Analysis of Instructional Strategies - Coursework Example

Analysis of Instructional Strategies: Introduction: Instructional strategies can be defined as teaching strategies whereby teachers and use diverse teaching methods or techniques in conveying information to a class of students or those people who are required to gain new knowledge. There are various forms of techniques that can be utilized which include democratic and prescriptive strategies. A democratic approach can be defined as one which learners are exposed to an environment where great interaction between students and the instructors is encouraged and always gives the freedom of expressing ideas, views, opinions, suggestions and the chance to support the presented arguments or suggestion is allowed. In this approach both the learners and the instructors participate whereby the instructor have a responsibility of coming up with a controversial topic to be discussed and also he/she has to divide the class into groups that will support or oppose the argument. Also democratic approach presents an opportunity to participants to make criticisms or add any viable suggestions to the arguments involved Democratic approach is regarded to be the one whereby students or learners have the independence in preparation of their daily actions and that there is neutrality and democratic decision making among the students and learners. (Seaman, 1989 pg 41) A prescriptive technique or approach is one where students have to follow the laid guidelines by their instructors using the course outlines of the intended units to be covered. Students have the responsibility of getting access to materials for studying and sometimes they have to make short notes as instructed by their instructors. This approach encompasses learners achieving their results based on what the instructors have prescribed them to do. Usually instructors will give the learners an outline of textbooks or literature to be used in the units to be covered and will show them designated topics to be covered and what the learners will be expected to gain from the unit at the end of their course. Prescriptive approach in actual sense is said to be a strategy where the students rely deeply on what their instructors will say and the existing literature materials that they are directed to utilize. Unlike democratic approach there is no democratic space for airing divergent views by the learners but they are only treated to going by what it is stipulated in the general course. (Viskovic, 1996 pg 112) Differences between democratic and prescriptive approaches: The distinction between the two teaching models is vividly seen in the manner which freedom is given to the learners by their instructors in the learning processes. Under democratic approach more freedom is given to the student than in prescriptive approach. This in turn shows that learners in a democratic environment are more motivated than learners being exposed to prescriptive approach. In prescriptive approach the students only get limited chance to come up with arguments depending on the mood of the lecturers. (Schlecty, 2001 pg 16) It is pointed out that in prescriptive approach there is no free atmosphere for learning because learners are supposed to do what their instructors do without any adjustment. The learners/Students are always required to do actions that they are not contented with because there is no interaction that exists between the instructors and the students thus motivation is low and there is always greater risk of performing poorly in the course work. Jerold (1985 pg. 82) in his findings indicated that if democratic approach is applied in ways of learning it presents an opportunity for learners and the instructors to come together which leads to coming up with new ideas and there is tendency of achieving good results at the end of the courses to be studied. This development is always attributed to motivation that the students receive from their instructors. The other difference is that, in democratic approach a lot of stress is directed to creation of new information and understanding in relation to the topics to be covered, while in the prescriptive technique the learners/ students are supposed to benefit from the directives of their teachers and from the accessible textbooks. An example of democratic approach is the utilization of learning circles/learning cells and an example of prescriptive approach is the resource-based learning. (Jerold, 1985 pg 83) Learning circles/learning cells: This learning strategy comprises of small groupings of learners who engage in what is termed as free discussion and discovery of thoughts, ideas, and where all the results of the learning process are said to be legitimate. Usually appropriate learning circles should be the one having five to fifteen students or learners. The instructor is always responsible of providing the topic to be undertaken and to give a way forward on what it is expected to be achieved at the end of the discussion. Although it is most commonly applied by the learners/students who are already practitioners in their fields of study, it is increasingly becoming common in the high school level too. Learning cells resembles the learning groups and according to Marcel, 1971 it can be defined as well planned deviation on learning circles. Under this the learners involved usually interchange questions and answering the presented questions which the answers can be obtained from commonly read materials. Students in the groups are open to discussions where each and every contribution made by the learners is incorporated in the research findings. Democracy exists because divergent of views is imminent and respect of