficiencies may require more support when moving through stations.
Considerations for preparing to implement the Station Rotation Model:
Objective(s) of each station; Decide how students will be held accountable (produce a product to turn in).
Decide how students will be grouped and time needed for each station and the transition time between stations.
Materials needed for each station (special programs, apps, etc.).
Make management decisions such as if you will frontload directions, provide written directions for each station, or present a video tutorial at each station.
Now that you have learned about the Station Rotation Model, complete the chart on your reflection sheet based on your understanding of the model.
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