Motivation in Learning and Teaching

What is motivation?

❖​ Motivation is an internal state or condition (sometimes described as a need, desire, or want) that serves to activate or energize behavior and gives it
direction.
❖​ Motivation results from the interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors such as:

●​ Intensity of desire or need

●​ Incentive or reward value of the goal
●​ Expectations of the individual and of his or her peers

❖​ Educational psychology has identified two basic classifications of motivation.

●​ Extrinsic (external)
●​ Intrinsic (internal)​
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Extrinsic Motivation​

●​ Extrinsic motivation is motivation to perform and succeed for the sake of accomplishing a specific result or outcome.​

●​ External motivation comes from influences outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivators are rewards and the threat of punishment​

●​ Thus extrinsically motivated learners may have to be entice or tempted, may process information only superficially, and are often interested in
performing only easy tasks and meeting minimal classroom requirements.​

●​ However extrinsic motivation is equally necessary.​

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Intrinsic Motivation​

●​ It arises from a desire to learn a topic due to its inherent interests, for self-fulfillment, enjoyment and to achieve a mastery of the topic.​

●​ It exists within the individual rather than relying on external pressures or desire for reward.​

●​ Thus intrinsically motivated learners tackle assigned tasks willingly and are eager to learn classroom material, more likely to process information in
effective ways (e.g. by engaging in meaningful learning), and more likely to achieve at high levels.​
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Goals Orientation​

➔​ Performance Goals: A student is motivated by the desire to gain recognition from others and earn good grades. A performance goal is, "I want to get
an A in this subject."​

➔​ Learning Goals: A student is motivated by desire for knowledge acquisition and self-improvement. A learning goal is, "I want to master this subject."
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How Motivation Affects Learning and Behavior​

❖​ Motivation directs behavior toward particular goals.

➔​ Social cognitive theorists propose that individuals set goals for themselves and direct their behavior accordingly.
➔​ Motivation determines the specific goals toward which learners strives. Thus, it affects the choices students make.​

❖​ Motivation leads to increased effort and energy.

➔​ Motivation increases the amount of effort and energy that learners expend in activities directly related to their needs and goals.
➔​ It determines whether they pursue a task​enthusiastically​and wholeheartedly or apathetically and reluctantly.

❖​ Motivation increases initiation of and persistence/determination in activities.

➔​ Learners are more likely to begin a task they actually want to do.
➔​ They are also more likely to continue working at it until they have completed it, even if they are occasionally interrupted or frustrated in the process.
➔​ In general, motivation increases students’ time on task, an important factor affecting their learning and achievement.
 ❖​ Motivation affects cognitive processes.
➔​ Motivation affects what learners pay attention to and how effectively they process it.
➔​ For instance, motivated learners often make a concerted effort to truly understand classroom material — to learn it meaningfully — and consider how
they might use it in future.​

❖​ Motivation determines which consequences are reinforcing and punishing.

➔​ The more learners are motivated to achieve academic success, the more they will be proud of an A and upset by a low grade.
➔​ The more learners want to be accepted and respected by peers, the more they will value membership in the ―in‖ group and be distressed by the
ridicule of classmates.​

❖​ Motivation often enhances performance.

➔​ Because of the other effects just identified — goal-directed behavior, effort and energy, initiation and persistence, cognitive processing, and the
impact of consequences — motivation often leads to improved performance.
➔​ Therefore, students who are most motivated to learn and excel in classroom activities tend to be our highest achievers.
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Goal Orientations and Motivations

➔​ Many theories include goals as key elements in motivation. A goal is an outcome or attainment an individual is striving to accomplish.
➔​ A goal orientation is a pattern of beliefs about goals related to achievement in school.
➔​ Mastery goal is a goal to improve and to learn.
➔​ Task involved learners focus on task.
➔​ Performance goal is a goal to demonstrate abilities to others.
➔​ Ego involved learners are concerned with the evaluation of their work by others.
➔​ Work avoidant learners want to complete work as quickly as possible with as little effort as possible.
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Interests and Emotions

There are two kinds of interests:
➔​ Personal (individual)
➔​ Situational (trait/feature and state)​
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Personal Interests
●​ Refers to enduring tendency to be attracted to or to enjoy specific subjects – seek information and have more positive attitudes toward school.​
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Situational Interests
●​ Indicates short lived aspects of the activity, texts, or materials that catch and keep attention – if Ss aren’t initially interested in a subject or activity,
they may develop interests as they experience success.
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Arousal: Excitement and Anxiety in Learning

❖​ Arousal is physical and psychological reactions causing a person to be alert, attentive, and wide awake.
●​ Individuals are naturally motivated to seek novelty, surprise, and complexity.
●​ Curiosity arises when attention is focused on a gap in knowledge.​

❖​ Anxiety is general uneasiness, a feeling of tension, feeling of self- doubt. Trait anxiety is the tendency to be anxious. State anxiety is anxiety
provoking situations.
●​ Anxiety interferes with learning and test performance: focusing attention, learning, testing.

