Chapter 8: Developing an Instructional Strategy
On my way home from class tonight I was reflecting on how you teach to our class, or perhaps I could call it present information and this chapter enlightened me to many of your microstrategies. You use such a variety of teaching tools to help keep our class engaged; online discussion, having students teach, guest speakers, power points, discussions, debate and videos to name a few. I love the variety of strategies you use and I will incorporate them when I am an ID. It keeps the class engaged and thinking. Macroinstructional strategies then are what you are using behind the scenes to keep us engaged, share your knowledge and information and assess the class. The strategy will include start to finish what will go on before the information is disseminated, what the student will do with that information and how learning will assessed. Using Gagne’s 5 major learning components will help me as a beginning ID organize my instruction and delivery method. These are 1. Preinstructional activities, 2. Content presentation, 3. Learner participation, 4. Assessment, 5. Follow-through activities. These are all self explanatory and there are good examples of how to facilitate these methods in the text.
An instructional strategy includes material and procedures to disseminate the information to the learners. When choosing a delivery system the ID will take into consideration not only the learners, but what tools they have at their disposal to disseminate the information that is being learned, what is the best method for the students and the information, instructor led, small group, computer based, etc. At times the ID will have the flexibility to choose whichever system best fits the needs of the learner and information, at other times the ID will have constraints due to facility, funding and management.
The ID must first consider sequence and begin with the lower level skills and work up from there. It is important to keep in mind the cluster of skills that are going to be taught, there is a happy medium between too much information, resulting in cognitive overload and not enough information resulting in boredom, the ID will consider the age of the learner when designing the instruction, smaller chunks for younger learners, and for complex information. Clusters are related to the amount of time an ID has been allotted for instruction, one day, 3 days, a semester or with elearning it may not be as necessary to be as concerned with time constraints.
John Keller developed ARCS, Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction. The attention part of this model is obviously critical, if your audience isn’t engaged it doesn’t matter what you are teaching. The relevance part really spoke to me. When beginning this program I wondered why we have to take Foundations of Learning, I realize now that it is important to become familiar with how people learn and different theories on learning and teaching in order to create design that will be relevant to the learner, how learning takes place, memory and how the brain processes information. I think it is important to help learners of all ages understand why they are learning what they are learning and how they can apply it to their job, or other concepts they will be introduced to, if information does not seem relevant the learner will not retain it no matter how fancy the design.
An instructional strategy includes material and procedures to disseminate the information to the learners. When choosing a delivery system the ID will take into consideration not only the learners, but what tools they have at their disposal to disseminate the information that is being learned, what is the best method for the students and the information, instructor led, small group, computer based, etc. At times the ID will have the flexibility to choose whichever system best fits the needs of the learner and information, at other times the ID will have constraints due to facility, funding and management.
The ID must first consider sequence and begin with the lower level skills and work up from there. It is important to keep in mind the cluster of skills that are going to be taught, there is a happy medium between too much information, resulting in cognitive overload and not enough information resulting in boredom, the ID will consider the age of the learner when designing the instruction, smaller chunks for younger learners, and for complex information. Clusters are related to the amount of time an ID has been allotted for instruction, one day, 3 days, a semester or with elearning it may not be as necessary to be as concerned with time constraints.
John Keller developed ARCS, Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction. The attention part of this model is obviously critical, if your audience isn’t engaged it doesn’t matter what you are teaching. The relevance part really spoke to me. When beginning this program I wondered why we have to take Foundations of Learning, I realize now that it is important to become familiar with how people learn and different theories on learning and teaching in order to create design that will be relevant to the learner, how learning takes place, memory and how the brain processes information. I think it is important to help learners of all ages understand why they are learning what they are learning and how they can apply it to their job, or other concepts they will be introduced to, if information does not seem relevant the learner will not retain it no matter how fancy the design.
First Principles of Instruction-M. David Merrill
It is necessary for the learner to be engaged in their learning, to promote this the design must be created to include the learner applying what they have learned to real world problems, for example how this will fit into their job or perhaps what they are studying in school and the relevance to them. We know that a learner organizes information into schemas, when we add new information they assimilate it into an existing schema, therefore making it relevant to their prior knowledge, when the learner is successful in doing so they are more likely to recall information and create relevance. As an ID how can we help to facilitate this process?
In this paper the author point out there are a variety of instructional design theories one can draw from, but in the end they all have certain principals in common, therefore, proving this is an important part every design process no matter which theory a designer buys into. I personally never adopt one concept, theory or model wholly; I find that I take bits and pieces and put them together to create my own theory/model that works for me and my learner.
