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Instructional Strategies

Instructional Strategies

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Professional Development

Professional Development

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Jessica Holmes

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23 Slides • 2 Questions

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Instructional Strategies

By Jessica Holmes

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10 Types of Instructional Strategies

In this modern era of technology-infused education, we want to provide students with a meaningful educational experience. And this requires us, teachers, to modify the strategies by which we approach education.

There are 10 primary types of instructional strategies we should consider:

1) Presentation 5) Discussions

​2) ​Demonstrations 6) Problem-Based Learning

3) ​Drill-and-practice 7) Cooperative Learning

4) ​Tutorials 8) Gaming

5) Simulations 10) Discovery​

All information is collected from: Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., Mims, C., & Russell, J. D. (2019). Instructional Technology and media for learning. Pearson Education, Inc.

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1) Presentations

  • Presentations are primarily designed for information dissemination or content delivery.

  • ​Can be interactive

    • A play between both whole group and small group instruction​

    • Using tech platforms to creative live question-feedback sessions to engage in recall practice.

  • Suggestions for effective presentations

    • Adaptive - should meet the varying needs of students

    • Focus on concepts/principals rather than raw facts.

    • Consider student learning profiles.

    • Collaborate with other content teachers who know your students

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​Limitations

  • Present information only one time for all students

  • Gives students the opportunity to practice a variety of​ note-taking strategies.

  • ​Can pull information from a variety of sources

  • ​Students can also make their own presentations to share with the class

Advantages

1) Presentations

  • Not every student responds well to the presentation format.

  • If there is no interaction, it runs the risk of being boring.

  • Some students may struggle with note-taking skills

    • ​Scaffold strong note-taking skills by starting with partially filled note-takers.​​

  • Older students are better suited to presentation-style teaching than younger students who may struggle to sit still.​

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2) Demonstration

  • Learners are able to observe a skill or phenomenon presented.

  • ​Interaction

    • Whole or small group instruction

    • May require further explanation throughout the demonstration

  • The goal is for learners to imitate the physical demonstration.

  • Just-In-Time​ Peer Demonstration: Older or more experienced students demonstrate to younger or less experienced students on how to perform a task or apply a skill

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Limitations

  • Students benefit by seeing the phenomenon before doing it themselves.

  • Provides guidance for the whole class.​

  • Can be used to manage a limited number of supplies​

  • ​Can be done to promote safety

Advantages

2) Demonstration

  • Students only get hands-on experience if they follow along

  • Not all students may be able to view the demonstration equally well.

  • There is limited flexibility in the pacing of a demonstration.

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3) Drill-and-Practice

  • Designed to practice, strengthen, and hone skills in particular content areas

    • Most common in math, science, language arts, and secondary languages

  • ​Is most effective when :

    • Feedback is included​ to emphasize correct responses

    • Correction or redirection is provided to mitigate errors

  • ​Common Types of Drill-and-Practice

    • Worksheets

    • Games

    • Competition

    • Practice quizzes or tests​

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Limitations

  • Students are given corrective feedback on responses.

  • Promotes scaffolding by breaking down information into small, digestible chunks.

  • ​The built-in practice is a positive-reinforcement opportunity to hone and strengthen a newly learned skill.

Advantages

3) Drill-and-Practice

  • Can be repetitive and lead to boredom.

    • When students are bored, they check out real fast.

  • Runs the risk of being non-adaptive if a teacher is not making the extra effort to help students who make repetitive errors.

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  • Students work with an 'agent' that will academically engage with the student on a variety of educational levels.

  • Agents can include:

    • Person (a teacher, an older student, a peer, a personal instructor, etc)

    • Computer software

    • Specially printed instructions

  • Types of proposed educational engagement:

  • ​Focuses on introducing and teaching new material rather than rote practice.

4) Tutorials

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  • Present content directly

  • Pose questions/problems

  • Request/analyse responses

  • Provide feedback

  • Evaluate learner competency

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Limitations

  • Students can work relatively independently and receive feedback about progress with minimized teacher intervention.

  • ​Tutorials can be self-paced, allowing students to learn at their own speed.

  • ​Can be more highly individualized on a student-by-student basis

Advantages

4) Tutorials

  • Runs the risk of being boring if the material used is not varied or diverse enough.

  • ​Could become a point of frustration for students who struggle with making progress.

  • ​The lack of direct guidance can be challenging for some students.

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5) Discussions

  • The exchange of ideas either among peers or throughout the class as a whole.

    • ​Versatile in that it can be conducted either in a small group or part of whole group instruction.

  • ​Can be used to quickly assess attitude, knowledge, or skill towards a learning objective.

    • Particularly useful when introducing new content.

  • ​Helps teachers

    • Develop a stronger rapport with students

    • Promote group/collaborative learning​

    • Can be used to encourage critical thinking ( ask "What If?")

    • An opportunity to draw out student creativity or new ideas

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Limitations

  • Students are often more engaged and interested when they get to participate (rather than being lectured to)

  • ​Can be intellectually challenging and stimulating.

  • ​Provides an opportunity for all students to speak

  • ​A way to bring out new ideas

Advantages

5) Discussions

  • Not all students are keen on speaking in front of their peers and may be shy to participate.

  • ​The challenge here could be a balancing act - some students might find it boring/tedious and others might find it too challenging.

  • ​Not necessarily an effective strategy for younger students.

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6) Problem-Based Learning

  • Students grapple with real-world problem-solving strategies to enhance the learning experience.

  • Two primary styles of problem-based learning (PBL).

    • Structured Problems

      • ​Problems where there is a clearly sense or probability of a likely response.