Coping with Anxiety (for Teachers)

❖​ Use competition carefully.
❖​ Avoid situations in which highly anxious students will have to perform in front of large groups.
❖​ Make instructions clear.
❖​ Avoid unnecessary time pressures.
❖​ Remove some pressure from major tests/exams.
❖​ Adopt alternatives to written tests.
❖​ Teach self-regulation strategies.
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Different Types of Students

●​ Mastery-oriented students are students who focus on learning goals because they value achievement and see ability as improvable.
●​ Failure-avoiding students are students who avoid failure by sticking to what they know, by not taking risks, or by claiming not to care about their
performance.
●​ Failure-accepting students are students who believe their failures are due to low ability and there is little they can do about it.
How to Motivate Students​

❖​ Building student motivation requires commitment on the part of teachers.

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❖​ Make it real
●​ In order to foster intrinsic motivation, try to create learning activities based on topics to be taught.
●​ Learning should be practical.
●​ Help students find personal meaning and value in the material.
●​ Strategies include using live models, videos, etc.​

❖​ Provide choices
●​ Students can have increased motivation when they feel some sense of autonomy in the learning process, and motivation declines when students have
no voice in the class structure.
●​ Options can be as simple as letting them pick their lab partners or select from alternate assignments.
●​ Let students write review questions for the lesson.
●​ Have them write an action plan before beginning a project.​

❖​ Fine-tune the challenge

●​ We are most motivated to learn when the task before us is matched to our level of skill: not so easy as to be boring, and not so hard as to be frustrating
and unattainable.
●​ Deliberately fashion the learning exercise so that students are working at the very edge of their abilities.
●​ Scaffolding is one instructional technique where the challenge level is gradually raised as students are capable of accomplishing more complex tasks.​

❖​ Encourage students to beat their personal best

●​ Help students set achievable goals for themselves.
●​ Generate motivation by encouraging students to compete against themselves: run through the material once to establish a baseline, then keep track of
how much they improve (in speed, in accuracy) each time.
●​ Avoid creating intense competition among students.

❖​ Seek role models

●​ If students can identify with role models they may be more likely to see the relevance in the subject matter.
●​ There can be many sources of role models, such as invited guest speakers, fellow students or other peers.
●​ Students can learn by watching a peer succeed at a task.​
❖​ Establish a sense of belonging
●​ People have a fundamental need to feel connected or related to other people.
●​ Students learn when they are engaged.
●​ Provide direct instruction of socialization procedures like group activity and building appropriate classroom climate.
●​ Motivate every student to participate and making them believe that their input is valued.​
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❖​ Effective teaching
●​ After modeling let students do guided practice and then independent practice.
●​ Avoid long lectures and focus on direct instructions.
●​ Use specific short term goals in learning.
●​ Teach Ss how to approach & cope with different learning situations.
●​ Use your students as teachers; give them strict guidelines and have/engage groups teach a lesson.​
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❖​ Adopt a supportive style

●​ A supportive teaching style that allows for student autonomy can foster increased student interest, enjoyment, engagement and performance.
●​ Supportive teacher behaviors include listening, giving hints and encouragement, being responsive to student questions and showing empathy for
students, nurturing self worth, a sense of competence and autonomy.

