Researched Based Instructional Strategies - Essay Example

The three research-based strategies and content areas chosen are Thematic Instruction for Reading, Homework and Practice for Writing (Composition) and Nonlinguistic Representation for Mathematics. Thematic Instruction involves the formulation of themes around which the entire curriculum can be arranged. For example the teacher may choose the theme of “leisure”. With this theme the teacher may focus on certain leisure activities such as visiting places of interests within one’s country for the content area of Social Studies, or focus on the study of dancing as a leisure activity for the content area of Physical Education. The unifying quality of thematic instruction is ideal for Reading. Reading is the foundation of all other subjects; hence it automatically is identified with the other content areas. Thus, the teacher may use the theme of “Who are the people in my neighborhood?” instead of “occupations”. Firstly, the question format of the theme would encourage students to explore the various occupations accessible in their neighborhood. Secondly, the students would become interested in investigating through reading and perhaps interviewing the occupations that are offered in their neighborhood and their wider community. The unifying nature of the theme may even encourage students to develop a model of their environment within the classroom. The classroom, thus, becomes a buzz of activity and resources that depicts the relevant theme. Thematic Instruction contributes to cooperative learning. Hence in the teaching of Reading the teacher may have different ability groupings reading different material but with the same theme. As a group students are encouraged to ask questions about the various topics, a connection is then formed with the abstract topics and their understanding of the content. Themes allow the students to face new ideas in an organized manner. Consistent with the idea of organizing new learning is the concept of nonlinguistic representation. Researchers at the NREL propose that students acquire new knowledge in both linguistic and nonlinguistic ways. For this reason, students should be exposed to a number of different teaching/learning methods, namely, visual, aural, spatial, musical, physical movement and other media. Mathematics is well suited to the use of nonlinguistic representation. In Mathematics the students is involved in drawing and interpreting graphs and charts and in forming patterns with numbers and shapes. Authors at the NREL suggest that locating patterns aids students in later recall and application of learning. This natural occurrence of the formation of patterns in Mathematics enables students to form connections with the abstract and the concrete. Furthermore, there is much software available to be used in the content area of Mathematics. Researchers suggest that computer simulation allows students to manipulate the material and visualize the results. The effect of the simulation whether computer generated or manually developed influences students to do further research into the subject matter. Nonlinguistic representation promotes cooperative learning so that students may work together to create mathematical models. It is recommended that teachers demonstrate the use of the various tools before assigning to the students. Gradually the pointers should be removed until the students are able to operate the resource. For example, in demonstrating how to solve a mathematical problem, the teacher may use a calculator to aid in the process. The steps involved in the use of the calculator may be repeated in a sequential and systematic manner at first but the teacher may gradually remove steps until the students can use the calculator without assistance. Asking students questions about the process involved in solving mathematical problems would increase students’ metacognition and thereby feed their thirst for new knowledge. Interestingly, mastery of content in one area also brings about a thirst for both knowledge and success. Homework and Practice facilitates mastery in all content areas. Homework is not an empty activity. It is a teaching strategy in which the teacher has a definite purpose in mind – memorization, increase in speed and the like. Practice, the repeated application of knowledge obtained from learning a new concept, is essential for mastery. Without mastery the student would not obtain much success in any area. Authors at the NREL posit that mastery does not take place in a rushed atmosphere rather students must be allowed the opportunity to practice new concepts and tasks over time. On the one hand, homework refers to the work that is done by students outside the jurisdiction of the teacher with appropriate guidance and instructions. It should be a continuation or an extension of the activities that take place within the classroom. Homework activity should be thoroughly planned before presenting to the students. Practice, on the other hand, may be done under the teacher’s watchful eyes or may be done as a homework activity. The practice of one skill at a time is essential for students’ success. Fundamental to the effectiveness of homework as a teaching and learning strategy is the involvement of parents. The parents should be encouraged to generate certain homework routines in the lives of the students. In this way parents work with teachers to foster proper study habits in the young students. Conversely, parents should be advised against teaching the content matter to the student since this is an indication that the student does not understand the material and therefore this issue needs to be addressed by the teacher. One of the key research findings is that teachers need to give consistent feedback for homework. Teachers should give credit for homework completion but also provide suitable penalties for non submission. This feedback acknowledges students’ effort, offers them the opportunity to deal with mistakes and to overcome challenges. Composition, like homework, improves only through timely and adequate feedback. When providing exercises for practice, researchers advocate that complex tasks be broken down into smaller, discrete and singular elements.  For composition, the teacher should itemize each step involved in producing a particular written material and put forward these steps in a sequential manner to the students. Sequencing the details of a story is a good example of utilizing this skill in Composition. In supplying exercises for homework and for practice the teacher needs to tailor the material to the development level of individual student and not the general class. Hence, if you are teaching sentence construction it is highly unlikely that you would ask students to write a paragraph for homework. However, if some students have comprehended the construction of sentences, the teacher may challenge them to write more complex sentences than the rest of the class. Finally, the teacher should allocate a particular area in the classroom for homework so that both students and parents may access it. In addition to the classroom area, a journal or a document on the computer may be used to ensure accountability by the teacher and students for the assigned homework. For composition, the teacher may use the area assigned for displaying students’ writing to post homework. References Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. 2005. Focus on Effectiveness: Research-based Strategies. http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies Read More