identifying similarities & differences

Marzano’s 9 Effective Instructional Strategies

While the bulk of the research analyzed in Marzano’s meta-analysis consisted of studies of face-to-face settings, there is much evidence that these strategies are successful in online learning environments, as well. For examples of all these strategies, use the links under the Additional Resources on the screen for Assignment 6.2 of this lesson.

1. Identifying Similarities & Differences

Of all the strategies analyzed in Marzano's study (Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock, 2001), the strategy of having learners identify similarities and differences was shown to have the highest potential to enhance student achievement (with an effect size of 1.61 and a potential percentile gain of 45 points). Activities that require learners to compare, classify and re-classify, and use metaphors and analogies are powerful means to help them understand and use knowledge. Tasks that prompt learners to identify similarities and differences, as cited by Marzano, Pickering and Pollock (2001), include: • Comparing • Classifying • Creating metaphors • Creating analogies Comparing is the process of identifying and articulating similarities and differences among items and by necessity, it involves the identification of important characteristics. Comparison can be enhanced by providing examples and non-examples that illustrate the presence and absence of these characteristics. For example, when studying the poetic form of free verse, learners should read and hear plenty of examples of free verse and non-examples (bound and blank verse, prose, etc.) to distinguish the essential characteristics. Emphasize to the learner that the purpose of comparing is to extend and refine their understanding of the topic being studied. You should model the process of identifying items and characteristics that are meaningful and interesting. When learners classify, they group things into definable categories on the basis of their attributes. Re-classifying (providing a grouping of items and requiring learners to re-group based on different criteria) is another valuable strategy for helping them make conceptual connections. For example, providing a grouping of land and sea animals and then asking them to re-group based on whether they lay eggs or bear live young will help them make new distinctions (such as mammals versus fish and amphibians) and connections. Venn diagrams (discussed in more detail in the section on non-linguistic representations) are excellent tools for the task of classifying and re-classifying. Here are some classification ideas for different subject areas:

EDCI-5774 Fundamentals of eLearning of 28 Lesson 6 – Strategies for eLearning

English – genré characteristics, poetry, types of fiction Math – whole numbers, fractions, negative numbers, geometrical figures Science – habitat, endangered animals, geographical location, adaptation Social Studies – human, economic and capital resources

A metaphor is a figure of speech or expression that is used to compare two seemingly unrelated subjects. Unlike a simile or analogy, a metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another. Creating metaphors involves identifying and articulating the underlying theme or general pattern in information and then finding another topic that appears to be quite different but has the same general pattern. Using metaphors helps learners connect fact fragments into meaningful wholes. Examples of metaphors include, “He was drowning in money,” “Life is just a bowl of cherries,” “That new worker is pretty green," "One's life ripens with experience,” “Instructional strategies are onions,” “America is freedom and promise,” “The graph of the sine function is a roller coaster,” “Writing is a process,” “The cell is a factory.” Bernice McCarthy says, “thinking in metaphors engages the imagination in ways that go both to the inside of things (their essence) and to the outside of things (their impact in the world).... Metaphors make connections from the known to the unknown, from the familiar to the unfamiliar...they are image-directed, rather than recall-directed, and as such are powerful leads to essence” (McCarthy, 2000, p. 102). She goes on to provide this exercise with images for thinking in metaphors (the first two are completed for the reader):

Be a bridge lead people to a new side Be a lantern help light the way Be rain Be a tree Be a bud Be a beach Be a blanket Be the earth Be a garden Be a mountain Be a circle (McCarthy, 2000, p. 102)

Creating analogies involves the process of identifying relationships between pairs of concepts, “identifying relationships between relationships.” Analogies can help learners make the connections or see the relationships between things that are very different. In addition, successful completion of analogy problems is a requirement on standardized tests in several states. Design your analogies to help learners understand abstract concepts by presenting the concept in terms of something the learners can visualize. Whenever possible, discuss the limitations of the analogy you are using.


