Setting Objectives andPlanning Instruction

Characteristics of Effective Teachers

Clarity and Organization:– The most promising future teachers are those who can provide

clear presentations and explanations. Students tend to learn more from such teachers.

Warmth and Enthusiasm: – Some studies have found that ratings of teachers’ enthusiasm for

their subject correlated with student achievement. Warmth, friendliness, and understanding tend to be traits associated with students liking teachers.

Teachers’ Knowledge: – Darling-Hammond found teacher certification correlated highly with

student success. Other research is less clear, with the exception of mathematics. But teachers certainly need to know enough to make clear presentations.

Teaching as Journey

Teachers journey students to places of knowledge. Step one:

– State where you are going, i.e., destination Specific factual knowledge/conceptual understanding How precise should this statement be?

Step two:– State how you intend to get there – a map of the steps along the

way What form should this statement/map take?

Step three:– Determine/Assess whether you and your passengers arrived at the

destination Summative versus formative assessment What should be the nature of the assessment?

Why Set Instructional Objectives

They make explicit the desired/intended Instructional outcomes

– Reduces uncertainty and digression in teaching– Helps focus the teaching process toward achieving the stated

outcomes Objectives may be both short and long term

– Content standards for a given grade, by subject– Units/Themes spanning several lessons or weeks– Daily lessons

Objectives can be tailored to reflect both conceptual and contextual demands

Tailoring Instructional Objectives to Differing Levels/Types of Learning

If the learning content is factual, linear, and manifest in easily observable changes in behavior, use Mager’s formulation

1. State what the student will do or say by the end of instruction, i.e., behavioral objective.

2. State conditions under which the behavior will be given.

3. State minimum criterion or standard for satisfactory performance

If the learning content is conceptual, nonlinear, and manifest in subtle, not easily testable changes in understanding, use Gronland’s formulation

1. State objective first in general terms, e.g., understandings or appreciations.

2. Clarify by listing a few specific behavioral examples students might provide to evidence their attainment of the objective.

– Why the need for greater flexibility?

ClassTask/Activity

Divide up into four groups Each group: Consider both Gronland’s and

Mager’s formulation of objectives.

– State three strengths and weaknesses of each model

– Construct two instructional objectives using each model

Influential Factors in Selecting Instructional Approaches/Models

A. Initial Student Characteristics/Entering Behavior– Students’ level of knowledge and skills specifically

related to the instructional objective. It includes: Pre-requisite knowledge and skill Knowledge and Preconceptions of information to-be-

taught.

– How to obtain this awareness?– Response options for varying readiness?

B. Academic Content and Cognitive Demands– Declarative v. procedural– Conceptual v. rote/factual

C. Structure of the Knowledge-to-be-Learned– Bloom’s Taxonomy in the Cognitive Domain– Gagne’s 8 Conditions of Learning

Bloom’s Taxonomy in the Cognitive Domain

Cognitive tasks hierarchically arranged from simple to complex.

Two broad categories: Knowledge and Comprehension

1. Knowledge: involves recall of specifics and generalizations, of methods and processes, of sequences, classifications, or methods.

2. Comprehension: lowest level of comprehension. Student has limited knowledge of what is being communicated and, therefore, can define concept but not see all its implications. Can translate and interpret

3. Application: ability to apply abstraction in particular and concrete situation. May be ideas, principles,

4. Analysis: requires students to reveal their understandings of the hierarchy or relationship among ideas in a body of material

5. Synthesis: ability to rearrange or assemble parts into a new whole. Ability to make generalizations and discoveries.

6. Evaluation: judging the value of material or methods used for particular purposes.

2001 Updatesto Bloom’s Taxonomy

Old Hierarchy

– Knowledge– Comprehension– Application– Analysis– Synthesis– Evaluation

New Hierarchy

– Remembering– Understanding– Applying– Analysis– Evaluation– Creating

Bloom’s Updated Theory

Learning outcomes are the product of combining particular cognitive processes (task types) with particular forms the content knowledge.

Four forms of content knowledge:– Factual knowledge– Conceptual knowledge– Procedural Knowledge– Metacognitive Knowledge

Forms a grid

Gagne’s8 Conditions of Learning

1. Signal Learning (Classical Conditioning): Organism

acquires a conditioned response to a given signal (e.g., withdrawal of hand)

2. S – R Learning (Operant Conditioning): Voluntary action shaped by reinforcement (e.g., learning meanings of words in a foreign language)

3. Chaining: Links together previously learned S-R bonds to form routine procedures, e.g., commencing to drive a car.

4. Verbal Learning: A type of chaining, but the links are verbal units, e.g., alphabet

5. Discrimination Learning: Learning different responses for stimuli which may be confused, e.g., femme and faime

6. Concept Learning: Learning to respond to stimuli as a class, i.e., in terms of some abstract characteristic (e.g., color, use)

7. Rule Learning: Learning rules we relate to 2 or more concepts to facilitate its application to a variety of similar situations

8. Problem Solving: May involve all previous forms of knowledge.

Planning InstructionConducting a Task Analysis

State the instructional objective Compare this with the entering characteristics of the learners State the major concepts or procedures that students must

acquire to move from their entering behavior to the instructional objectives.

