Types of Instruction and Types of Learning Styles

Instructional methods should be based on student needs.

Instructional method #1: Six Steps of Direct Instruction

1.     Review and check the previous day’s work (and reteach if necessary). Reviewing, apart from homework, is important in assessing student learning.

2.     Present new content or skills. The teacher should always tell the students what they are going to learn. Presenting the material to the students prior to the lesson is also good for assessing prior knowledge. The material should then be presented in small steps.

3.     Provide guided student practice (and check for understanding). After the material is introduced, the teacher should involved all students through oral response, students holding up answer cards, raising their hands when they think they have the correct answer, etc. “Effective guided practice continues until the students meet the learning objective” (Including Students with Special Needs, Friend & Bursuck).

4.     Provide feedback and correction (and reteach when necessary).

a.     If a student answers confidently, acknowledge the response and provide praise, i.e. “That’s right!” “Great job!”

b.     If a student answers correctly, but with hesitation, respond with “Yes, that is correct because…”

c.      Re-teaching the material can follow incorrect answers or have another student help the student that answered prior.

5.     Provide independent student practice. Have students practice in different ways without teacher led conversation. Practice activities should still be supervised.

6.     Review frequently. Closure and reminders are very important! You can incorporate learned material into new homework assignments and tests. If that material is missed, it should then be re-taught.

Instructional method #2: Indirect Instruction is based on the belief that children are active learners and if they are taught in the appropriate environment, they can construct knowledge and solve problems in ways according to their development. Indirect instruction can teach both basic skills (behavior skills, social skills, group coping skills, basic academic skills, science process skills) and knowledge in content areas. Indirect instruction is primarily student-focused. The teacher should act as a facilitator, guiding students to questions and problems in their learning. Therefore, students are actively involved.

·      Strategies include: case study, concept attainment, concept formation, concept mapping, inquiry, problem solving, reading for meaning, and reflective study.

·      The idea focuses on the “done by” the student ideal, rather than “done to” the student ideal present with direct instruction processes and strategies.

·      Indirect instruction can also take up a great deal of time in comparison to direct instruction. It can also be challenging to insure that students meet learning objectives.

Instructional method #3: Scaffolding is a great supportive strategy for teaching in the classroom. Prior to using scaffolding as a teaching strategy, it is important to assess whether students have the necessary background knowledge to learn a cognitive strategy (Rosenshine & Meister, 1992).

            Six strategies:

1.     Present the new cognitive strategy: introduce the strategy (“think” and “do”).

a.     Define the problem.

b.     Propose hypotheses to explain the problem.

c.      Collect data to evaluate your hypothesis.

d.     Evaluate the evidence.

e.     Make a conclusion.

2.     Regulate difficulty during guided practice.

3.     Provide varying contexts for student practice.

4.     Provide feedback.

5.     Increase student responsibility.

6.     Provide independent practice.

During independent student practice it is important to follow a few guidelines.

1.     Students should only practice skills they have already learned.

2.     It is effective when students are interested and engaged in what they are practicing.

3.     It should be individualized to students so that they can work independently.

4.     It should relate directly to what students are doing in class.

5.     Students should have much practice on a few skills rather than little practice on many skills.

6.     Practice should be set up for success. If students know the correct answers, they are more likely motivated to do more.

7.     It should be set up in a way that students have immediate feedback and can make corrections immediately.

Independent practice should give students a clear idea of what they are learning: “Where are we going?” It should show students how they can practice: “Who needs to practice what?” It should tell students where they are” “What kinds of activities are meaningful for what they need to know?” Homework also has a positive effect, if assigned correctly.