The pattern is:

A:B::C:D, read as “A is to B as C is to D” For example, chick: hen :: kid: goat, would be read “a chick is to a hen, as a kid is to a goat.”

2. Summarizing & Note Taking

Summarizing Summarizing involves filling in missing parts and translating information into a synthesized form. There are basically three strategies for summarizing: • Rule-based summarizing, • Summary frames, and • Reciprocal teaching. Rule-based summarizing involves using certain rules or procedures to reduce the text and get to the main points, such as deleting trivia and redundancy. A detailed section on summary frames is included in your text, and additional information on reciprocal teaching follows the readings. The learning activities for this lesson will provide you with information on these strategies as well as ideas for implementing them in your classroom. In addition, there are many other strategies for summarizing that you may want to investigate, including finding or creating a main idea statement, story maps, and SQ3R. One of the strategies that works well for teaching summarizing is reciprocal teaching. Reciprocal teaching is an instructional strategy that involves four sub-strategies that good readers use to comprehend text: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing (Palincsar & Brown, 1984). Reciprocal teaching is a research-proven technique to increase reading comprehension and student achievement on standardized tests (Alfassi, 1998; Johnson-Glenberg, 2000; Lysynchuk, Pressley, & Vye, 1990; Miller, Miller, & Rosen, 1988; Oczuks, 2003; Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Westera & Moore, 1995). The National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000) advocates the use of reciprocal teaching as an effective teaching practice that improves students’ reading comprehension. (See more on reciprocal teaching at the end of this document.)


Taking Notes Note-taking requires the learner to transcribe information that they either hear (as from a lecture) or read. Taking notes is a more demanding task than merely reading or listening, because it also requires the learner to concurrently … • Manage the process of taking notes, • Comprehend what is being heard or read, • Select what is important, and • Physically produce the notes (Piolat, Olive, & Kellogg, 2004). To complicate matters further, the effort required to carry out this complex process increases as attention decreases during a lecture or reading. Taking notes from a lecture is more difficult than taking notes from a book because there is no opportunity to go back and review (re-read) information that was missed or misunderstood. Speaking can be about ten times faster than writing, therefore, note takers must mentally summarize and/or abbreviate words or concepts while listening, the required effort for which varies according to the learner’s background knowledge about the topic of the lecture. Listening and taking notes therefore requires more concurrent operations than reading and taking notes, and therefore places more demand on a learner’s working memory resources (Piolat, Olive, & Kellogg, 2004). This is why podcasts are a perfect application for lecture materials that are densely packed with information. The ability to review and replay the lecture enables the learner to learn the material more thoroughly. As an instructional designer, you should make sure that your learners know how to take notes from the instructional materials to which they will be exposed. For example, if you are developing a biology course for college freshmen who are non-biology majors, this may mean that you must introduce them to how to take notes from scientific readings. If your learners are ESL students, it may mean that you must provide the notes to your PowerPoint lectures so that they can compare their notes to what you felt was important. Providing the students with your notes will help them distinguish your style of lecturing (maybe you repeat everything that you put on the test three times), and they can then compare their notes to yours and revise their notes to reflect what they missed. You can also introduce learners to your lecture style by requiring them to draw a concept map during your lecture, and then providing them with the concept map you prepared following the lecture. (This strategy is also useful for identifying students’ misconceptions about the relationships between the concepts discussed.) Many strategies have been developed for taking notes from lectures and from books, including read-think-aloud, “trash-n-treasure,” key word, two-column note taking, Cornell (http://www.wcupa.edu/_academics/cae.tut/TCornell.htm ), coding text, use of abbreviations, outlining and paraphrasing to record information, 5 W’s + H, webbing and concept mapping and other graphic or visual organizers. There are as


http://www.wcupa.edu/_academics/cae.tut/TCornell.htm

many different ways of taking notes as there are learners since each individual must develop a system of note taking that works best for their own cognitive style. You may want to research some of these methods to familiarize yourself with several strategies options for your learners.