opinions by all contributors is usually reserved. (Viskovic, 1996 pg 114) Resource-based learning: This is a strategy to education structured by a well laid down procedure of instructions of learning that principally make use of learning/teaching resource materials. Schlecty (2001 pp 17) asserts that latest findings shows that resource-based learning is increasingly becoming the most inefficient mode of teaching and has contributed mostly to deterioration of education standards around the world. The instructor involved has the responsibility of developing materials necessary for educating the learners and hence their no opportunity for learners in decision making in terms of choosing the topics to be covered. The teacher does no play the role of facilitating the learning process but rather he prescribes the learning activities to be undertaken and the results to be obtained after the completion of the unit or the course undertaken or studied. (Higher Education Council, 1997 pg 8) It is viewed to be boring learning process for the students since there are no open discussions and students tend to get tired easily or even bored because of the monotony of the teacher or the instructor. The main problem with resource-based learning is that, it is a passive learning process rather than being active learning process and critics of the method argues that it can only be efficient and can be the best method if strategies that are active should be incorporated. (Higher Education Council, 1997 pg 10) How Learning circles/cells can be used In Teaching Context: The utilization of this method as a learning process can generate and assist in building of more new knowledge and it should be encouraged in all learning institutions. The instructors with the help of education officials should come up with syllabus that entails courses which suits the learning circles. Teachers should constantly utilize the approach especially on modern issues which requires further research. Learning circles/cells strategy of learning should be encouraged in primary, secondary, and in the higher institutes of learning such as the universities and colleges because it provides an opportunity to argue or oppose certain controversial topics in the group which is a concern that can lead to birth of new ideas. The learners can utilize the knowledge gained in their future work environments. In the primary level those who are in upper classes can be introduced to learning circles so that they are able to understand what how generation of ideas can be achieved through team building in form of groups. (Hutchings, 1988 pg 36) How Resource-based learning can be used In Teaching Context: Resourced based learning can be utilized whereby there are a large number of learners expected to benefit from the knowledge being conveyed by the instructor. The approach can be utilized in higher institutions like the universities and colleges because usually there are large numbers of students. It will be easier for the teacher/instructor to assess the students from what they have learned because he/she expects them to use the material resources that they were prescribed to use... Resourced based learning should incorporate the utilization of open discussions in order to engage the learners on active learning process and hence the creation of new ideas and the ability to apply the concepts developed in class in the outside world. The materials used for example the textbooks should be the current and the suitable ones in order to equip learners with current contemporary issues Good communication skills by the teachers should be encouraged in order to pass clearly the intended messages to the learners which lead to solving the most common problems of ambiguity. Resource-based learning should also be used in cases where the topics to be covered are considered to be easy and does not require critical thinking. (Hutchings, 1988 pg 36) How Learning circles/cells are Democratic: Learning circles/cells as a strategy to learning can be said to be democratic because the formation of groups gives the learners the freedom to interact and exchange ideas freely. Always the instructor organizes the students in groups that give an opportunity each and every member of the group to make viable contributions without prejudice. All group members are entitled to raising different opinions relating to the subject matter that is being discussed without restrictions, that is, within the groups formed there are healthy arguments that can assist in understanding the topics in a broader sense. Moreover, the feature of freedom of scheduling the activities by the students and the presence of good environment makes learning more democratic and appealing. In addition students are left to choose on what topics to discuss on at their own time and may ask their instructor to present their findings at their own opportune time, that is, when they feel that they have fully exhausted the topic researched on. (Goldschmid,1971 pg 5) How Resource-based learning is Prescriptive: It is argued that the approach is prescriptive in such a way that the teacher always facilitates the learning process by outlining what to do and what the students are expected to achieve during the learning process. The instructor has to come up with what is required and to be covered in the course and this depends mostly on his professionalism in relation to his duties. For example the topics to be covered during the lecture might be formulated in such a way that some important topics are left out may be because the instructor/teacher may not be familiar with the topics or he may ignore it to fit his/her on timetable. If argued in different perspective the resourced-based