      • Examples: Science problems that focus on computational skills (i.e. there is only one way to convert between moles and atoms).

    • Ill-Structured Problems

      • Problems that can be solved more than one way

      • Examples: Students in an environmental science class propose new ways to help their school "Go Green".

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Limitations

  • Students have the opportunity to engage in real-world experiences solving problems that could be applicable to their own lives.

  • ​Provides students a relevant and personal context for learning.

  • ​Introduces multiple levels of complexity to make the experience more intellectually stimulating.

Advantages

6) Problem-Based Learning

  • Can be a challenge for teachers to create meaningful and realistic opportunities such as these (TpT is a great resource!)

  • ​Teachers must be wary of the age groups they teach and balance the types of problems that would be appropriate for their age group.

  • ​Can be very time consuming and interrupt the scheduled flow of content instruction.

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7) Cooperative Learning

  • Students work together to assist in one another's learning.

  • ​Johnson and Johnson's Conditions for Successful Cooperative Learning:

    • ​Each group member must view themselves as a vital part of the team

    • Engagement among group members must be interactive

    • The individual group members feel accountable to their group

    • The interpersonal and leadership skills of each student can be observed

    • Students are given the opportunity to reflect on how working as a part of the group influenced their personal learning and the learning of the group.

  • ​Learning groups can be either formal or informal

    • In formal learning groups, the teacher assigns the role of each student (timekeeper, data collected, etc.)

    • In informal groups, students assign their own roles collaboratively​ (may require close monitoring for success).

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​Limitations

  • Mixed learning styles and levels within a group can improve the learning for all group members.

  • ​Has the flexibility of being formal or informal based on the learning environment.

  • ​Long-term group formation has the potential for deeper and richer collaborative learning opportunities.

  • ​Can be used across all content areas.

Advantages

7) Cooperative Learning

  • Groups need to be kept small to maximize effectiveness (3 to 5 students per group).

  • ​Overuse can weaken its effectiveness and students can become overly dependent on their peers for knowledge instead of comfortable in their own personal knowledge.

  • ​Groups comprise of the same ability level often see less growth than groups with mixed abilities.

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8) Gaming

  • Creates a competitive learning atmosphere in which students either compete or collaborate using a set of rules to reach a predefined goal.

  • Can be highly motivating and break up the monotony of other instructional styles (like drill-and-practice)

  • Often requires learners to develop or strengthen their problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

  • Makes learning more fun and less rote.

  • Adds variety to the learning experience.

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​Limitations

  • Highly engaging for students.

  • ​Games can be altered to address learning outcomes.

  • ​Can be utilized in a variety of settings (in class, virtual, or a mix)

  • ​Effectively captures student attention and focus.

Advantages

8) Gaming

  • Students can become overly competitive.

    • Ground rules should be established to help mitigate this.

  • ​Levels of difficulty will have to be finely tuned to ensure that the game is neither too easy nor too challenging.

  • ​Can be costly

  • ​Students can become overly focused on winning and less on the main goal - learning

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9) Simulations

  • Scaled models or virtual opportunities to experience real-life situations or phenomena.

    • Can also involve manipulatives, experimentation, or active-time response to dialogue

  • ​Versatile in application (small-group or whole-group)

  • ​Can represent situations that are either too large, too complex, or too unattainable to fully bring into a classroom

    • Example: Using simulations to model the Brownian motion of atoms​

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​Limitations

  • Provide safe, hands-on, and engaging learning opportunities.

  • ​Opportunities to re-create moments or observations that cannot really be experienced (reliving moments in history, observing atomic-scale phenomena, etc)

  • ​Can be adapted for a variety of skill levels

Advantages

9) Simulations

  • May not be a completely accurate representation of an event or phenomenon.

  • ​Runs the risk of being too complex or challenging for some students.

  • ​May be too time-consuming.

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10) Discovery

  • Inquiry-based learning that fosters a deeper understanding as a student explores the content.

    • Common example: The scientific method​

  • Requires a great deal of organization and scaffolding on the part of the teacher to ensure that students are coming to the desired conclusions.

  • ​Provide as much structured support as possible but don't be afraid to let students experience it! It is all about DISCOVERY!

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​Limitations

  • Engaging for students at all levels of learning

  • Can repeat steps that were taught previously

  • ​Students take responsibility of their own learning.

Advantages

10) Discovery

  • Maye be too time-consuming

  • ​Preparation on the part of the teacher is critical

  • This may lead to possible misunderstandings that will be harder to circumvent or overcome.

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Multiple Choice

Which of the following would be considered a limitation of collaborative learning?

1

Mixed learning styles in a group

2

Used in an informal learning environment

3

Similar learning styles in a group

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Multiple Choice

Which would be considered an advantage to simulations?

1

Time

2

Complexity

3

Accuracy

4

Hands-on

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Summary

In this lesson, we have reviewed the 10 primary types of instructional strategies, including:

The modern technological age has given us a new variety of opportunities to enhance learning.

Teachers only need to take a hold of the tools and apply them in a way that best meets the needs of their students.​

There are 10 primary types of instructional strategies we should consider:

1) Presentation 5) Discussions

​2) ​Demonstrations 6) Problem-Based Learning

3) ​Drill-and-practice 7) Cooperative Learning

4) ​Tutorials 8) Gaming

5) Simulations 10) Discovery​

All information is collected from: Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., Mims, C., & Russell, J. D. (2019). Instructional Technology and media for learning. Pearson Education, Inc.

Instructional Strategies

By Jessica Holmes

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