3. Reinforcing Effort & Providing Recognition

Reinforcing Effort The research of Marzano, Pickering and Pollock (2001) shows that people typically attribute their academic success or failure to one of four things: ability, effort, other people, or luck. Of these four beliefs, however, it is a belief in the value of effort that has the most potential to enhance academic achievement. As Marzano, et al., (2001) describe it, if you believe in your ability, that belief fails you when you encounter tasks for which you are unskilled. If you believe that your success depends on other people (peers, or the teacher), then if others are not around to help, you will not believe you are capable of accomplishing the task alone. If you believe in luck, when you encounter difficulty you may attribute your lack of success to your luck running out. On the other hand, if you believe in the value of effort to your academic success, you will have the motivation necessary to tackle academic challenges. By informing learners of the positive relationship between effort and achievement, and by providing them with methods for tracking their effort and the resulting achievement, you can help them realize the importance of their own effort to their academic success. Marzano and others (2001) recommend sharing stories of the value of effort; both your own stories and those of well-known role models and historical figures. Prompting learners to share personal stories of effort enables them to see the impact of effort in their own lives and to be inspired by each other. Guide learners in tracking their current effort and achievement. Online, this could be accomplished through the use of electronic charts and spreadsheets, instructions on the use of an online grade book within a learning management system, or use of a time management program. Providing Recognition Recognition can take many forms, from physical rewards to new responsibilities and praise. Everyone appreciates getting recognized and praised. Recognition and praise are essential to affirm a person’s effort and success as well as to establish the link between effort and academic success.


Effective praise meets certain criteria. Five general categories follow. Effective praise is:

1. Contingent – Your statements of praise should be related to the completion of activities to a pre-set level or standard of performance. Such praise should acknowledge self-improvement and can be effective without comparing or ranking the behavior against the accomplishments of others. “You fulfilled all the requirements for the assignment by the due date – that took some discipline and scheduling. Good work!”

2. Specific – Generalities like “You did a great job on that paper” do not communicate anything to learners. What made their paper great? To make this more specific, you might say: “You stated your arguments clearly and defended them with research from valid sources. Nice job.”

3. Sincere – If you don’t mean it, don’t say it; learners know when you are just trying to be nice or suspect that you are saying something complimentary just to gain their cooperation.

4. Varied – Try to vary the praise statements you use and avoid using the same phrases to over and over again. If in a group instructional situation, personalize the praise so that the learner recognizes it as unique, related to their own performance, and sincere.

5. Credible – Is your statement believable? A statement like, “That was such a good discussion, I’ll bet you all get in the 90’s on your next essay test!” might not have credibility unless you add some rationale for your statement.

One way to reward a group of learners is to hold celebrations when a project or unit is completed. For example, a world history teacher might devote a class period to a medieval feast celebrating the completion of a unit on the middle ages. Online this might consist of virtual fireworks or graphics, an online joke fest, or playing a session of multi-user game.

4. Homework & Practice

Mastering any type of skill requires a fair amount of focused practice, and more complex skills obviously require more practice than simple skills. You have doubtless heard the phrase, “practice makes perfect.” The sad truth is, however, that practice does not always make perfect. There are three elements necessary to ensure the success of practice: • the practice exercises should be aligned with educational goals and focus on essential skills and knowledge,

• learners should receive constructive feedback on their practice attempts, and • learners should receive coaching and mentoring from someone who cares about their success.


