What is an instructional strategy?

It’s your plan for what will happen during a given class period (it’s what K-12 teachers know as a lesson plan).  It’s much more than “I’ll lecture over chapter seven”.  It incorporates lecture topics, class discussions and activities, questioning strategies, games, assessments, and media.

What are the parts of an instructional strategy?

1. pre-instructional activities: as the name implies, this is what happens in class before you present the content to be learned.

2. information presentation: presenting course content

3. learner participation: pre-planned opportunities for student interaction

4. testing: mini-evaluations, both formal and informal, built into each class

5. follow-through: remediation and enrichment activities available after class.

Would you give an example of pre-instructional activities?

•  “Hook”: good songs have hooks, good advertising commercials have hooks, so why not good classes?  A hook is a natural motivator--it’s material that focuses people’s attention and draws them in.  Jokes, stories, vivid video or audio clips---any can settle down a class’s natural pre-class gabbing and get everyone so interested you can hear a pin drop when the hook stops.

• Statement of Learning Objectives: this is the “tell ‘em what you’ll tell ‘em” part of that old sage advice for speakers (“tell ’em what you’ll tell ‘em, tell ‘em, tell ‘em what you told ‘em!”).

• Demonstration of competency:  if possible, show people what they’ll be able to do after class that they can’t do now.

•  “Bridge” to past and future material:  whenever possible, provide context by reiterating concepts from previous classes that are relevant to upcoming material one and previewing concepts from future classes that build upon the upcoming information.

Would you give an example of information presentation?

Sure--multimedia and/or lecture.  You probably know a lot about lecturing, but here are a few tips:

• Briefly summarize material at every section break

• Give examples and non-examples (increase in difficulty)

• Help students memorize the material by “chunking” it into manageable pieces and by providing mnemonics when possible.

Would you give an example of student participation?

Students already participate in your classes--for example, by asking and answering questions.  But you could also plan ahead to provide a variety of activities, each relevant to that class period’s learning objectives.  For example:

• The first major concept in lecture could be followed by a five-minute “think/pair/share” exercise with two persons per group,

• The second by a solo “one-minute-writing” exercise which is followed by

• Group discussion, with the best points from the writings read out loud, and

• The class could end with a review game where the entire class is divided into two competing teams.  Such activities break the monotony of lecture, emotionally engage students, emphasize a variety of learning styles, and still don’t take up too much class time.

Would you give an example of testing?

Sure.  We’re not talking about major assignments here; we’re just looking for a way to infuse every class period with feedback through one or more short ways of assessing whether students are learning what we hope they’re learning (that’s called “embedded” testing).  That could be a combination of questioning, mini-quizzes, point-to-remember or single muddiest point exercises, or end-of-class review games.   Our goal is not to have to wait until the next major test to find out that that point we though we presented with crystalline clarity sailed over their heads like a Mark McGwire homer.

Would you give an example of follow-through?

By necessity, we teach to the “mean”--the average level of ability in our classes.  But the average is just that, an average---some people are far below it (and you’re frustrating them) while others are well above it (and you may be boring them out of their skulls!).  Therefore, provide remediation activities to help the students who missed a concept and enrichment activities to expand the knowledge of those who understood the material immediately.

In practice, it’s easier to do enrichment during class than it is to do remediation.  For example, when you’re giving a group assignment, give an enrichment assignment to those who finish early: it keeps them interested and quiet.