State the intermediate sub-concepts or behaviors that students need to learn in the process

Continue hierarchical analysis until all necessary skills needed to accomplish task are stated

Determine instructional approach and strategies for teaching each cognitive task.

Planning for Constructivist Instruction

Setting Goals and Process Planning:– Shared and negotiated where teachers and students make

decisions together about content, activities.– Teacher has overarching goals, “big ideas,” that guide

planning – Use primary sources to formulate hypotheses and engage

in systematic study – Students form or pose problem to solve and engage in

systematic study.– Create learning environment that allows students to self- or

collaboratively-construct new knowledge– Common instructional tool = Thematic Unit

Planning for Teacher-Centered Instruction

Setting Goals and Process Planning:– Teacher determines specific content objectives based on required

content standards and students’ entering behavior.– Teacher analyzes and constructs step-wise instructional map for

imparting instruction– Determines social and procedural strategies best to Impart

instruction– Implements instructional plans and provides knowledge and

comprehension questions to determine if students are correctly acquiring knowledge

– Provides opportunities to rehearse and consolidate knowledge.

Social Organization andInstructional Strategy

Direct or Explicit Instruction– Lecturing and Explaining

Steps– Introduce the presentation to get students’ interest– Give the presentation in an organized & clear manner– Keep students engaged– End with a summary and reinforcement

When Appropriate– When need to communicate a large amount of information to

many students in a short amount of time– When introducing a topic or providing info not easily gotten

elsewhere.– When content is largely basic skills instruction

Recitation and Questioning– Steps

Teacher initially presents a short partial presentation of the information

Teacher poses questions and the students answer them Teacher repeats previous two steps following a

specified instructional plan, reinforcing students’ responses with praise, correction, etc.

Teacher and students summarize learning

Kinds of Questions

Convergent Questions: Only one right answer. Divergent questions: Have many possible answers. Lower Order: Questions that require only basic

knowledge and comprehension for solution. Higher Order: Questions that require application,

analyses, evaluation or creation for solution.

Strategies for Managing Recitation and Questioning

Distribute chances to participate Provide time to think Stimulate and maintain interest

– Inject humor, mystery, and novelty– Challenge students to think

Provide feedback to students– When correct, provide affirmation– When incorrect, make simple correction or provide prompts

Require overt answers

Strengths and Challenges

Strengths Gives opportunity to check

on student comprehension Pushes students to provide

more complete answers. Slows down the pace

allowing for thinking and problem solving

Allows students to present material

Helps maintain attention

Challenges Students are passive Unequal student

participation Difficult to monitor

comprehension. Recall is emphasized over

critical thinking Recitation may not be the

best instructional procedure for certain student/learner types

Rosenshine’s 6 Teaching Functions in Teacher Centered Classes

Review and check previous day’s work (re-teach if misunderstandings found)

Present new material: Make purpose clear, impart in small steps and provide examples.

Provide guided practice: Look for misconceptions and re-teach if necessary

Give feedback and correction based on students’ answers. Provide independent practice: Independent seatwork,

cooperative groups or homework Review and consolidate work on a wkly or monthly basis.

Group Discussion

Students form communicative groups– The number of groups can range from one to several.– The number of students in each group can range from two

to whole-class membership

Teacher poses question(s) Students in their groups jointly work to solve problem Teacher takes a more or less dominant role in

guiding students to problem solution.

Guidelines for Teachersdoing Group Discussion

Teacher acts as a facilitator rather than a questioner. Invite participation of shy students; ensure others don’t

monopolize. Direct student comments and questions back to other students Make sure you understand what a student has said. If you are

unsure, so may others Probe for more information; ask students to provide supporting

evidence Bring discussion back to the subject Give time for thought before asking for responses. When a student finishes speaking, look around for reaction. The teacher must decide how much to intervene. Teach students discussion skills

Cooperative/CollaborativeLearning

Five Basic Components (Johnson & Johnson, 1988)– Interdependence – shared goals, division of tasks, shared

resources and information– Face to face interaction: discuss nature of the task– Individual accountability: personal responsibility to group to group.

Each member must master material so that can help others.– Collaborative skills: groups work cooperatively– Group processing: groups evaluate their own progress .

Number of different strategies: – Jigsaw– STAD and TGT

Strengths and Challenges

Strengths Enhanced motivation Enhanced social skills Can give opportunities for

more students to relate their understanding of content

Good for instruction with conceptual information

Challenges Time consuming Individuals may monopolize

or steer group in wrong direction.

Can intimidate shy students Not all group members

equal contributors Difficult to grade individuals

Independent Study

Involves students working with learning plans designed to meet their particular needs, interests and abilities.

There are a number of ways to modify lessons to fit individual needs.

– Pacing the learning at a different rate– Altering instructional objective– Altering activities or materials– Altering methods by which students demonstrate learning– Altering the reading materials

Independent Study

Behavioral Approach– Keller Plan: Personalized System of Instruction– Mastery: Objective based approach to instruction:

Assumption: All children can learn a task, but differ in the amount of time learning requires. Some need more time

Constructivist– Self selected study. Give student an assignment that lasts

over several days/wks, or longer. Student is free from attending classes. Student in 1-to-1 relationship with teacher

Whatever method is chosen to individualize instruction, a teacher must know the subject well in order to analyze the task to break it down into small units and to arrange the units into a meaningful sequence