Cawelti (2004) cites more than 130 studies to support the idea that the more learners study, the more they learn. He emphasizes, however, that the learning activities must be aligned with the educational goals in terms of content and emphasis. What is most critical for your learners to know or be able to do? What are the enduring, essential skills and knowledge that they must master? These are the elements for which you must provide practice. Monitoring the process and providing learners with feedback is also essential to success. Mindless repetition, especially without constructive feedback on progress, can contribute to a negative experience that discourages rather than encourages the learner and erodes his confidence. Finally, the value of a caring mentor who encourages and provides pointers and suggestions for improvement cannot be over-emphasized. Practice allows learners to be active participants rather than passive observers in the learning process. You should provide your learners with both guided and independent practice. Guided practice is just that: an opportunity to interact with the learning material under the supervision and guidance of a teacher, an expert mentor, or even with a computer that provides guidance through artificial intelligence. Guided practice should be monitored to determine the progress of learning, to identify errors and misconceptions, and to judge whether remediation is necessary. Hunter (1984) emphasizes, “New knowledge is like wet cement; it is easily damaged. An error at the beginning of learning can be easily ‘set’ so that it is harder to eradicate than had it been apprehended immediately” (p. 176). Therefore, guided practice should be provided in small steps and closely supervised. Guided student practice can be thought of as a bridge between learning activities that present new material, and independent student practice. But what about the learners who “get it” quicker than others? Guided practice should be designed to flow into independent practice so that higher-achieving learners can be working independently while lower-achieving learners benefit from working closely with the teacher on the guided practice exercises. Have you ever provided a workshop or instruction where one or two learners were miles ahead of the rest of the group? Ensuring that your independent practice exercises are ready and clearly defined enables you to continue to challenge and keep those learners engaged while you work with the rest of the class. How do you know whether the guided practice you provided is effective? Effectiveness can be measured by the learners’ subsequent success at tackling the independent practice work. If learners achieve 80 percent accuracy on the independent exercises, the preparatory guided practice was conducted appropriately (Hofmeister & Lubke, 1990). Hofmeister and Lubke (1990) offer these suggestions for guided practice: • Have several examples ready in case some learners have difficulty relating to the first ones you use.

• Make certain that your examples are closely related to the topic or task.


• Use concrete examples, especially for more difficult concepts. • Move from the simple to the more complex. • When first presenting a concept, use positive examples rather than non-examples. Move to non-examples to compare and contrast only after identifying the main features or characteristics of the concept.

• Observe student performance during practice and make certain that at least 80 percent of your learners can complete at least 80 percent of the tasks assigned to them during the allotted time, with at least 80 percent accuracy.

• If success rates of most learners are consistently below 65 percent, you are teaching over the learners heads or have not prepared them effectively for the questions or tasks.

• Plan alternatives for learners who are not quite getting the skill. (p. 19) Independent practice is assigned as either seatwork or homework, and it should be designed to require learners to work on newly taught skills in familiar formats or tasks, thus reinforcing and consolidating skill acquisition. The research shows that for material to be internalized and concepts and processes to be learned, the material must be practiced independently (Hunter, 1984; Gagne, 1974). Independent practice is provided after skills and strategies have been explicitly taught and practiced under teacher direction or supervision. Learners should be at least 80 percent successful in their guided practice, and they should continue independent practice until they are 100 percent successful (Hofmeister & Lubke, 1990). It may even be desirable to learn a skill to the level of automaticity, when the learner can perform the skill successfully, easily, and without having to think through the steps involved in performing it. Learning to this level is referred to as overlearning, and is particularly important for building-block skills that will be used and built-upon throughout life, such as elementary mathematics and reading. Hofmeister and Lubke (1990) offer these suggestions for independent practice: • During independent work, success rates should be between 90 and 100 percent. • Use independent practice time to provide further guided practice for learners who need additional assistance.