❖​ The Role of Expectations

●​ This is HUGE! Ss will only give you what you expect from them.
●​ If you expect little, that’s exactly what you’re going to get! Don’t be afraid to raise the bar.
●​ Imparting the belief in Ss that they can learn coupled with high T expectations and you are confident in their ability to be successful.​

❖​ Strategize with struggling students

●​ When Ss are struggling with poor academic performance, low self- efficacy or motivation, one strategy that may help is to teach them how to learn.
●​ Outline specific strategies for completing an assignment, note-taking or reviewing for an exam.​

❖​ Dealing with failure

●​ Teach students to concentrate on the task, rather than be distracted by fear of failure.
●​ Failure is a result of lack of information or not using the appropriate problem solving skill, not lack of ability.
●​ Assist students to retrace (repeat) their steps to solve problems so they won’t be distracted by frustration.
The ARCS Model
This model really captures the teacher’s role in motivation.​

●​ Attention: capturing students’ interests and curiosity

●​ Relevance: meeting students’ personal needs and goals
●​ Confidence: helping students believe that they will succeed
●​ Satisfaction: reinforcing students’ achievements through extrinsic or intrinsic rewards
Social Cognitive Theory
Introduction​

●​ From Canadian/American psychologist Albert Bandura (1960s)

●​ At first it was called ‘Social Learning Theory’.
●​ Children and others learn through observation.
●​ May imitate what they see vicariously (performed)​ (e.g. on television).
●​ Empirical Evidence: Bobo doll studies
●​ Others​ generally support basic​ premise​(idea) plus additional assumptions.
➔​ Rewarded and unpunished violence is more likely to be imitated.
➔​ Punished violence is less likely to be imitated.

●​ “A perspective that can help us understand what and how people learn by observing others and how in the process they begin to take control of their
own behavior.” - Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
●​ Learning occurs as a result of social interaction.
●​ It is rooted in behaviorism.
●​ Adds cognitive processes:
➔​ Reasoning (way of thinking/interpretation)
➔​ Motivation (the reasons for people's actions, desires, and needs)​

Basic Assumptions of Social Cognitive Theory

●​ Children and other people learn by observing others.
●​ Learning is an internal process (behavior change).
●​ Cognitive processes influence motivation and learning.
●​ People​ and their environments influence each other.
●​ Behavior becomes increasingly self regulated.
Social Cognitive Learning​

Three major components:​

I.​ Reinforcement
II.​ Punishment
III.​ Modeling​
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Reinforcement
●​ Reinforcement is used to help increase the probability that a specific behavior will occur in the future by delivering a stimulus (incentive)
immediately after a response/behavior is exhibited.
●​ Another way to put it is that positive reinforcement is adding something that will motivate the child (or individual) to increase the likelihood they will
engage in that behavior again.
●​ Consequences have an effect on behavior.
●​ Learners form expectations (incentives).
●​ Learners’ expectations are influenced.
-- Vicarious (exciting) reinforcement
●​ Expectations about future consequences
●​ The nonoccurrence of an expected consequence​

Positive Reinforcement
❖​ Positive reinforcement works by presenting a motivating/reinforcing stimulus to the person after the desired behavior is exhibited, making the
behavior more likely to happen in the future.

➔​ The following are some examples of positive reinforcement:

●​ A mother gives her son praise (positive stimulus) for doing homework (behavior).
●​ The little boy receives Tk. 500 (positive stimulus) for every A+ he earns on his report card (behavior).​
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Negative Reinforcement​

❖​ Negative reinforcement occurs when a certain stimulus (an aversive stimulus) is removed after a particular behavior is exhibited. The likelihood of the
particular behavior occurring again in the future is increased because of removing the negative consequence.

❖​ Negative reinforcement should not be thought of as a punishment procedure. With negative reinforcement, you are increasing a behavior, whereas
with punishment, you are decreasing a behavior.​

➔​ The following are some examples of negative reinforcement:

●​ Bob does the dishes (behavior) in order to avoid his mother nagging/irritating (negative stimulus).
●​ Natasa can get up from the dinner table (negative stimulus) when she eats 2 bites of her broccoli (behavior).​

❖​ In reinforcement, the end result is to try to increase the behavior, whereas punishment procedures are used to decrease behavior.
❖​ Positive reinforcement -- adding something positive in order to increase a response.
❖​ Negative reinforcement -- taking something negative away in order to increase a response.​
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Punishment
●​ When people hear that punishment procedures are being used, they typically think of an aversive or harmful consequence. This is not always the case
as you can see below.
●​ It is a process by which a consequence immediately follows a behavior which decreases the future frequency of that behavior.
●​ Like reinforcement, a stimulus can be added (positive punishment) or removed (negative punishment).
●​ There are two types of punishment: positive and negative.​

Positive Punishment
❖​ Positive punishment works by presenting a negative consequence after an undesired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior less likely to happen
in the future. The following are some examples of positive punishment:
●​ A child picks his nose during class (behavior) and the T reprimands (scolds) him (negative stimulus) in front of his classmates.​

