gary d. borich effective teaching methods 6th edition

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Gary D. BorichEffective Teaching Methods, 6e

Gary D. Borich Effective Teaching Methods

6th Edition

Chapter 10

Self-Directed Learning




Chapter Overview• Self-directed learning• Metacognition• Skills for a good demonstration• Teacher mediation• Zone of maximum response

opportunity• Functional errors• Reciprocal teaching• Social dialogue versus class

discussion• The role of inner speech• Sample dialogues of self-

directed learning

• Other cognitive strategies• Mnemonics• Problem-based strategies• A five-stage system for

teaching problem solving: IDEAL

• Project-based strategies• Characteristics of good

projects• Promoting the goals of self-

directed learning in the culturally diverse classroom




Self-Directed Learning

• Self-directed learning is an approach to teaching and learning that actively engages students in the learning process for the purpose of acquiring outcomes at higher levels of cognitive complexity.




Self-directed Learning SequenceSelf-directed learning involves the following sequence

of activities:1. Provide information about when and how to use mental

strategies for learning.

2. Illustrate how the strategies are to be used in the context of real problems.

3. Provide students the opportunity to restructure content in terms of their own thinking and prior understandings.

4. Gradually shift the responsibility for learning to students through activities that engage them in increasingly complex patterns of thought.




Metacognition

• Metacognition is a strategy for self-directed learning that assists learners in internalizing, understanding, and recalling the content to be learned.

• Metacognitive strategies include self-interrogation, self-checking, self-monitoring, and techniques for classifying and recalling content known as mnemonics.




Mental Modeling• Metacognitive strategies are most easily

conveyed through mental modeling in which learners are “walked through” the process of attaining a correct solution.

• Mental modeling includes:– Illustrating for students the reasoning

involved.– Making them conscious of it– Focusing learners on the application of the

reasoning applied




Skills for a Good Demonstration

• Focus the learner’s attention

• Stress the value of the demonstration

• Talk in conversational language while demonstrating

• Make the steps simple and obvious

• Help learners remember the demonstration




Teacher Mediation

• Teacher mediation is the teacher’s on-the-spot adjustment of content flow rate and complexity to accommodate the individual learning needs of the student.

• The role of teacher mediation is to adjust the instructional dialogue as needed to help learners restructure what they are learning according to each learner’s unique abilities, learning history, and personal experiences.




Zone of Maximum Response Opportunity

• A zone of maximum response opportunity represents the level of content difficulty and behavioral complexity from which the learner can most benefit at the moment a response is given.

• It is reached through a classroom dialogue in which the teacher provides reactions to student responses that activate the unique learning history, abilities, and experiences of each learner. From these unique characteristics, learners can acquire individual meanings and interpretations of the content.




Functional Errors

• Functional errors are incorrect or partially correct answers made by the learner that can enhance the meaning and understanding of content and provide a logical stepping stone for climbing onto the next rung of the learning ladder.




Reciprocal Teaching

• Reciprocal teaching provides opportunities to explore the content to be learned via group discussion.

• It involves a type of classroom dialogue in which the teacher expects students to make predictions, ask questions, summarize, and clarify when learning from the text.




The Reciprocal Teaching Sequence of Activities

The reciprocal teaching sequence of activities involves:– Generate predictions about the content to

be learned in the initial class discussion.– Read/listen to a portion of the text.– Choose a discussion leader.– Discussion leader summarizes text, and

teacher asks other students to elaborate.– Teacher clarifies unresolved questions,

rereading text if needed.




The Teacher’s Role in Reciprocal Teaching

• The teacher’s role during reciprocal teaching is to gradually shift the responsibility for learning to the students.

• During Reciprocal Teaching the teacher– jointly shares the responsibility for learning with the

students learned in the initial class discussion;– initially assumes responsibility for modeling how to make

predictions, asking questions, summarizing, and clarifying, but transfers this responsibility to the students;

– encourages all students to participate;– monitors student comprehension, adjusting rate and

complexity of information as needed.




Figure 10.2 Shifting responsibility

from teachers to learners.

Insert Figure 10.2 here




Social Dialogue Versus Class Discussion

• In self-directed learning the teacher builds the dialogue in stepwise fashion (scaffolding).

• Scaffolding should be sufficient to keep the challenge within the learner’s zone of maximum response opportunity.




The Role of Inner Speech• Inner (private) speech helps the learner

elaborate and extend content—as responsibility for learning shifts to the learner, this inner-speech ability increases, modeling earlier teacher reasoning, questioning, and cues.

• Inner speech ultimately leads to a private internal dialogue in the mind of the learner that takes the place of the teacher’s prompts and questions and self-guides the learner through similar problems.




Sample Dialogues of Self-Directed Learning (1)

Steps for teaching self-directed learning:– Provide a new learning task and observe

how the student approaches it.– Ask the student to explain how they might

learn the content.– Describe and model a more effective

procedure for organizing and learning the content (e.g., study questions, notes, etc.).




Sample Dialogues of Self-Directed Learning (2)

Steps for teaching self-directed learning (continued):– Provide another similar task on which the

student can practice the strategies provided.– Model self-questioning behavior.– Provide other opportunities for student

practice– Check results by questioning for

comprehension and use of strategies.




Other Cognitive Strategies

Other cognitive strategies can be helpful for organizing and remembering new material during self-directed learning:– Mnemonics– Elaboration/organization (note taking)– Comprehensive monitoring– Problem solving– Project-based strategies




Mnemonics

• Mnemonics are memory aids that help individuals learn facts, dates, rules, classifications, and so on. Two specific examples are:

1. Jingles or trigger sentences (e.g., Every Good Boy Does Fine for remembering the notes EGBDF of the treble music staff).

2. Narrative chaining (e.g., weaving the words pupil, and lava in a story and context that prompts memory of pupa and larva in a metamorphosis lesson).




Problem-Based Strategies

• Problem-based learning is an approach to learning that organizes instructional tasks around loosely structured or ill-defined problems that learners solve by using knowledge from several disciplines.




A Five-stage System for Teaching Problem Solving: IDEAL

• Identify the problem

• Define terms

• Explore strategies

• Act on the strategy

• Look at the effects




Project-Based Strategies

• Project-based learning is an approach to learning that promotes intrinsic motivation by organizing instruction around tasks most likely to induce and support learner interest, effort, and persistence.

• The projects in this approach: 1. Are built around a central question that serves

to organize and energize classroom activities.2. Require a product or outcome to answer the

question successfully.




Characteristics of Good Projects

1. They present a real-world, authentic challenge.

2. They allow for some learner choice and control

3. They are doable—capable of being carried out within the time and resource limitations of the student and classroom.

4. They require some level of collaboration5. They produce a tangible, concrete

product.




Promoting the Goals of Self-Directed Learning in the

Culturally Diverse Classroom

Classroom dialogue can be modified to foster the goals of self-directed learning in a culturally diverse classroom by:– Adjusting the flow and complexity of content.– Offering ample opportunity for all to

participate.– Teaching cognitive strategies.

gary d. borich effective teaching methods 6th edition

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