• Accompany independent practice with daily, weekly and monthly reviews to ensure that content that has been previously mastered is not forgotten. (p. 20)

In a K-12 environment as well as in other environments, effective teachers devote between 15 and 20 percent of instructional time to weekly and monthly reviews (Good & Grouws, 1979). A weekly mastery test on the week’s content can serve as a review and can provide feedback on the effectiveness of instruction. It can also provide a valid measure of student progress for grading purposes. With the exception of such mastery tests, learners are generally not evaluated for a grade on practice activities, although teachers may give a grade for the completion of independent


practice assigned as homework (although not necessarily the accurate completion of that homework). Determining What and How to Practice The type of practice provided depends on the type of knowledge or task being learned (Smith & Ragan, 2005). For example, when learning concepts, students benefit when first given a variety of examples and non-examples of the concept, and are then asked to provide examples of the concept. When learning principles, learners benefit from being asked to apply the principle to a situation. For psychomotor skills, they should be given the opportunity to both recall the procedure and to physically demonstrate the skill or part of the skill. Practice opportunities come in many forms. They may include formative assessments that feature true/false, multiple choice, short answer, or essay items. They may also include activities such as simulations, role-playing, or on-the-job performance opportunities. It is essential that you provide learners with practice experiences that are relevant, authentic for both the instructional context and the “end-use” context (the next subject, next course, college, or a job). The practice experiences should also be anchored in a familiar situation (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). As you consider the materials you will use in the instructional design, you should investigate whether practice opportunities are already available or can be provided through computer software. In classroom situations, this type of computer-based practice will provide learners with immediate feedback and will free the instructor to work individually with students. Homework An analysis of the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) for the effect of motivation, attitude, and academic engagement on the achievement of eighth graders, found that the strongest effect on student achievement was the amount of time spent on academic engagement in the form of homework assignments (Singh, Granville, & Dika, 2002). A synthesis of studies on the effects of homework in various subjects shows that it yields positive effects on academic achievement. “The effects are almost tripled when instructors take time to grade the work, make corrections and specific comments on improvements that can be made, and discuss problems and remedies with individual students or the whole class” (Cawelti, 2004, p. 28). Cawelti (2004) likens homework to a three-legged stool that is supported by the teacher’s feedback, parent monitoring, and student completion. If any of the three “legs” is weak, the stool can collapse. Homework teaches children how to take responsibility for tasks and how to work independently. It also teaches skills that help them function effectively in the world of work and family. Specifically, homework provides an opportunity to teach students to plan and organize tasks, manage time, make choices, and problem solve. Parents


are often frustrated and uninformed about how and whether to help their children with homework. The K-12 teacher can help by providing resources to aid them in their attempts to help their children learn from homework assignments. How does homework function to help the adult learner? Sometimes, teachers are reluctant to assign much homework because of the substantial chore of grading and providing feedback. You can relieve some of this workload by having students grade their own and other’s work, or by providing online homework with built-in, immediate feedback on the results. Remember, too, that effective homework is relevant to the lessons to be learned and is in keeping with your students’ abilities. Getting Students to Do Their Homework Some teachers lament that their biggest challenge is getting students to do their homework. A Google search will yield many strategies for encouraging students to finish their homework. One strategy for homework that consists of readings is to use an activity that involves social pressure. For example, the fishbowl strategy can be used effectively to involve students in a discussion that requires them to make a contribution based on the previous night’s reading homework. The strategy works this way: A homework assignment involving reading is given to students along with a list of questions about the reading. The next day, the students are instructed to form two concentric circles. Those in the inner circle are to discuss the questions and readings and those in the outer circle are to observe the inner circle (the “fishbowl”) and take notes on their observations. Students in the inner circle must make a substantive contribution to the discussion (you define your requirements for a substantive contribution when the homework is assigned).

One version of the strategy allows students to leave the inner circle when they have made a contribution, selecting their replacement from the outer circle. At the end of the exercise, students in the outer circle are asked to share their observations concerning the discussion and the process. The fishbowl strategy is so named because it involves group members' observations of one another. In another version of the strategy, the students are instructed to develop questions from the readings that they will then pose to their classmates during the fishbowl exercise.


Determining the Right Amount of Homework While there is much disagreement in the research literature on the value of large amounts of homework, there is some agreement on the importance of the following guidelines for homework: • Requiring a session of at least fifteen minutes per night per subject is helpful. • The homework should serve to consolidate and review. • Students should not be encountering new material or have high error rates in homework assignments.

