psychology of instruction dr. k. a. korb university of jos

Psychology of Instruction

Dr. K. A. KorbUniversity of Jos

Outline

• Characteristics of Expert Teachers• Meaningful Learning• Student-Centered teaching• Beneficial Teaching Practices

– Fostering students’ interest– Teaching self-regulation skills– Meaningful Questioning– Feedback


Characteristics of Expert Teachers• Have a deep and through understanding of the

course content– Understands why students make mistakes

• Demonstrates enthusiasm for the topic to be taught• Shows warmth and understanding toward students• Is dedicated to student learning by supervising

students’ learning and being available to answer questions– Students are engaged 97% of the time when working with

the teacher but only 57% of the time when working by themselves (Frick,1990)

• Engaged time: Time spent involves in a specific learning task


Characteristics of Expert Teachers• Sets appropriate goals objects for students’ learning.• Evaluates teaching performance after each class and

makes plan for improvement.– What did I do well in this class?– How can I improve my teaching in the next lessons so the

students learn better?• NOTE: Do NOT critique something that is beyond your direct

control.– What do the students not understand?

• Do I need to re-teach this in the next lessons?• How can I more effectively teach this next time?

• Continues professional development


• WAEC~z


Meaningful vs. Rote Learning

Meaningful Learning• Concept is fully

understood by student• Student can relate new

information to what is already known

Rote Learning• Verbatim memorization of

new information• No connection between

previous and new knowledge.


Outcomes of Meaningful vs. Rote Learning

Meaningful• Understanding of new

information• Understanding of

relationships between new information and prior knowledge

• Ability to apply the new information to real-life situations

Rote• Memorizing new

information• Isolated understanding of

concept• Ability only to repeat the

new information in the exact same context


Teaching for Meaningful vs. Rote Learning

Meaningful• Relate information to

common experiences• Organized incorporation of

new knowledge with existing knowledge

• Deliberate effort to link new knowledge with prior knowledge

Rote• Present definitions,

formulas, and information without explaining relationship with students’ experiences

• Random presentation of new knowledge into memory

• No effort to integrate new knowledge with existing prior knowledge


Summary: Meaningful vs. Rote

• Very few things need to be learned by rote (Woolfolk, 2007)

• Point of Meaningful Learning: Make materials meaningful to learners

• To achieve Meaningful Learning: Organize instruction to make meaningful connections to what learners already know.


Meaningful Learning

• Use analogies– Compare an unknown topic to something

common that students know well

• Tell stories to demonstrate concepts• Ask students for their relevant experiences• Ask students questions beyond what you have

directly taught to test their understanding


Students-Centered TeachingStudents-Centered Teaching Teachers-Centered

Teaching

Assume about Learning

Students actively construct knowledge

Students learn through experts’ descriptions

Role of the Teacher Facilitate student learning by providing activities for students to engage in the learning process

Explain the content in an organized fashion so students can understand

Role of Students Answer questions, Discuss, Brainstorm, Actively test hypotheses, Practice skills

Listen, take notes

Teaching Methodology Discussion, Ask meaningful questions, Experimentation, Reading and summarizing, Writing

Lecturing


Teacher Centered Teaching

• Advantages– Students are given a lot new information in a short period

of time– Effective for large numbers of students– Teachers has control over the flow of the class

• Disadvantages– Difficult to promote critical thinking– Encourage passive learning– Not the best way for most students to learn


Student Centered Teaching

• Advantages– Students are actively engaged in the learning process– Provides real-life applications– Fosters critical thinking

• Disadvantages– Difficult to implement with many students– Takes more time for learning to occur– Not effective for all domains


Self Regulation

• Self Regulated Learners:1. Set goals for their learning2. Implement appropriate strategies to meet thir

goals3. Monitor their progression toward their goals


Fostering Student’s Interest

• Students’ interest in class is correlated with:– Attention in class– Understanding course content– Academic performance

• Students’ interest is increased when:– Students have good background knowledge– Students are involved in the lesson– Teachers use personalized and concrete examples that

apply the content to students’ experiences


Strategies for Increasing Interest

• Begin the lesson with an attention-getting introduction that is directly related to the lesson– Demonstration– Discrepant event– Charts– Real-life problem– Ask a through-provoking question


Strategies for Increasing Interest

• Increase students’ involvement in the lesson– Ask thought-provoking questions– Use hands-on activities– Provide feedback– Tell interesting, personalized stories that illustrate

key points


Teaching Study Strategies1. Develop and activate prerequisite skills2. Teach the strategy

