Locks On Students’ Ability

to Understand DirectionsThey don’t perceive the message we are sending. (Gore 27)

They don’t discriminate between what they are supposed to do and what they are not supposed to do. (Gore 27)

They are confused. (Gore 27)

They have poor metacognition, resulting in thinking that they understand our directions when they don’t. (Gore 27)

As a result they have problems completing assignments because they don’t get started on the right foot. (Gore 27)

Studies on How to Give Instructions Are Far More

Common in Law and Medicine Than Education.

Many researchers in the

medical field have

investigated how to

clarify instructions in a

wide variety of contexts.

From this information,

teachers can conclude

that:

Instructions should be explicit rather than implicit. (Gore 27)

Instructions should be worded clearly. (Gore 27)

Instructions should be worded simply. (Gore 27)

Subtle shifts in wording can produce significant differences. (Gore 27)

Instructors should have learners repeat back instructions to ensure understanding. (Gore 27)

Further Observation in the

Field of EducationAn education administrator who noted that he had observed over one thousand lessons being taught provided the following instructions on giving instructions.

Make instructions concrete. (Gore 28)

List the materials needed. (Gore 28)

List the steps to be followed so students can mentally check them off; do NOT use paragraph form. (Gore 28)

Give multiple representations of directions: written and verbal, pictorial and diagrammatic, a demonstration of exemplary exemplars (outstanding work). (Gore 28)

When multiple steps are involved, give instructions in “bite-sized chunks” (Dyrli, 1999), having students complete several steps before discussing the results and them presenting the next set of instructions (Dyrli, 1999).

The 5 Keys to Giving

Instructions Successfully

Key 1: Gain Students’ Full Attention

Key 2: Provide Written and Oral Instructions

Key 3: Repeat Instructions

Key 4: Chunk Instructions

Key 5: Solicit Tell-Backs and Show-Mes

Gain Students Full

AttentionExecutive attention: the ability to willfully inhibit attention from being drawn to irrelevant stimuli. (Gore 29)

Selective attention: being able to focus attention on relevant stimuli while screening out the irrelevant. (Gore 29)

Sustained attention: maintaining attention over a prolonger period of time in order to detect infrequent signals. (Gore 29)

Orienting attention: direct attention to a specified location and reorienting to a new location. (Gore 29)

Utilize two-cue systems for gaining attention and giving instructions.

Such as creating a hand signal to signify when it is time to be silent and another signal before you give directions.

Using attentional cues to prepare students for receiving instructions is a good strategy because:

Attention is ensured and confusion is eliminated. (Gore 29)

Provide Written and

Oral Instructions

Providing oral and written instructions helps students with ELN succeed because:

Perception improves with multicoding of information. (Gore 30)

Confusion is eliminated when perception is supported. (Gore 30)

Sequencing is facilitated when students both hear and see instructions. (Gore 30)

Frustration is reduced when students understand what they are supposed to do. (Gore 30)

According to Hursh, Schumaker, Fawcett, and Sherman’s (2000) comparison of instruction delivery, the half of the students who received written instructions increased their performance on 58% of the possible applications while the students who received oral instructions increased by 87%.

However, improvement in applications was only maintained by 50% of the oral instruction students compared to the 75% maintained by students give written instructions.

Repeat Instructions

Repeating directions is an effective key for increasing students’ ability to carry out assignments correctly because:

Sequencing is facilitated when students have more than one opportunity to listen to steps of an assignment. (Gore 31)

Confusion is eliminated when students are repeatedly exposed to directions. (Gore 31)

Memory is enhanced by multiple exposures. (Gore 31)

Frustration is reduced when confusion is eliminated. (Gore 31)

For students’ with ELN, once is not enough!

In Worsdell and colleagues (2005) investigation, participants were asked to repeat words when they were read incorrectly. Participants learned more sight words with the multiple-response procedure than with the single-response procedure.

Chunk Instructions

Chunking: to combine small, meaningful units of information.

The benefit of chunking is derived from the learner’s reduced memory load when compared to a condition in which she or he doesn’t chunk (Mislevy, Yamamoto, & Anacker, 1991).

Instead of remembering one long string of information, the learner needs only to remember several short strings. (Gore 32)

Chunking instructions is a successful inclusion strategy because:

Confusion is eliminated when students are not overwhelmed with input. (Gore 32)

Memory is enhanced when smaller numbers of items must be remembered. (Gore 32)

Frustration is decreased when students know exactly what to do. (Gore 32)

Solicit Tell-Backs

and Show-MesAccording to Brown,

Dunne, and Cooper’s

(1996) investigation of how

ELN students can

overcome difficulties with

listening comprehension,

nine out of ten participants

showed improvement when

subjected to listening to

information and giving

back immediate retells.

Tell-Backs and Show-Mes are good inclusion strategies because:

Confusion is eliminated when students know exactly what to do. (Gore 33)

Memory is enhanced when students when students repeat back or demonstrate instructions. (Gore 33)

Metacognition is increased when students know that they know what to do. (Gore 33)

Frustration is eliminated when confusion is eliminated. (Gore 33)