Instructional strategies exam essay Essay

Teachers are constantly challenged to ensure that teaching strategies employed in the classroom are appropriate the learning styles and experiences of the learners. As far as possible instructional strategies should be modified to take into consideration the unique characteristics of individual learners and aim to discover the best way forward when dealing with specific learning styles. Cooperative learning strategies are useful in teaching learners who function best in learning sessions that take into concern their individual needs, interests and abilities as well as provide opportunities for interaction and discussion with and among other learners. Constructivists have long established that learning cannot be separated from real-life experiences as both share a symbiotic relationship (Huang, 2002, p. 28). Bringing real-life situations into the learning environment will facilitate and enhance learning while knowledge, skills and attitudes gained in learning provide opportunities for additional life experiences. Cooperative learning strategies have a great amount of flexibility in the classroom and make it possible for the teacher to effectively match learning style to teaching strategy. Cooperative learning strategies are therefore quite attractive for adult learners as there is a multiplicity of activities and tasks that can be brought into any one learning experience to make learning not only effective but meaningful. These strategies are also useful in ensuring that learners have some amount of freedom and independence, as well as participate actively in their own learning. In a learning session using cooperative learning strategies individuals can be assigned to interest groups at the beginning of the session. Interest groups are individuals who may share either the same background or viewpoint. Interest groups are assigned either based on the particular task to be covered in the lesson or based on previously defined characteristics such as favorite type of food, music, TV shows etcetera. This is simply to ensure that all learners feel a sense of belonging by being able to identify with at least one other person in the group and therefore all will be motivated to actively participate in the lesson. Countless authors have pointed to the merits of using small groups as an effective teaching strategy to ensure participation and involvement (see Slavin, 2000). At the beginning of the lesson students are presented with the objectives and given precise guidelines of what they will be required to do throughout the lesson. Each group, that would have been identified previously, is given a particular aspect of the lesson to report or focus on and even within the group each member is assigned a specific responsibility and, of course, made aware how his/her role fits into the group task and the general lesson. In this way students will be accountable, not only for their own learning but also for the learning of the rest of the members who will be dependent upon him/her to correctly complete what is required. Kounin is famous for stressing this concept of accountability in learning. He also argues that it is essential to maintain the involvement of all students in all aspects of the lesson (as cited in Slavin, 2000, p. 373). Direct instruction often cannot be avoided in delivering lesson content depending on the material to be covered and may be essential in some cases. Thus in this setting direct instruction has its place but is supplemented with other strategies to ensure its effectiveness in meeting lesson objectives. To make a topic more meaningful and of immediate interest to the learners suggestions are gathered as to possible topics to explore, that can be aligned well with the overall curricular goals. By using the direct teaching method the teacher delivers the content to the entire class but each group is at that time paying particular attention to the aspect that is most relevant to the task they had been previously assigned. Visual aids and demonstrations, as appropriate, are used to enhance the impact of the lesson. A PowerPoint ® presentation would be particularly attractive to learners incorporating computer graphics, animation and even sound so that learners are able to interact with the lesson on a variety of levels. An alternative to the direct teacher or a supplemental to it would be to invite an outside speaker to deliver the specified topic. This guest speaker could be someone that the class nominates or someone that has expertise as well as being able to gain the interest and attention of the learners. Using either direct teaching, the PowerPoint ® or the guest speaker the group function is still maintained. At the end of these sessions groups meet to collaborate on completing the task assigned. In completing this task learners use problem solving skills to ensure that objectives are met. Working collaboratively group members have to explore alternatives for solving the problem or accomplishing the task that has been assigned. Included in the discussion is a decision on what aspect of the presentation is relevant or irrelevant to the task they have been assigned and the most appropriate way of organizing their work. They will also have to choose the most appropriate form in which to present their information. Each group is required, whether as a part of the session or in a subsequent session, to present their task to the rest of the class. As a part of the task description the teacher allows each group the flexibility of choosing whatever approach they feel will best be suited to presenting their information to the entire class. Role-play, simulation, demonstration, presentation or any other method could be adopted by the learners based on their individual preference. Alternatively all groups could role-play their particular scenario. Role-playing can be used to develop problem solving skills and to assess how much and how well learning has occurred. There is still a considerable amount of flexibility in that the groups use their own styles and ideas to come up with an appropriate situation to depict the problem they were assigned to. All members of the group will be required to roll-play ensuring that group activities are not manipulated by a specific set of learners and so that some learners do not opt out. Feedback of course, in any learning context is essential. Peer evaluation in this situation is useful. A discussion can ensue after each group role-plays or presents. Other classmates give feedback on the same issues and present possible alternatives to the solution that was taken or discuss why the option taken was the most appropriate for the particular issue at hand. Additionally comments relevant to the lesson could also be made. Learners in the small-group and large-group context are therefore able to cooperatively learn from each other by sharing ideas and making suggestions. Evidently learners are given a lot of independence within the specific guidelines and a lot of self-directed learning takes place. All these are essential for learners to make the most out of learning sessions and are preferable to techniques that are teacher-centered rather than learner-centered. In this way learners are actively participating in learning not just being passive listeners and observers. Throughout the lesson the teacher plays the role of facilitator or guide but the learners are the ones actively involved in the learning experiences and thus they would reap much more benefit. References Huang, H. (2002). Toward constructivism for adult learners in online learning environments. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33(1), 27-37. Slavin, R. E. (2000). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice. (6th ed. ). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.