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ASFM is committed
to staying current with educational research and utilizes much of the
information from research work done at Mid-continental Research for Education
and Learning (McREL). For more information about McREL and their products
go to the following web site: www.mcrel.org. Teachers are encouraged to
learn more about the instructional strategies that have the highest probability
of enhancing student achievement for all students in all subject areas
at all grade levels. While no strategy works in all situations, it is
the thoughtfulness and skill the teacher brings to the strategy that improves
student learning. The nine categories of instructional strategies include:1)
comparing, classifying, analogies, and metaphors; 2) summarizing and note
taking, 3) reinforcing effort and giving praise, 4) homework and practice,
5) non-linguistic representations, 6) cooperative learning, 7) setting
objectives and providing feedback, 8) generating and testing hypotheses,
and 9) questions, cues, and advanced organizers. reasoning skills. What
follows is a list of each instructional strategy with a short description
of what each means.
| Strategy |
Description |
| 1) Comparing
and classifying were described in the complex reasoning skills page. |
Creating metaphors
is the process of identifying a general or basic pattern in a specific
topic and then finding another topic that appears to be quite different
but has the same general pattern. Creating analogies is the process
of identifying relationships between pairs of concepts - in other
words, identifying relationships between relationships. |
| 2) Summarizing
and Note taking |
Summarizing
and Note taking is often described as the sorting and sifting of information
so students only write and remember the most important information
presented. Strategies vary, but may include: default interferences,
rule-based summary strategy, summary frame questions, teacher prepared
notes and various student prepared note taking formats. |
| 3) Reinforcing
effort is obvious by definition, but students should be taught the
relationship between effort and achievement. |
Students could
even be taught to track their effort and achievement using rubrics
for self evaluation and charts to record their progress. Giving praise
is recognizing students for legitimate achievements. Praise must be
used carefully and thoughtfully to have a positive effect on achievement.
Examples of giving praise include: personalizing achievement, praise
tokens, peer praise, and praise language. |
| 4) Homework
effectiveness is enhanced if specific activities are planned for specific
types of knowledge. |
Homework on
vocabulary might include: making linkages, creating categories, graphic
and pictorial representations. Homework on details might include:
default differences, nonlinguistic representations. Homework on generalizations
might include: identifying new examples and nonlinguistic representations.
Homework on principles might include: new applications and graphing
principles. Homework on skills might include: tracking accuracy, speed,
and depicting steps in skills. Homework on processes might include:
practicing an aspect of the process and identifying the interrelationship
between different aspects of the process. Practice is critical to
the knowledge development of any type. Practice examples should be
designed to focus on specific elements. Students must be given extended
practice to develop their knowledge to a sophisticated level. |
| 5) Nonlinguistic
representation is attempting to store information as mental pictures
or even physical sensations. |
When both linguistic
and nonlinguistic systems are used to learn and store information
the better students are able think about an recall information. The
techniques for creating nonlinguistic representations include: various
graphic organizers, pictures and pictographs, mental pictures, and
concrete representations. |
| 6) Cooperative
learning can take various forms, be misused and overused. |
Cooperative
learning is used correctly when groups are given well structured tasks
and are given sufficient time to practice independently the skills
and processes they must master. |
| 7) Setting
objectives is like setting goals and is the process of establishing
direction and purpose. |
Goal setting
is a skill that everyone should master to help achieve short and long
term goals. Instructional goals should be specific, but flexible.
Contracts between students and teachers or between group members may
help attain goals. A goal setting process should be taught to students
that includes specific aspects and steps. Providing feedback is a
way to let students know how well they are doing. A way to make feedback
more specific is to use rubrics to identify and explain various levels
of information, process, and skills achieved. Student-led feedback
is another way to help students recognize the various levels of achievement
possible. |
| 8) Generating
and testing hypotheses involves the application of knowledge. |
Teachers should
create a framework to help students with generating and testing hypotheses.
The Complex Reasoning page describes inductive and deductive reasoning
skills. |
| 9) Cues,
questions, and advanced organizers are all strategies used to help
students activate their prior knowledge. |
Cues let students
know they will use some of their prior knowledge in attempting to
learn some new information, process, or skill. Questions can be used
to help students make inferences about things, people, actions, events,
places, etc. Advanced organizers are organizational frameworks presented
in before learning to help emphasize the essential ideas that the
teacher plans to cover in a lesson or unit. The types of organizers
might include: expository, narrative, graphic, or even skimming a
reading. |
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