A guide to instructional practice in teaching & learning

Instructional Practice

Keith HarrisonLearning & Development Group

keith.harrison@chisholm.edu.au

Instructional Practice

Instructional Practices are those applications that fuel effective and efficient classroom interaction to drive students on their journey of discovery in a Learning Experience.

http://www.primarysourcelearning.org/teach/best_practices/index.php

Instructional Practice

• Good instructional practice/design is, in part, about the quality of:- teaching- content - collaboration- embedding process

Workshop Overview

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What do YOU want to achieve today

And we are here today, because we are all committed to take action. That is our common point of departure. The magnitude of challenge before us is to translate this political will into a strong common approach:

 We will rely critically on you to help to develop an agreement that is both acceptable to all parties and at the same time strong and ambitious. An agreement that is just and equitable. An agreement that is effective and operational.

 To achieve that, we shall need all the technical skills and diplomatic entrepreneurship you command.

 As decision makers, it is our obligation to provide the framework for change.

 We can change, and we have to change.

 I call on all of you to make your contribution. To be constructive, flexible and realistic. To be vigilant in your efforts to reach agreement and to show regard to the constraints of other negotiating partners.

 You must do all this and still be ambitious, courageous and visionary.

 Together we can accomplish what must be accomplished. Thank you very much.

- Opening Address by H.E. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark, at United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen December 7, 2009

• As Al Gore remarked:“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

6th grade report card

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“works and plays well with other children”

What I would like to achieve today!

Part I

“THEORY”

Learning Theories

• Pedagogy: The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction. Pedagogy is also sometimes referred to as the correct use of teaching strategies, including content, delivery, and assessment. Some pedagogical models refer to elements of engaging learners in meaningful tasks, providing rapid feedback, encouraging reflective practices and discussion & collaborations within a social learning construct.

Learning Theories

• Andragogy: the process of engaging adult learners within the structure of adult learning theory.

• Cognitive Learning Theory: attempts to explain human behaviour by understanding thought processes - learning that is concerned with acquisition of problem-solving abilities & information about the ‘environment.’

• Behavioural Learning Theory: states that individuals learn by duplicating behaviours they observe in others and that rewards are essential to ensuring the repetition of desirable behaviour.

• Experiential Learning: a cyclical process involving (1) concrete experience, (2) observation and experience, (3) forming abstract concepts &, (4) testing in new situations.

Learning Theories

• Adult Learning Theory: central to this thinking is the process of making meaning from the processes of: responsible, experiential, co-operative & reflective practices of learning.

• Constructivist Theory: the learner actively constructs knowledge, through achieving understanding. Learning depends on what we already know, or what we can already do.

- ACTIVITY -

• In groups, ‘brainstorm’ current instructional practices using the following categories:- learning theories- delivery methods- resource design- assessment strategies- learner-centred focus- technology- other

Learner-centred focus

Perceptions inform & mould behaviours in learning, not information!

These perceptions are heavily influenced by the ‘environment’, peers and individual belief systems.

Learners need to be given the opportunity to share their perceptions & reach their own conclusions.

Changing the behaviour of the learner to improve the ‘bottom line.’

What might that bottom line be?

…the bottom line?

• Qualification(s)• Financial reward • Employment• Better employment• Promotion in employment• Life-long learning• Personal satisfaction• Family expectations• Teacher/organization satisfaction• Social/community expectation

…how should we approach this bottom line philosophy?

• Intrinsic motivators- providing degrees of autonomy & decision

making capability- setting goals related to real life expectations- providing constant & relevant feedback- providing variety- engendering mutual support & respect- making learning meaningful & socially useful- ‘painting a picture’ of a desirable future as a

direct consequence of the learning

Learner-centred focus

• Sustainable motivators Openness - all work is open to the inspection of everyone

Sharing human ideals – nurturing, regard for the environment, autonomy, ownership, solving problems, social inclusion

Mutually shared fields – teamwork, perceptions of & within the same world

Trust – developed from the preceding motivators

Theoretical models

Theoretical models

Theoretical models

Theoretical models

Theoretical models

Theoretical models

Theoretical models

Theoretical model for Instructional Practice

LEARNING OUTCOMES

LEARNING RESOURCES

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

CRITICAL ASPECTS OF ASSESSMENT

EMPLOY.SKILLS

KNOWLEDGE COMPREHENSION APPLICATION ANALYSIS EVALUATION CREATING

Instructional design principles

Mapping learning theory to pedagogical approaches.

