Module 3

Introduction
Learning does not have to be an individual process or involve only the teachers teaching and a
single students mind. Students can learn just as well, or better, when working together, lessons just
have to be structured for it. In order to structure and use one of thse teaching strategies, you must
understand the strategy. With this in mind I will examine a few teaching practices. First, I will
discuss diffrent forms of cooperative learning. Second, I will discuss Direct Instruction. Third, I will
discuss Lecture Discussions. Fourth, I will discuss Guided Discovery. Lastly, I will discuss
Problem-Based Instruction. Chapters 7 to 11 relate to competencies 7 and 9. Competency 7 states
the teacher must know principles and strategies for communicating effectively in varied teaching
and learning contexts. Competency 9 states the teacher must know how to use Technology for
planning, organizing, delivering, and evaluating instruction for all students.

Chapter 7
Cooperative Learning is a set of instuctional strategies. Cooperative learning is strucured and
designed to teach content and develop interpersonal skills. This teaching strategy best relates to
competency 7. Student Teams Achievement Divisions or STAD is one example of cooperative
learning. Students work in teams and pairs while practicing the lesson. The students are assessed on
thier own once they have finished the process. STAD can be used to practice basic facts that
children are struggling on. Make sure groups are of a heterogenious makeup.
Jigsaw begins by the teacher assigning a topic of study. From here a small group of students study
and become experts on a small part. This makes information learned personal and memorable, and
increases further intrest. The teacher must specify exactly what groups are searching for, because
without this information groups will be disjoined. Group Investigation takes student evaluation a
step farther. Students individually investigate small examples of a topic. Group Investigation is not

very structured., which allows students to branch out from a beginning point. Discussions is the
final example of Cooperative Learning. Discussions focus less on teachers and more on student
interaction. Without structure discussions are boring for students, frustrating for you, and a waste of
time. Discussions are best used for open ended questions of the cognitive and affective domain.

Chapter 8
Direct Instruction is a strategy in which the teacher guides the learning and teaches well-defined
information. This teaching strategy incorporates competency 7. Direct instruction is goal-oriented,
focused, uses teacher-scaffolding, and gives opportunities for practice and feedback. Direct
Instruction should be used to teach about the essential characteristics of a concept, positive and
negative examples, and the concepts relationship to other concepts. Planning begins with the
formation of a specific learning objective. Then a teacher must determine which previous
information to build this lesson upon. Lastly, the teacher must find examples to demonstrate the
concept. The four steps of direct instruction in order are introduction, presentation, guided practice,
and independant practice. Direct instruction mirrors teacher scaffolding. Lessons begin with
teachers presenting all the information, the teacher then hands some responsibilty to the students in
guided practice. Once the students have the idea, the teacher mostly removes him or herself in
independant practice.

Chapter 9
An organized body of knowledge integrates facts, concepts, generalizations, principles, and
rules.This teaching strategy best incorporates competency 7. Organized bodies of knowledge aim to
discouver the relationship between these pieces of information. This is diffrent from other forms
that instead focus on only facts, concepts, generalizations, principles, or rules.
Lectures are one of the easiest teaching strategies to plan. They are also flexible, easy to implement,
and less stressful than other strategies. Lectures have thier limitations as well. Lectures place
students in a passive role, also overloads students capacity to remember information, and do not

leave room for assessment. Lectures are often critizied but they should not be neglected. Every
teaching strategy has an optimal time to use.

Chapter 10
Guided Discovery is an instructional strategy where teachers specify learning objectives, arrange
information so that patterns are easy to see, and guide students to the objectives. This teaching
strategy can incorporate competency 9. Teachers first identify what the topic of study is. Then
teachers provide examples instead of a defintion. Finally the teachers use questioning to guide
student discouvery. Guided learning promotes learning by promoting student motivation. In this
strategy students are faced with a question. This question forces the student to be active, and
develope understanding that makes sense to them.
Planning for guided discovery lessons is a five step process: identify topics, specify learning
objectives, select examples and non-examples, plan for social interaction, and plan for assessment.
Implementation is also a five part process. Teachers begin by reviewing and introducing. They then
move to the open-ended phase, where students state descriptions of the examples. The convergent
stage then guides the students answers to the content you wish to teach. Once students understand
the topic, teachers summarize and promote real-world application.

Chapter 11
Problem-based instruction is a teaching strategy that uses problems as the focus. Students are
actively engaged and the teacher becomes a facilatator in this strategy.This teaching strategy can be
used to incorporate competency 9. This strategy is used to teach self-regulation, how to productivly
interact with other students, and to learn to systematically investigate questions. Learning content
takes a backseat for this strategy. When planning, begin with a goal. Second, identify a topic for
study, then frame it. Lastly organizing your resources before implementing. When implementing,
the teacher first introduces the problem to the students. Once this is done organize students into
study groups. Lastly, establish timelines and due dates.

Problem solving is an invaulable skill to have, however it is one that many students do not possess.
To effectively teach problem solving the teacher should: present problems in a meaningful context,
present multiple types of problems, and discuss these problems in detail. When students are first
beginning scaffold the proper way to solve a problem and teach general problem solving strategies.
A simple five step process for problem solving is: identify the problem, represent the problem,
select a strategy, implement the strategy, and evaulate results.

Conclusion
Chapters 7 to 11 discuss teaching strategies. Each teaching strategy has a use and an optimal time to
use it. An effective teacher will learn the teaching strategies, understand when to use each of them,
and alternate as needed. With this information in tow, learning does not have to be strictly between
a teacher's structure and a single student's mind. Learning can and should take many forms.