4mat guide to instructional design

7/27/2019 4MAT Guide to Instructional Design

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A Guide to UsingStudent Learning Stylesto Differentiate Instruction


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About Learning 441 W. Bonner Rd. Wauconda, IL 60084 800-822-4MAT www.aboutlearning.com

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Differentiating instruction to improve student learning is at the core of

good educational practice. No one disputes that teachers should do

everything in their power to help students learn.

Carol Ann Tomlinson a key proponent for differentiating instruction

describes DI as follows: It means teachers proactively plan varied

approaches to WHAT students need to learn, HOW they will learn it and

how they will demonstrate what they have learned to increase the

likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can.

The message is clear. Teachers must use a variety of methods to help

students learn. So, the key is to create a process for helping teachers use

a wider array of instructional techniques to improve student interest,

involvement and understanding. The 4MAT Model is one proven

approach to meeting these goals.

The 4MAT Method proposes that students learn in different ways and that

high quality instruction integrates all these different learning methods. It is

based on different ways that people perceive and process information.

One key issue for teachers in working to differentiate instruction is that

they will have to teach each student differently and individually. 4MAToffers a framework for actively differentiating instruction within an entire

class, all in the context of a single unit.


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While students should use all modes of learning, most people seem to

favor one particular type:

Type One: Imaginative learning

Making Connections.

Feeling and watching, seeking personal

associations, meaning, involvement.

The key question is WHY?

Type Two: Analytic Learning

Formulating Ideas.

Listening to and thinking about information,

seeking facts, thinking things through,

learning what the experts think.

The key question is WHAT?


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2. The Skills Practice

How will you determine if they understood the lecture?

What kind of practice will you require?

Are there work pages or questions at the end of chapters?

Are there skill and practice materials?

Fill in your process description in Quadrant Three, Left Mode(PRACTICE).

3. The Intended OutcomesWhat outcomes are you intending?

What will they be able to do that they cant do now?

How will they synthesize learning?

Will they share reading notes, graphic organizers, summaries of important events, their personal reflections, their visuals?

Will you have them create a composite representation of their learnings?

The word per-form means to form through and that is the essence of this step. It represents the merging of the learning and the learner. Howwill learners explain or perform their work? Avoid a series of reportsthat they stand up and deliver. This is not learning. Oral reports, one

after another, can be more deadly than a boring teacher.Fill in the expected outcomes in the Quadrant Four, Right Mode(PERFORM) step.


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SkillsPractice

InformationDelivery

Outcomes

SkillsPractice

InformationDelivery


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4. The Connection

What will you do to get your learners excited about the material?

What experience will you create in the classroom that will inspire them

to learn what youre about to teach?Remember, this is never telling, this is something that happens,something that intrigues them (a problem to solve), or connects to them(a situation that has real meaning in their lives), or touches them in a waythat links to their humanity.

Fill in that connection experience in Quadrant One, Right Mode(CONNECT).

5. Sharing the Connection

What discussion techniques will you use to give learners theopportunity to share what just happened in the experience youcreated?

How will you have them discuss their perceptions? Will it beteacher-directed (the least potent), small group discussion with

cooperative learning techniques, or student partners?Will you ask them to list any commonalities they have discovered in their shared perceptions?

Will these lists be shared with the entire group?

Will you ask them to write reflections, perhaps in journals, on theconnections they experienced through the discussion?

Will you ask them to list hoped-for outcomes of the learning they areabout to experience?

List the process you will use to share the connections in Quadrant One,Left Mode (ATTEND).


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Sharing theConnection

TheConnectionOutcomes

SkillsPractice

InformationDelivery


SkillsPractice

InformationDelivery


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Sharing theConnection


Critiquingthe Work

The LearningUsed

SkillsPractice

InformationDelivery

Sharing the

Connection


The LearningUsed

SkillsPractice

InformationDelivery


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8. The Image That Connects

What is the nonverbal strategy you will use to have learners express their pre-understanding of the concept? For example, if you are studying decay,have them nonverbally express a lack of decay, if you are studying liberty,have them find/recite/play poems and songs that express freedom. Theseexpressions need tobe directly based on learner past experiences, as connected and shared inQuadrant One, and must relate to the content you are explaining in the lec-ture/readings that follow. If you do this well, the learners will attend to your lecture and focus on their readings with a highly successful attitude of Oh!, Iknow what this means, I have experienced this.

Fill in your image that connects (IMAGE) step in Quadrant Two, Right Mode.

A note about image strategies: We use the word nonverbal to move teachersaway from the often tedious overkill of text. However, a fine piece of poetrycan capture images with great power.

9. Adding the Assessments

The heart of assessment is really how are my learners doing?

Even though we must know did they do it, we must keep track of their progress along the way so we can monitor and adjust. That is how we canensure their progress.

As learners move through the cycle, you need to assess how they are doing atfive key places.

1. At the End of Quadrant One

Did the groups/partners work well together?

Did the experience you created make a personal connection to them?

Were their perceptions shared honestly and enriched by this sharing?

How will you know?


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2. After the Image Task in Quadrant Two, Right Mode

Can they depict the meaning of the Quadrant One experience as aconcept, a significant idea that the details in the lecturewill exemplify?Did the graphic organizer/visual representation, poetic/musical strategyhelp them to see the big picture, the core meaning of the content?

How will you know?

3. After the Information Delivery

Did they understand the material?Do they know the difference between the important informationand the substantiating details?

What kind of test, quiz, or oral exchange will help you find out?

4. After the Skills Practice

Can they do it?Can they do it as you taught it? This is important because they need theexpert skill base practiced and fluid before they can begin adapting thelearning to new or novel situations.

What kind of measurements will you use to assess their skill level?

5. At the End of the Performance/Project/Personal Extension

What outcomes are you after?

How will you know if they were met?

What rubric will you use, what list of criteria for different grades, for anA or a B etc.?

Will you involve learners in creating the rubric?

Will you ask them to provide new questions as a culmination of learning?Will you ask them what they learned that you didnt ask?

How will you combine the various assessments into one final grade?


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YOUR 4MAT PLAN:A FINAL LOOK

Use these eight questions as a final check of your 4MAT plan.

WHATCONNECTION?

HOW TO SHARECONNECTIONS?

WHAT IMAGESTRATEGY?

WHATCONTENT?

WHATPRACTICE?

WHAT PERSONALEXTENSION?

HOW TO REFINETHE EXTENSION?

HOW TOINTEGRATE THEREFINEDEXTENSION?


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4mat guide to instructional design

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