• Homework should be checked promptly (Hofmeister & Lubke, 1990). Obviously, the amount of homework assigned to students should be different from elementary, to middle school, to high school. The rule of thumb provided by Marzano, Pickering and Pollock (2001) recommends 10 minutes of homework for each grade level (for example, a third grader would have 30 minutes of homework and a twelfth grader would have 120 minutes). Educators disagree over the role and amount of involvement that parents should have in homework. You should take time to reflect on your homework policy and how you will communicate it to your students, and if and how you will communicate it to parents. Your text provides an example of a homework policy and the next learning activity will give you an opportunity to work on your own policy. Depending on your students and content, you may also find it useful to provide students with a homework checklist that reminds them and/or their parents of outstanding homework assignments. Alternatively, you can require students to use a chart to keep track of their own homework status.

5. Nonlinguistic Representations

Marzano, Pickering and Pollock (2001) emphasize that “representing similarities and differences in graphic or symbolic form enhances students’ understanding of and ability to use knowledge” (p. 16). This fact links the strategy to that of using non-linguistic representations. Use of non-linguistic representations is important because not all learners have strengths in the verbal/linguistic and mathematical/logical intelligences. Unfortunately, the majority of instruction in Western schools is geared toward those with verbal/linguistic and mathematical/logical intelligences. Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences asserts that there are many intelligences besides verbal/linguistic and mathematical/logical by which students learn, and many of these intelligences can be activated using non-linguistic representations. • graphic organizers – Are used to organize declarative knowledge or information and help to show patterns and relationships. For example, compare/contrast organizers, concept maps, Venn diagrams, sequence charts, cause-and-effect maps, K-W-L


(Know, Want to know, Learned) charts, T-charts and hierarchies. The types of graphic organizers that correspond to the most common organizational patterns for information include: descriptive patterns, time-sequence patterns, process/cause-effect patterns, episode patterns, generalization/principle patterns, and concept patterns.

• pictographic representations – Are created by drawing pictures or pictographs. Examples of pictographs include computer symbols; some road signs; stick people; hieroglyphics; Chinese characters; and Indian pictographs such as a triangle for a tepee, a lightning bolt for a storm, and a bow-and-arrow for hunting or war.

• mental images – Constructing or imagining a mental picture of something is a direct way to represent knowledge non-linguistically. For example, visualization and imagination exercises, some mnemonic techniques for remembering information, and videos of powerful images can all yield effective mental images. (For example, view the free featured video at http://www.brainpop.com/ )

• physical models – Are concrete representations of the knowledge that is being learned. For example, math and science manipulatives, the ever-popular 3-D models of land regions and villages that students frequently build, and globes.

• kinesthetic representations – Are those that involve physical movement. For example, singing songs with hand movements or sign language, acting out content, role-play, and games like Charades.

Daniels and Bizar (2005) write that “many of the most powerful ‘writing’ variants – like clustering, mapping, or webbing – actually combine words with some kind of drawing or graphic element. When you divide a journal page into two columns, or array ideas in two overlapping circles, or begin to draw arrows between concepts, you are using spatial and artistic, as well as linguistic, strategies to help you think” (p. 79). Graphic organizers are frequently designed to “require learners to identify and represent ideas presented in instruction and spatially indicate the relationships among these ideas” (Smith & Ragan, 2005, p. 161). Graphic organizers may be part of the teacher’s presentation or can be generated by learners, and they serve as a very effective aid to summarizing the main points in a lesson. Smith and Ragan (2005) claim that providing learners with partially-completed graphic organizers which learners must then complete can be a more effective strategy than providing completed organizers or than asking students to create a summary from scratch.