As I stated earlier, learning takes place when a learner adds knowledge to their existing schema, principal 1 elaborates on engaging learners in solving real world problems, this includes stating the objective and perhaps demonstrating an example of a problem and how to solve it. The learner is first shown how the task will result in solving a problem or completing a task or course. The task level engages the learner in a problem, and problem progression is the result of the learner solving a variety of problems that are similar. All of these actions move the learner from assimilating the information to accommodating the information into existing schema, this relates to principal 2, activation. Problem centered learning results in learners adapting knowledge to new and various situations, thus creating broader learning rather then topic-centered instruction which is taught in isolation of a subject.
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.-Benjamin Franklin This quote summarizes both the Demonstration and Application Phases. During the demonstration phase the learner is given a variety of opportunities which demonstrate what is to be learned; visualization, modeling, relevant information, and media are a few examples. Application is an opportunity for the learner to demonstrate what they have learned. Our ADDIE projects and class presentations are an example of this.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/benjaminfr383997.html#OEdWOOf2RKLjp3oY.99
The final principle is #5 Integration. The learners have listened, watched, studied and now they can apply what they have learned in their work and in their schools. They should now be prepared to go out into the world and succeed at what they have learned, by the end of my masters degree I will have integrated these principles into my knowledge and skills and be prepared to conquer the ID world!
In this paper the author point out there are a variety of instructional design theories one can draw from, but in the end they all have certain principals in common, therefore, proving this is an important part every design process no matter which theory a designer buys into. I personally never adopt one concept, theory or model wholly; I find that I take bits and pieces and put them together to create my own theory/model that works for me and my learner.
As I stated earlier, learning takes place when a learner adds knowledge to their existing schema, principal 1 elaborates on engaging learners in solving real world problems, this includes stating the objective and perhaps demonstrating an example of a problem and how to solve it. The learner is first shown how the task will result in solving a problem or completing a task or course. The task level engages the learner in a problem, and problem progression is the result of the learner solving a variety of problems that are similar. All of these actions move the learner from assimilating the information to accommodating the information into existing schema, this relates to principal 2, activation. Problem centered learning results in learners adapting knowledge to new and various situations, thus creating broader learning rather then topic-centered instruction which is taught in isolation of a subject.
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.-Benjamin Franklin This quote summarizes both the Demonstration and Application Phases. During the demonstration phase the learner is given a variety of opportunities which demonstrate what is to be learned; visualization, modeling, relevant information, and media are a few examples. Application is an opportunity for the learner to demonstrate what they have learned. Our ADDIE projects and class presentations are an example of this.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/benjaminfr383997.html#OEdWOOf2RKLjp3oY.99
The final principle is #5 Integration. The learners have listened, watched, studied and now they can apply what they have learned in their work and in their schools. They should now be prepared to go out into the world and succeed at what they have learned, by the end of my masters degree I will have integrated these principles into my knowledge and skills and be prepared to conquer the ID world!
A Framework for Instructional Strategy Design-Chapter 7
Organizational strategy refers to how the content will be presented and the sequence it will follow, it looks much like the organization of a paragraph; introduction, body and conclusion, here we add assessment to check understanding of the learner and content that has been taught.
This chapter refers to many of the ideas we are learning in our Foundations of Learning class, it talks about cognitive load, which relates to information in the working memory, it is important to find a balance here. Too much information is overload and retention will be challenging, not enough load and it’s boring and we lose our learners. One tool that can be useful in teaching content is scaffolding, this is a concept introduced by Vygotsky which refers to the level of support a learner needs to learn a concept or skill.