❖​ A child grabs a toy from another child (behavior) and is sent to time out (rest) (negative stimulus).​
Negative Punishment
❖​ Negative punishment happens when a certain desired stimulus is removed after a particular undesired behavior is exhibited, resulting in the behavior
happening less often in the future.​

➔​ The following are some examples of negative punishment:​

●​ If a child does not follow directions or acts inappropriately (behavior), he loses a token for good behavior (desired stimulus) that can later be cashed
in for a prize.
●​ For children who really enjoy a specific class, such as gym or music classes at school, negative punishment can happen if they are removed from that
class (desired stimulus) and sent to the principal’s office because they were acting out/misbehaving (behavior).
●​ Siblings get in a fight (behavior) over who gets to go first in a game or who gets to play with a new toy, the parent takes the game/toy away (desired
stimulus).​
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❖​ In punishment, the end result is to try to decrease the undesired behavior. Positive punishment involves adding a negative consequence after an
undesired behavior is emitted (given out) to decrease future responses.
❖​ Negative punishment includes taking away a certain desired item after the undesired behavior happens in order to decrease future responses.
❖​ Research shows that positive consequences are more powerful than negative consequences for improving behavior.
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Modeling
●​ “Demonstrating a behavior for another person or observing and imitating another person’s behavior” (Ormrod)
●​ “Changes in people that result from observing the actions of others” (Eggen and Kauchak)​
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Cognitive Modeling: A cognitive model is an approximation to animal cognitive processes (predominantly human) for the purposes of comprehension and
prediction. It tends to be focused on a single cognitive phenomenon or process (e.g. list learning), how two or more processes interact (e.g. visual search and
decision making), or to make behavioral predictions for a specific task or tool (e.g. how instituting a new software package will affect productivity).

●​ Cognitive modeling is historically developed within cognitive psychology/cognitive science (including human factors), and has received
contributions from the fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence to name a few.
●​ There are many types of cognitive models, and they can range from box-and-arrow diagrams to a set of equations to software programs that interact
with the same tools that humans use to complete tasks (e.g., computer mouse and keyboard).
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Live Modeling: It refers to watching a real person performing the desired behavior the client has chosen to learn.

Symbolic Modeling :Symbolic modeling includes filmed or videotaped models demonstrating the desired behavior.​
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Learning through Modeling

●​ Academic Skills
●​ Aggression
●​ Interpersonal Behaviors​

The Effects of Modeling on the Observer

●​ Teaches new behaviors
●​ Influences rate of previously learned behaviors
●​ Increases the frequency of similar behaviors
●​ Encourages previously forbidden behaviors​

Characteristics of Effective Models

●​ Is competent
●​ Has prestige and power
●​ Behaves in ways that are consistent with the observer’s gender identification.
●​ Exhibits behavior relevant to the observer’s situation.
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Ages & Stages of Youth Development
Development
Orderly and lasting growth, adaptation, and change over the course of a lifetime​
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Characteristics of Development
a) Physical​ b) Social​ c) Emotional​ d) Intellectual​

●​ Physical development refers to the growth and maturation of their body.

●​ Social development is the interaction children have with others and their ability to function in a social setting.
●​ Emotional development looks at how they handle their feelings and express those feelings in an appropriate way.
●​ And last, intellectual development is all about how they learn.​

➔​ We’ll look in depth at each of these characteristics for these four age groups: 6-8 year olds, 9-11 year olds, 12-14 year olds and 15-18 year olds.​
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Who/what influences a child’s growth and development?

a) Parents ​
b) Caregivers ​
c) Teachers ​
d) Peers ​
e) Heredity
f) Extended Family ​
g) Community ​
h) Media ​
i) Environment​
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Principles of Development
●​ Development is orderly, not random.
●​ Development is a continuous and gradual process.
●​ Development is most rapid during the early stages of infancy and the adolescent years.
●​ Not all children develop at the same pace.
●​ Not all children possess the same temperament.
●​ Development occurs within a larger context.
●​ Development is a multi-faceted concept.​
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Physical Characteristics of 6-8 Year Olds

●​ Growing slowly
●​ Learning to master physical skills
●​ Can control large muscles better than small muscles

❖​ Implications:
●​ Messy with meals, arts/crafts
●​ Conduct activities that encourage large muscle use​
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Social Characteristics of 6-8 Year Olds

●​ Learning how to be friends; may have many friends
●​ Fighting occurs – doesn’t last long
●​ Boys begin to separate from girls​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Small groups encourage social interaction
●​ Social Characteristics of 6-8 Year Olds
●​ Role playing encourages empathy
●​ Mixed gender activities​
Emotional Characteristics of 6-8 Year Olds
●​ Self-centered
●​ Seeking approval from adults
●​ Avoids punishment
●​ Sensitive to criticism; don’t like failure​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Be positive!