6. Cooperative eLearning

Traditionally, learning experiences have been designed to be independent, even competitive, endeavors in which learners are responsible for their own assignments,


progress and grades. However, this type of education does not prepare learners for the workforce where they must work in teams and cooperate on tasks and projects. Cooperative learning activities foster social interaction and develop learners’ social attitudes, behaviors and team skills essential for success in the work world (Miller, 1995; Tyrell, 1990). Cooperative learning is the process of grouping two or more students to work together to learn.

In cooperative learning environments, students are grouped either heterogeneously (participants with differing abilities) or homogeneously (participants with similar abilities) to accomplish tasks that are both big and small, short-term and long-term. Learners may complete a variety of learning activities to master material provided by an instructor, or they may work together to construct knowledge on substantive issues. Such groups are most successful when each member of the team is responsible for learning what is taught and for helping teammates learn.

There are many advantages to having students work in small, cooperative groups. Small group sizes allow learners to discuss content, share and discuss ideas, solve problems, and gain exposure to and consider a variety of viewpoints on a given subject. The teacher becomes a learning facilitator rather than the “sage on the stage,” and as a result, students take on leadership roles and work together to reach group goals. Research shows that cooperative learning can be more effective than competitive efforts in promoting cognitive development, self-esteem, and positive student-student relationships. Consider these results from a review of the research on cooperative learning in a variety of subjects, reported by Cawelti (2004):

• “Students in small, self-instructing groups can support and increase each other’s learning.... students learn teamwork, how to give and receive criticism, and how to plan, monitor, and evaluate their individual and joint activities with others” (p. 35).

• “Providing students with models of competent interpersonal and small-group communication behaviors, as well as opportunities to practice these behaviors, will help them become more effective learners across the curriculum” (p. 150).

• “Using small groups of students to work on activities, problems, and assignments can increase student mathematics achievement” (p. 168).

• Peer tutoring (the tutoring of slower or younger students by more advanced students) promotes effective learning in both the tutors and the tutees. Tutors themselves benefit from having to organize their thoughts to communicate them in a way that others can understand, from becoming aware of the value of time, and from learning managerial and social skills (p. 33)

In short, the research illustrates that in cooperative learning groups it is cooperation, not competition, which provides the glue to hold the classroom learning community together (Cawelti, 2004; Hattie, 1992; Marzano, 1998; Wenglinsky, 2002).


Cooperative learning activities are used to teach many things and to accomplish several purposes in the classroom, including:

• Problem-solving • Collaboration • Interaction • Engagement • Improved achievement • Development of positive attitudes and self-confidence

Many researchers have conducted meta-analyses and reviews of the literature to conclude that cooperative learning strategies are effective to promote active engagement of students and raise achievement, as well as motivate and improve social interactions (Hattie, 1992; Marzano, 1998; Peterson & Miller, 2004; Stockdale & Williams, 2004; Vaughan, 2002; Wenglinsky, 2002).

In much of the literature, as well as in this course, the terms “collaboration” and “cooperation” are used interchangeably. However, Johnson and Johnson (1996; 1998) describe both terms as existing on a continuum, opposite competition, as illustrated below:


Brothers David and Roger Johnson are acknowledged pioneers of cooperative learning strategies, and they have contributed a wealth of helpful implementation structures, research findings and strategies for collaborative learning. Together they founded the Cooperative Learning Center at the University of Minnesota (http://www.co-operation.org/). Their strategies are grounded in Social Interdependence Theory. To learn more about Social Interdependence Theory, see their article, “Cooperative Learning And Social Interdependence Theory” available at: http://www.co-operation.org/pages/SIT.html

Cooperative learning can be accomplished online, as well as in face-to-face instructional situations. Therefore, many of the guidelines for face-to-face experiences also apply to online experiences. To effectively use groups requires careful planning, and the cooperative learning experiences must be designed to:

• feature strategies that fit the content, and methods and questions that are appropriate;

• set expectations for collaboration rather than individual performance; • teach and reinforce norms for behavior in groups (e.g., listen to all points of

view, keep confidences, complete assigned tasks on time, attend group meetings, etc.);

• monitor and provide assistance as needed; • foster productive teams that include roles (e.g., information seeker, recorder,

timekeeper, reporter, etc.); • provide equitable assessment opportunities (e.g., the grading system should

reflect the requirement that the group works together).

