Designing the Instruction: Strategies

Prepared by: Leesha RobertsSource: Designing Effective Instruction by Morrison, Ross,

Kalman and Kemp

Why Instructional Strategies?The designer’s primary goal to design

effective and efficient instruction.Prescriptions are used to ensure that

different types of content is efficiently delivered.

The prescriptions used are based on research, which you modify based on your experiences.

www.designfreebies.org

Company Logo

Designing An Instructional StrategyLearning is an active process.A well designed instructional strategy

prompts or motivates the learner to actively make connections.

Researchers describe this type of learning as generative learning.

The advantage of generative learning are the learner’s deeper understanding and longer retention of what is learned.

Company Logo

Foundations for the PrescriptionsResearch also states that a learner

can process new information on a continuum (i.e. in continuous series).

One of the intentions of Instructional Strategy is to design instruction so that the learner is motivated to generate or construct these meaningful relationships.

Generative StrategiesThere are four generative strategies:

RECALL: used for facts and lists for verbatim recall. Specific instructional strategies that facilitate recall include repetition, rehearsal (e.g. mental practice), review and mnemonics.

Generative Strategies INTEGRATION STRATEGIES: used for

transforming information into a more easily remembered form. Strategies that help the learner transform new content include paraphrasing, generating questions or examples of new information.

Generative Strategies ORGANIZATIONAL: helps the learner identify

how new ideas relate to existing ideas. Strategies that help with organization is analyzing key ideas (i.e. categorizing, identifying and interrelating ideas)

ELABORATION: helps learners to add their ideas to the new information. Strategies that facilitate elaboration include the generating of mental images, creating physical diagrams and relating it to existing knowledge to new information.

Prescriptions for Instructional StrategiesRecall Performance relies on rote

memorization of the content.Application performance requires the

learner to apply the content to a new situation or problem.

Application objectives for rules and procedures requires the learner to apply the rule or procedure to solve a problem, explain an instance or complete a task.

Prescriptions for teaching FactsA fact is a statement of association

between two things.Facts can only be recalled, they have

no specific application.There are two types of facts:

Concrete facts – those you can sense (e.g. fire trucks are red)

Abstract facts – these cannot be observed or experienced. When teaching these facts you should try to find concrete facts for the initial presentation.

Applicable Generative Strategies for FACTSRehearsalPracticeElaborationDevelopment of Mnemonics

Prescriptions for teaching CONCEPTSA Concept is a category used to group

similar ideas or things (e.g. jewelry) to organize knowledge.

Strategies utilized are the same as those used for teaching FACTS

Strategies for teaching strategies are: Fact: repetition Rehearsal Review Mnemonics

Prescriptions for teaching CONCEPTSApplication includes first presenting

the concept name, definition and best example that illustrates the category as well as non-examples.

For abstract concepts: Models are often used to illustrate.

Examples of Concept Strategies

Prescriptions for teaching PRINCIPLES AND RULESA Principle or Rule is a statement that

expresses a relationship between concepts.

Principle application includes both explanation of the effect of the rule and the prediction of consequences based on the rule.

Prescriptions for teaching PRINCIPLES AND RULESTwo general approaches to principle

and rule learning are: RULEG – Statement of a rule followed by

examples EGRUL – present several examples and ask

learner to generate a rule.

Example of Principle & Rule Strategies

Prescriptions for teaching PROCEDURESA procedure is a sequence of steps

the learner performs to accomplish a task.

Strategies: Recall - requires learners to list or describe

the steps of the procedures Application – requires the learner to

demonstrate the proceduresGenerative Strategies:

Development of a mental model and then practice

Example of Procedure Strategies

Prescriptions for Teaching Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills deals with the development of communication Skills.

Performance for Interpersonal Skills is either: Recall OR Application with a primary

emphasis on applicationThe Strategy for designing instruction

for Interpersonal Objectives is based on Bandura’s Social Learning Theory.

These are: Modeling Development of Verbal and Imaginable

Models of behaviour Mental Rehearsal Overt Practice

Examples of Interpersonal Skills Strategies

Prescriptions for Teaching Attitudes An attitude consists of a belief and associated

behavior or response. The strategy for teaching (i.e., changing)

attitudes is similar to the strategy for interpersonal objectives.

Both are based on Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory.

The prescription for attitudes is to:• model the behavior, • develop the verbal and imaginal models, • use mental rehearsal, and • provide for both covert and overt rehearsal (see

Table 7-10).