There are 15 instructional events, the author notes that a master teacher will use these 15 events, perhaps never having given them a name. Introduction then of course will be at the beginning, through the introduction the instructor will prepare the learners for what they will learn and thus active memory will be activated. Activating Attention is when the instructors will bring the learners to the task at hand, open your book, think about a time when, thus brining the learner from the distractions of the outside world and into the learning environment and activating prior schema. Next the instructor will establish a purpose, media or words to tell the learner what they are about to learn. Arouse interest and motivation is an opportunity for the learner to realize the relevance of what they are about to learn. Preview learning activity refers to the outline the instructor will give the students, they then will know what to expect throughout the module, this can take the form of a syllabus or perhaps an oral review. Body is used to recall prior knowledge or skills that will be necessary for the learner to be engaged and instruction to take place. When the instructor presents information and examples the learner will be introduced to materials relevant to the learning process. Throughout the learning process the instructor will focus attention of the students, a technique I use is think, pair share. I ask a question and have students discuss it with a neighbor for 20 seconds, at this point I may go on or I may ask students to share what they have discussed, either way it brings the learners back into the classroom. When an instructor employs learning strategies they are encouraging the learner to take control of the information and giving them tools to recall and retain information. During practice the learner has an opportunity to use the materials or skills they have been taught thus far, at this point the instructor can assess learning and decide if they need to pull back or press on. It is also an opportunity to gain the learners attention and activate schema. During evaluation the learner is given the opportunity to assess their learning, the instructor can help by giving both positive feedback and making corrections. During the conclusion event the instructor is reviewing with the learner what they have done thus far. Providing summary and review wraps up all that the learners have learned and helps recall information and how new knowledge will be applied. At this point the learner will be given the opportunity to transfer learning, this applying new knowledge and skills to real situations, at this time the learner and instructor will see what knowledge has been learned and leads into remotivate and close, which is the opportunity to reteach the skills or knowledge that were not understood or retained. During assessment both the instructor and the learner will have an opportunity to evaluate what has been learned and retained, with this information the instructor can revise instruction if needs be. Through evaluation the instructor can plan remediation for the learner with a plan that the learner has an opportunity to learn any information or skills that were missed the first time around. Evaluation of the instructor can help them to modify their instruction going forward.
Although it appears there are so many events it feels overwhelming I know from experience all of these events can be encompassed in just a 30 minute spelling lesson, after all if the steps are not taking, goals will not be accomplished and learning will not take place, it will all be for naught.
This chapter refers to many of the ideas we are learning in our Foundations of Learning class, it talks about cognitive load, which relates to information in the working memory, it is important to find a balance here. Too much information is overload and retention will be challenging, not enough load and it’s boring and we lose our learners. One tool that can be useful in teaching content is scaffolding, this is a concept introduced by Vygotsky which refers to the level of support a learner needs to learn a concept or skill.
There are 15 instructional events, the author notes that a master teacher will use these 15 events, perhaps never having given them a name. Introduction then of course will be at the beginning, through the introduction the instructor will prepare the learners for what they will learn and thus active memory will be activated. Activating Attention is when the instructors will bring the learners to the task at hand, open your book, think about a time when, thus brining the learner from the distractions of the outside world and into the learning environment and activating prior schema. Next the instructor will establish a purpose, media or words to tell the learner what they are about to learn. Arouse interest and motivation is an opportunity for the learner to realize the relevance of what they are about to learn. Preview learning activity refers to the outline the instructor will give the students, they then will know what to expect throughout the module, this can take the form of a syllabus or perhaps an oral review. Body is used to recall prior knowledge or skills that will be necessary for the learner to be engaged and instruction to take place. When the instructor presents information and examples the learner will be introduced to materials relevant to the learning process. Throughout the learning process the instructor will focus attention of the students, a technique I use is think, pair share. I ask a question and have students discuss it with a neighbor for 20 seconds, at this point I may go on or I may ask students to share what they have discussed, either way it brings the learners back into the classroom. When an instructor employs learning strategies they are encouraging the learner to take control of the information and giving them tools to recall and retain information. During practice the learner has an opportunity to use the materials or skills they have been taught thus far, at this point the instructor can assess learning and decide if they need to pull back or press on. It is also an opportunity to gain the learners attention and activate schema. During evaluation the learner is given the opportunity to assess their learning, the instructor can help by giving both positive feedback and making corrections. During the conclusion event the instructor is reviewing with the learner what they have done thus far. Providing summary and review wraps up all that the learners have learned and helps recall information and how new knowledge will be applied. At this point the learner will be given the opportunity to transfer learning, this applying new knowledge and skills to real situations, at this time the learner and instructor will see what knowledge has been learned and leads into remotivate and close, which is the opportunity to reteach the skills or knowledge that were not understood or retained. During assessment both the instructor and the learner will have an opportunity to evaluate what has been learned and retained, with this information the instructor can revise instruction if needs be. Through evaluation the instructor can plan remediation for the learner with a plan that the learner has an opportunity to learn any information or skills that were missed the first time around. Evaluation of the instructor can help them to modify their instruction going forward.
Although it appears there are so many events it feels overwhelming I know from experience all of these events can be encompassed in just a 30 minute spelling lesson, after all if the steps are not taking, goals will not be accomplished and learning will not take place, it will all be for naught.