learning is said to be undemocratic because it does not give room for open discussions or making of suggestions by the learners involved. In essence the approach is prescriptive since there is no freedom by the learners to argue out on certain issues if they are not satisfied but only they are expected to do as stipulated by the instructor in order to achieve the set objectives. It can also be said to be inflexible way of learning since it does not provide an opportunity to participants to make any suggestions concerning the subject matter thus there limited generation of new ideas. Learners are only subjected to use the resources or materials for example text books provided and they are only required to undertake activities outlined. (Chalmer, 1997 pg 56) Technology and Analysis of Instructional Strategies: The use of technology has been very much advanced and most of the schools are now applying Information and Communication Technology in most of their learning practices. Focus has shifted from learning about ICT to learning through ICT. It is widely accepted that ICT has the following benefits as seen from research conducted, improvement of child development, and learning, connection with hard-to- reach groups; it provides equal access to services within the schools, increases the effectiveness and efficiency of learning processes, and better communication standards. (Hutchings, 1988 pg 36) Information and Communication Technology should be used in the learning processes in order to achieve the best results. ICT is a broad term which denotes technologies used to gather, store, correct and pass on learning information in various forms to learners. Since technology keeps on changing, modern, more cost effective and powerful technologies in ICT will continue to emerge that can be used to potentially aid learning in schools. The use of radio broadcasts should be encouraged in the learning process. Over the past few years in the UK, radio broadcast are day to day learning procedures not only in the junior levels but also at the university level. BBC broadcast is usually the favourite for most schools since it is being seen as the best media house with proper research structures. There are some presentations in radio stations that broadcasts directly to an MP3 which store the information immediately and can be retrieved later by the user. With such a technology it will make both learning circles and resourced-based learning more enticing because there will be access to materials and groups can pick topics being discussed in the radio and compare their findings. (Schlecty, 2001 pp 20) There are other ICT technologies that can be used and include; the use of whiteboards, PowerPoint presentation, and Internet use. For example during group discussion in learning circles/cells students can compile their findings using laptops thus they can avoid writing which will save time and energy. The utilization of internet where students through Google can get information that cannot be found in their books. The use of internet also enhances more research on the topics covered and can lead to attaining good results. This technology if utilized can boost resource-based learning in the sense that learners can access information that is not easily found in the textbooks within a very short time. There is also the use of white boards where it makes it easy for the instructors to pass messages to the learners.(Loveless, 1995 pg 175) Conclusion: There are many instructional strategies that can be employed in imparting knowledge to learners but an extensive research have to be undertaken in order to choose suitable strategies for learning which if utilized fully can produce good results among the learners. Such strategies like lectures should be discouraged or incorporate the use active strategies in order to make it efficient. Because of the increasing technological changes, such strategies should be modified by the respective schools or institutions in order to convey reliable and understandable messages to the students. (Viskovic, 1996 pg 109) The design of a credible education curriculum is very tedious and demanding but with the use of advanced technologies like ICT it helps to improve the process. In anticipation of future developments and other new technological advancements, curriculum must be designed to take into considerations such issues. Technology through ICT in its capacity is capable to provide necessary educational design skills sufficiently to form future teaching profession. Indeed technology can be used to enhance resource based learning and learning circles if learning institutions are well conversant with the latest technology and implement them in their system. References: Chalmer, D. and Fuller R. 1997: Teaching for learning at university- London, Kogan Pg 55-67 Goldschmid. M 1971: The Learning cell- An instructional innovation, Learning and Development pg 3-5 Hutchings, P and Wutzdorff, A. (1988): Knowing and doing- Learning through experience San Francisco, Jossey Bass Inc. pg 23-35 Higher Education Council, 1997: Quality in Resourced-based learning pg 7-11 Jerold, E. (1985): The Instructional Design Process- Harper and Row publishers- New York. Pg 77-89 Loveless A- 1995: The Role of I.T- Practical Issues for the Primary Teacher- London, MacLennan R-1974: How well do you see the case method! Industrial Training International: pg 125-236 Seaman, D. (1989: Effective strategies for teaching adults, Ohio. Merrill Publishing Company pg 34-48 Schlecty, P (2001): -Increasing Student Engagement: - Missouri Leadership Academy; pg 14-24 Viskovic, A 1996: An introduction to educational media- HERDSA Green Guide Number 20- HERDSA pg 102-116 Read More