– Explain the benefits of the strategy– Explain the steps of the strategy

3. Model the strategy4. Help the students memorize the strategy5. Provide scaffolding as students use the strategy

– Reminders, Feedback, Remodeling

6. Provide independent practice in the strategy


Self Regulation

• Self Regulated Learning: Learning that is guided by metacognition, strategic action, and motivation to learn

• Self Regulated Learners:– Know their academic strengths and weaknesses– Use effective study strategies– Set goals for their learning and monitor

progression toward their goals


Self Regulation

Performance1. Implement

strategies2. Record progress

toward goal

Self-Reflection

Compare performance to goal

Forethought1. Set Goals2. Strategy to meet goals


Self Regulation

• Self Regulation is developed by:– Teaching students to set learning goals– Teach study strategies

• Direct instruction of study strategies• Model positive learning• Coaching of when to apply particular study strategies

– Provide opportunities for students to monitor their progress


Teaching Self Regulation Strategies

• Study strategies focus and enhance effort• Steps in teaching a study strategy

– Introduce the strategy, including the rationale– Model the strategy

• Think aloud while solving a task

– Give the students practice in using the strategy– Provide scaffolding so students can properly apply the

strategy– Point out future opportunities to apply the strategy


Study Strategies: PREP for Class• PREP: A metacognitive strategy to increase class

participation (Ellis, 1989)– Prepare materials

• Notebook, pencil, textbook– Review what is known

• Review notes from previous class• Mark questions from the previous lessons that they do not

understand– Establish a positive mindset

• Focus attention on the lesson• Minimize distractions

– Pinpoint goals• Decide what is to be achieved in this lesson


Study Strategies: Reviewing Notes

• RCRC: Improve memory and comprehension of content (Archer & Gleason,1989)– Read: the material twice– Cover: the material with your hand– Recite: Summarize what your have read– Check: lift your hand to check

• If you forget something important, begin again

• Resources for other study strategies:– www.unl.edu/csi/study/shtml


http://www.unl.edu/csi/study/shtml

Questioning

• “Effective questioning techniques may be among the most powerful tools that teachers employ during lessons” (Woolfolk, 2007, p. 493)

• Purpose of Questions– Helps students rehearse information to put in long-term

memory– Help the teacher to assess students’ understanding– Identify gaps in knowledge to spark curiosity– Serve as a cue to remind novices of knowledge already

learned


Types of Questions

• Convergent Questions: Require one right answer– Best for young and low-ability students

• Divergent Questions: Many possible answers– Best for average and high-ability students


Types of Questions

• Rhetorical question requires no meaningful responses from students

• Yes/no question• Short-answer question where the answer was

previously provided in class• Though-provoking question that requires

students to think beyond information presented in class


Asking Good Questions

• Use sufficient wait-time after asking the question– Students give longer and more thoughtful answers when

teachers wait at least 5 seconds before calling on a students respond

• Avoid repeatedly calling on the same students• Ask guiding questions if students have difficulty

responding• Provide meaningful feedback after the response• Do not criticize a student for an incorrect answer


Responding to Answers

• Teacher-Centered Responding– Reject student’s response– Confirm student’s response– Clarify or interprets student’s response

• Students-Centered Responding– Ask student to clarify or elaborate– Uses student’s response or idea


Feedback

• Feedback: Information about the accuracy of answers in class, as well as CA and exams performance– Grade are not sufficient feedback for student to learn

• Benefits of feedback– Provides information to student about the validity of their

schemas– Motives students by demonstrating increasing competence– Satisfies students’ need to know– Provides information about student’s progress to meet their

goals


Effective Feedback

• Provided shortly after the response– Correct answer– Rationales for both the incorrect and correct

responses

• Specific information about how to correct inaccurate responses

• Positive emotional tone


Revision• Describe characteristics of expert teachers.• What specific practices can you engage in so your

students engage in meaningful learning?• Compare and contrast student-centered teaching

with teacher-centered interest.• What are specific practices you can engage in to

foster your students’ interest?• How can teaching self-regulation skills?• Describe meaningful questions to ask in the

classroom.• What is good feedback and why is it important?


psychology of instruction dr. k. a. korb university of jos

Documents

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korbuniversity of josoutcomes

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conceptsask students

point of meaningful

materials meaningful