1. behavioural2. cognitive3. situative

Instructional theory

1. “Behavioural”▪ learning framed by what the learner knows or doesn’t know2. “Cognitive” ▪ learning framed by the learners capacity to engage in learning3. “Situative” ▪ learning framed by ‘communities’ as open systems influencing learning through social action & change

Learning as an activity [behavioural theory]

• Knowledge + sequences of activity + approximation of performance + feedback = learning

• Learning occurs in small & logically-ordered steps

• Learning must be personally meaningful

• Behaviourist theory of learning emphasises active learning-by-doing with immediate feedback

Learning as achieving understanding[cognitive theory]

• Information processing, problem solving & reasoning & meta-cognition & critical reflection

• Knowledge gain through prior experience & new understanding & practice

• Increased competence & confidence results in more predictable & automatic learning patterns

• Higher order cognitive processes lead to success in more complex tasks

• The learners’ search for meaning (in and of the task) occurs through activity (i.e. the constructivist theory of learning)

Learning as social practice[situative theory]

• Social and cultural environment influences learning outcomes

• Knowledge distributed socially• Learning outcomes predicated on group

(‘community’) participation• Sense of identity, shaped by social forces• Learning activity authentic to the social

(work/real-life) context• The learner’s ‘identity’ derives from

becoming part of a ‘community of practice’

Instructional theory

Part II

“PRACTICE”

Group activity

▪Aim: to identify six (6) desirable future stages of instructional practice necessary for worthwhile change to occur in your teaching role? (refer to ‘brainstorm’ list)

▪Achieve consistent agreement on common stages?

▪Negotiate the differences

▪Agree on a final six stages

Instructional Practice

Instructional practice approach is focused on •learning and competence development •reflective action•knowledge construction•contextualized, interpretative & performance assessment•assessment based on acquisition of higher- order thinker processes & competencies

Instructional Design Battery & Minor Repairs Quiz

1. While testing the current flow in an electrical pump circuit, it was found to be excessively high. Which of the following would be the most likely cause? [Tick √ the correct answer]

2. What result would you expect if you tried to check the resistance across the terminals of a fully charged battery? [Tick √ the correct answer]

Low battery voltage

High resistance in the circuit

Higher than normal fuel pump pressure

High reading

Smokey reading

Low reading

3. If the voltage drop across a resistance was zero, would the current flow be? [Tick √ the correct answer]

High

Zero

Low

Try to ignore the visual design for the moment. Look instead at the instructional design – how the task/activity should influence the learner’s problem solving skills & learning behaviours.

2. What result would you expect if you tried to check the resistance across the terminals of a fully charged battery?

[Tick √ the correct answer]

What’s our real goal?

Real-world actions that learners need to take

a) What?b) Why?c) How?d) When?

High reading

Smokey reading

Low reading

Realistic activity that helps learners practice those actions.

What do the activities have in common for all the learners?

Each learner faces a challenge…they must solve a series of problems!

solve problems

Our job is to help students learn.

What real-world problems do your learners need to solve?

Realistic decision-making scenarios help us practice retrieving information.

“Well designed scenarios are particularly potent in creating long-term remembering.”

- Will Thalheimer

2. What result would you expect if you tried to check the resistance across the terminals of a fully charged battery? [Tick √ the correct answer]

The learner faces a challenge

How traditional course design appears

2. What result would you expect if you tried to check the resistance across the terminals of a fully charged battery? [Tick √ the correct answer]

A. High reading

B. Smokey reading

C. Low reading

Encourage learners to justify their decisions & challenge their assumptions

A. High reading

B. Smokey reading

C. Low reading

A. Is correct because…

B. Is correct because…

C. Is correct because…

A. Is incorrect because…

B. Is incorrect because…

C. Is incorrect because…

Contextual feedback at this point will assist learners to develop their problem solving skills.

FEEDBACK

It’s the d It’s the design,

…not the technology!

Immerse learners in a stream of activities that contain the necessary information you

wish to impart

2. What result would you expect if you tried to check the resistance across the terminals of a fully charged battery?

A. High reading

B. Smokey reading

C. Low reading

Need help? Web-site MyChisholm ?

solve problems

Our job is to help students learn.

in the real world

- ACTIVITY - • In groups, design a model for the

delivery & assessment of:a) a teaching sessionb) a unit of competency, based onthe Instructional Practice model

• Develop a strategy to deliver & assess the programs using the theoretical learning design principles in combination (e.g. “blended delivery”)

Where to from here?

With thanks…

• How to save the world with elearning scenarios. Cathy Moore @

http://www.slideshare.net/CathyMoore/how-to-save-the-world-with-elearning-scenarios

[accessed 1st December 2009]

• Peter Aughton, Director, AMERIN Pty Ltd, Open Systems Theory (a short presentation for ‘ISPI’ on 10th Dec. 2009)