Ages & Stages Activity

●​ Plan activities that promote success
●​ Foster cooperation, not competition​

Intellectual Characteristics of 6-8 Year Olds

●​ Concrete thinkers – base thinking in reality
●​ Can’t do multi-tasks well
●​ More interested in doing things than the end result
●​ Intellectual Characteristics of 6-8 Year Olds​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Plan short activities
●​ Focus on process, not final product
●​ Allow for exploration and inquiry​
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Physical Characteristics of 9-11 Year Olds

●​ Moving all the time - can’t sit still!
●​ Growth spurt – beginning adolescence
●​ Females mature before males​

❖​ Implications: ​

●​ Provide active learning experiences

●​ Avoid competition between boys and girls
Social Characteristics of 9-11 Year Olds
●​ Joining clubs; same gender groups
●​ Don’t understand view points of others, but like to make others happy
●​ Like to please adults with successful project completion​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Use group learning with same gender members
●​ Encourage older mentors to work with the group​
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Emotional Characteristics of 9-11 Year Olds

●​ Weak sense of individual identity
●​ Moody!!!
●​ Justice and equality become important
●​ Emotional Characteristics of 9-11 Year Olds
●​ Need to feel part of something important
●​ Begin to question authority but still want guidance​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Don’t compare youth to each other
●​ Help them identify their strengths
●​ Emphasize progress made from previous performance​
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Intellectual Characteristics of 9-11 Year Olds

●​ Until 11, think concretely – black/white – then begin to understand new ideas
●​ Learning to think abstractly
●​ More immersed in subjects that interest them
●​ Intellectual Characteristics of 9-11 Year Olds
●​ Want to find own solutions​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Use simple, short directions and brief learning experiences
●​ Offer a wide range of activities to ensure success
Physical Characteristics of 12-14 Year Olds
●​ Many physical changes
●​ Boys may still be growing; Boys usually reach maximum height by 16, girl by 14​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Be willing to answer questions
●​ Avoid comments that criticize or compare youth physically

Social Characteristics of 12-14 Year Olds

●​ Looking for activities involving opposite sex
●​ Look more to peers than parents
●​ Searching for adult role models; fan clubs
●​ Tend to reject solutions from adults in favor of their own​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Let them plan own programs
●​ Establish climate that is conducive to peer support
●​ Emphasize personal development​

Emotional Characteristics of 12-14 Year Olds

●​ Compare themselves to others
●​ Emotional Characteristics of 12-14 Year Olds
●​ See themselves as always on center stage
●​ Want to be autonomous from parents
●​ Abandon view of parents as all powerful
●​ Unsettled emotions
●​ Strive to earn independence, yet want and need parents’ help​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Let teens assume responsibility – expect them to follow through
●​ Help them explore identity, values, beliefs
●​ Help them develop individual skills
●​ Encourage youth and adults working together
Intellectual Characteristics of 12-14 Year Olds
●​ Gain cognitive and study skills
●​ Learning abstract thinking
●​ Ready for in-depth, long-term experiences
●​ Like to set goals based on their needs
●​ Moved from fantasy to realistic focus on their life’s goals​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Give them real-life problems to solve
●​ Let them make decisions and evaluate outcomes
●​ Encourage service learning
●​ Plan career exploration activities
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Physical Characteristics of 15-18 Year Olds

●​ Concerned about body image
●​ Exhibit smaller range in size and maturity among peers
●​ Tend to have realistic view of limits to which body can be tested​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Be willing to answer questions
●​ Avoid comments that criticize or compare youth
●​ Set a good example for health and physical fitness​

Social Characteristics of 15-18 Year Olds

●​ Tend to​romanticize sexuality but moving toward better understanding of reality
●​ Search for intimacy; test sexual attractiveness
●​ Makes commitments and can follow through
●​ Desire respect; wants adult leadership roles
●​ Are apt to reject goals set by others​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Let them plan own programs
●​ Establish climate that is conducive to peer support
●​ Emphasize personal development and leadership
 ❖​ Emotional Characteristics of 15-18 Year Olds
●​ Desire respect
●​ Accepting their own uniqueness but still seek approval from peers
●​ Look for confidence of others in their decisions
●​ Developing own set of values and beliefs
●​ Gaining autonomy; introspective
●​ Can initiate and carry out tasks without supervision​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Let teens assume responsibility – expect them to follow through
●​ Help them explore identity, values, beliefs
●​ Help them develop individual skills
●​ Encourage youth and adults working together

Intellectual Characteristics of 15-18 Year Olds

●​ Are mastering abstract thinking
●​ Can imagine impact of present behavior on future
●​ Enjoy demonstrating acquired knowledge
●​ Will lose patience with meaningless activities​

❖​ Implications:
●​ Give them real-life problems to solve
●​ Let them make decisions and evaluate outcomes
●​ Encourage service learning
●​ Plan career exploration activities
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Practical Implications​

❖​ For younger children:

●​ Understand that young children are limited by their developmental capacities
●​ Organize activities & events that are age-appropriate
●​ Encourage active involvement rather than competition
 ●​ Build upon children’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills
●​ Be generous with praise
●​ Encourage exploration
●​ Provide clear rules, boundaries, & structure

❖​ For adolescents/teens:
●​ Encourage emerging independence, but​ maintain structure, boundaries, rules
●​ Be sensitive to self-image issues
●​ Be open to discussing/handling sensitive issues
●​ Foster positive peer interaction
●​ Be a positive role model
●​ Provide constructive criticism along with positive feedback
●​ Promote hands-on activities & experiential learning opportunities
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 Roles of a Teacher in the Classroom​
Teachers play vital roles in the lives of the students in their classrooms. Teachers are best known for the role of educating the students that are placed in their
care. Beyond that, teachers serve many other roles in the classroom. Teachers set the tone of their classrooms, build a warm environment, mentor and nurture
students, become role models, and listen and look for signs of trouble.​

Teaching Knowledge
The most common role a teacher plays in the classroom is to teach knowledge to children. Teachers are given a curriculum they must follow that meets
state/country guidelines. This curriculum is followed by the teacher so that throughout the year, all pertinent knowledge is dispensed to the students. Teachers
teach in many ways including lectures, small group activities and hands-on learning activities.​

Creating Classroom Environment

Teachers also play an important role in the classroom when it comes to the environment. Students often mimic a teacher’s actions. If the teacher prepares a
warm, happy environment, students are more likely to be happy. An environment set by the teacher can be either positive or negative. If students sense the
teacher is angry, students may react negatively to that and therefore learning can be impaired. Teachers are responsible for the social behavior in their
classrooms. This behavior is primarily a reflection of the teacher’s actions and the environment s/he sets.​

Role Modeling
Teachers typically do not think of themselves as role models, however, inadvertently they are. Students spend a great deal of time with their teacher and
therefore, the teacher becomes a role model to them. This can be a positive or negative effect depending on the teacher. Teachers are there not only to teach
the children, but also to love and care for them. Teachers are typically highly respected by people in the community and therefore, become a role model to
students and parents.​

Mentoring
Mentoring is a natural role taken on by teachers, whether it is intentional or not. This again can have positive or negative effects on children. Mentoring is a
way a teacher encourages students to strive to be the best they can. This also includes encouraging students to enjoy learning. Part of mentoring consists of
listening to students. By taking time to listen to what students say, teachers impart to students a sense of ownership in the classroom. This helps build their
confidence and helps them want to be successful.​

Signs of Trouble
Another role played by teachers is a protector role. Teachers are taught to look for signs of trouble in the students. When students’ behaviors change or
physical signs of abuse are noticed, teachers are required to look into the problem. Teachers must follow faculty procedures when it comes to following up on
all signs of trouble.
The Effective Lesson
Classroom Instruction to Meet Individual Needs
Direct Instruction​

It is an approach to teaching in which the teacher transmits information directly to the students; lessons are goal-oriented and structured by the teacher.​

✔ State Learning Objectives and Orient Students to the Lesson: Tell students what they will be learning and what performance will be expected of them.
Whet/arouse students’ appetites for the lesson by informing them how interesting, important, or personally relevant it will be to them.
✔ Review Prerequisites: Go over the skills or concepts students need in order to understand the lesson.
✔ Present New​Materials : Teach the esson presenting information, givingexamples, demonstrating concepts, and so on.
✔ Conduct Learning Probes: Pose questions to students to assess their level of understanding and correct their misconceptions.
✔ Provide Independent Practice: Give students an opportunity to practice new skills or use new information on their own.
✔ Assess Performance and Provide Feedback: Review independent practice work or give a quiz. Give feedback on correct answers, and teach skills once
again, if necessary.
✔ Provide Distributed Practice & Review: Assign homework to provide distributed practice on the new material. Increase the chances that students will
remember what they learned and will be able to apply it in different circumstances.​
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Research on Direct Instruction Methods

●​ Most of the direct instruction rules discussed here have been derived from process-product studies.
●​ In process-product studies, observers recorded the teaching practices of teachers whose students consistently achieved at a high level and compared
them to those of teachers whose students made less progress.
●​ These principles have been assembled into specific direct instruction programs and evaluated in field experiments that is, other teachers have been
trained in the methods used by successful teachers; and their students’ achievement has been compared to that of students whose teachers did not
receive the training.
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Advantages & Limitations of Direct Instruction

●​ It is clear that direct instruction methods can improve the teaching of certain basic skills.
●​ However, it is equally clear that much is yet to be learned about how and for what purposes they should be used.
●​ The prescriptions derived from studies of effective teachers cannot be applied uncritically in the classroom and expected to make a substantial
difference in student achievement.
●​ Structured systematic instructional programs based on these prescriptions can markedly improve students’ achievement in basic skills.
●​ However, it is important to remember that the research on direct instruction has focused mostly on basic reading and mathematics, mostly in the
elementary grades.
●​ For other subjects and at other grade levels we have less of a basis for believing that direct instruction methods will improve students’ learning.
Concept Learning & Teaching
Concept is an abstract idea that is generalized from specific examples.

□ There are two ways to teach concepts:

✔ Observation
✔ Definition​
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Tennyson and Park (1980) suggest that teachers follow three rules when presenting examples of concepts:​

✔ Order the examples from easy to difficult.

✔ Select examples that differ from one another.
✔ Compare​ and​ contrast​examples​ and non-examples.
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Transfer of Learning
□ Transfer of learning is the application of knowledge acquired in one situation to new situations.​

●​ Give students the skills and knowledge necessary for them to function effectively as adults.
●​ If a student can fill in blanks on a language test, but cannot write a clear letter to a friend or a prospective employer, or can multiply with decimals and
percents on a math test, but cannot figure sales tax, then that student’s education has been sadly misdirected.
●​ Yet all too frequently, students who do very well in school or on tests are unable to transfer their knowledge or skills to real-life situations.
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Teaching for Transfer of Learning

❖​ Real-life Learning : Students must receive specific instruction in how to use their skills and information to solve problems and encounter a variety of
problem-solving experiences if they are to be able to apply much of what they learned in school.​

❖​ Initial learning and Understanding : It matters a great deal how well students understood the material, and to what degree it was taught in a
meaningful way. For example, material that is memorized by rote is unlikely to transfer to new situations no matter how thoroughly it was mastered.​

❖​ Learning in Context: One important principle of transfer is that the ability to apply knowledge in new circumstances depends in part on the variety
of circumstances in which we have learned or practiced the information or skills.
 ❖​ It is important in teaching for transfer not only to provide many examples, but also to point out in each example how the essential features of
the concept are reflected (Zosonen & Winne, 1995).​

❖​ Explicit Teaching for Transfer: Students can be explicitly taught to transfer skills to new circumstances. Teaching students how to look for
commonalities among story problems significantly enhanced their success on transfer tasks.
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Discussions Used in Instruction

✔ Subjective and Controversial Topics
✔ Difficult and Noble Concepts
✔ Affective Objectives
✔ Whole-class​Discussion​ (Objectives​ that​ are concerned with student attitudes and values.)
✔ Small Group Discussions​
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Accommodating Instructions to Meet Individual Needs.​

□ Teachers​ must​ know​ how​ to​ adapt​ their instruction to the students’ levels of knowledge.​

They must motivate students to learn, manage students’ behaviour, group students for instruction and assess the students’ learning.​

Elements of Effective Instruction beyond a Good Lesson

Slavin’s (1987) Model of School Learning and QAIT: This model is a way to an effective instruction that focuses on elements teachers can directly control
quality, appropriateness, incentive, and time.
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Slavin’s (1987) Model of School Learning and QAIT

✔ Quality of Instruction: It refers to the degree to which presentation of information or skill helps students easily learn the material. Quality of instruction is
largely a product of the quality of the curriculum and of the lesson presentation itself.
✔ Appropriate Levels of Instruction: It is the degree to which the teacher makes sure that students are ready to learn a new lesson but have not already
learned the lesson.
In other words, the level of instruction is appropriate when a lesson is neither too difficult nor too easy for students.​

✔ Incentive: The degree to which the teacher makes sure that students are motivated to work on instructional tasks and to learn the material being presented.
✔ Time: The degree to which students are given enough time to learn the material being taught.
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Grouping Students to Accommodate Achievement Differences

●​ Track: Curriculum sequences to which students of specified achievement or ability level are assigned
●​ Between-class ability grouping: The practice of grouping students in separate classes according to ability level
●​ Within-class​ ability​ grouping:​ A​ system​ of accommodating student differences by dividing a class of students into two or more
ability groups for instruction in certain subject
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Strategies for Accommodating Student Differences​

●​ Some student differences can be easily accommodated (Gregory & Chapman, 2001; Tomlinson, 2003). For example, teachers can often accommodate
different learning styles by augmenting oral presentations with visual cues - perhaps writing on the chalkboard or showing pictures and diagrams to
emphasize important concepts.​

●​ A teacher can accommodate other differences in learning styles by varying classroom activities, as in alternating active tasks / individual group work.​

●​ Teachers can sometimes work with students on an individual basis and adapt instruction to their learning styles for example, by reminding impulsive
students to take their time or by teaching overly reflective students strategies for skipping over items with which they are having problems so that they
can complete tests on time.​

●​ However, differences in prior knowledge and learning rates are more difficult to deal with.
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Mastery Learning
●​ One means of adapting instruction to the needs of diverse students is called mastery learning (Guskey, 1995). The basic idea behind mastery learning
is to make sure that all or almost all students have learned a particular skill to a pre-established level of mastery before moving on to the next skill.​

●​ The assumption underlying mastery learning is that almost every student can learn the essential skills in a curriculum.
 ●​ Students who failed to meet a pre-established mastery criterion (such as 90 percent correct on a quiz) following a lesson were given this
extra-corrective instruction until they could earn a 90% score on a similar quiz.​

●​ However, it is possible to have students stay after school to receive instruction for a few weeks, but this would be difficult to arrange over the long
haul.
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Challenges to Mastery Learning​

●​ The first one is ethical. Is it really fair to give enrichment only to faster students and remediation only to slower students? This practice could
deteriorate into continually providing the fast with an interesting education, while continually providing the slow only with boring, repetitious
material.​

●​ The other challenge of mastery learning is more practical. The approach makes strong demands for detailed, highly organized curriculum.
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If the approach is to work, the teacher must either locate such a curriculum, write one himself, or assemble a suitable mixture of published and self-authored
materials. However, if the curriculum is created, the end result has to be a program filled with small units of study as well as ample enrichment and remedial
materials. Sometimes providing these practical requirements can be challenging.
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Ways of Individualizing Instruction

●​ Peer tutoring
●​ Adult tutoring
●​ Computer-assisted instruction (individualized instruction administered by computer)​

✔ Drill and practice: Application of computer technology to provide students with practice of skills and knowledge
✔ Tutoring program: Computer​programs that teach new materials, varying their content and pace according to the student’s responses
✔ Instructional games: Many instructional games have been designed, most are drill and practice designs into a game format, but some are more creative.
✔ Simulation software: Computer programs that model real-life phenomena to promote problem-solving abilities and motivate interest in the areas concerned
✔ Problem-solving programs: Programs designed specifically to develop students’ critical thinking skills
Computer-assisted Instruction
✔ Internet: A large and growing telecommunications network of computers around the world that communicate electronically
✔ Multimedia, CD-ROM, videodiscs, digital photographs​
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Educational Programs for Students at Risk

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Students who are at risk are any students who are likely to fall academically for reasons stemming from the student or from the student’s environment.
Reasons are diverse and might include poverty.

✔ Compensatory Education
✔ Early Intervention Program
✔ Social Education
✔ Federally Handed Compensatory Education Program
✔ Head Start
✔ The No Child Left Behind Act