While it is difficult to accurately assess the performance of individuals within a group setting, there are several assessment strategies that can be used to accomplish this task. These strategies range from allowing students to rate their group peers on the percentage of the work contributed to a group task, to the use of rubrics to rate participation.

In an online setting, cooperative group work can be accomplished by tasking groups with setting their own online meeting schedule, or by using “breakout” rooms in a learning management system. If the later strategy is used, the facilitator must regularly visit the groups and listen quietly to monitor their progress and offer assistance when they become frustrated, confused on what they are to do or how to do it, or when they seem unable to resolve conflict. However, avoid interrupting the group process if possible, so that the learners will not depend on your intervention. Over time, you will learn how to use groups wisely to improve student learning, and how to group students for maximum team success. The following learning activity


http://www.co-operation.org/

http://www.co-operation.org/pages/SIT.html

will provide an opportunity to read about and form your own plan for grouping strategies.

The key to success is designing activities that emphasize each element of cooperative learning identified by Johnson and Johnson (cited by Marzano, Norford, Paynter, Pickering & Gaddy, 2001):

1. Positive interdependence (a sense of sink or swim together) 2. Face-to-face promotional interaction (helping each other learn, applauding

success and efforts) 3. Individual and group accountability (each group member must contribute to

the group goals) 4. Interpersonal and small group skills (communication, trust, leadership,

decision making, and conflict resolution) 5. Group processing (reflecting on team functioning and how to improve that

functioning)

You should also find the following list of 10 characteristics of successful teams helpful (from The Pfieffer Book of Successful Team-building Tools, Biech, 2001, pp. 13-26):

10 Characteristics of Successful Teams

1. Clear Goals – Well-defined goals are necessary so that all team members understand the purpose and vision of the team and where it is headed. Since people tend to support what they help to create, team members involved in establishing group goals will work to achieve them.

2. Defined Roles – Group members must understand their job function and leaders must tap into the skills and talents of group members. There are two kinds of roles necessary in team meetings: (a) Task roles- people in these roles supply the energy and information to get the job done; and (b) Maintenance roles – people in these roles help to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships among group members.

3. Open and Clear Communication - One of the most important characteristics for optimal functioning is open and clear communication between team members. Problems that emerge in groups can often be traced back to communication problems and effective communication keeps the team informed and focused. Communication “break-downs” can often be attributed to poor listening skills. Team members should work to develop an attitude of respectful listening that is attentive and focused on the message and the speaker. Distractions should be discouraged, and students should be cautioned to listen to the entire message before forming a conclusion about it.


4. Effective Decision Making - Awareness of various decision-making methods can help a team make efficient decisions. Consensus is considered one of the best methods to use; however, team members should select a method that works best for them by weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

5. Balanced Participation - This can be defined as full involvement, and it occurs when team members make appropriate contributions, and the opinions of all are valued and solicited. Leaders can create a climate that fosters participation by communicating their expectations for participation early, by learning each member’s name, and by getting to know the members between meetings.

6. Valued Diversity - Diversity of thinking, ideas, problem solving and experiences helps to create an effective team where all members are valued for their unique skills and talents.

7. Managed Conflict – To ensure a team’s growth, members should seek to acknowledge issues and conflicts rather than avoid them. When conflict is managed effectively the benefits to the team include:

o The ability to communicate differences and seek common goals; o The perspective resulting from being forced to consider all points of

view; o Improved creativity resulting from the examination of assumptions; o Improved quality of decisions resulting from the need to find solutions

that meet the objectives of all team members; o Opportunity to express negative emotions that, if repressed, could later

derail the team objectives; o Increased participation from team members resulting from a comfort

level that allows them to express and discuss disagreements.

8. Positive Atmosphere - An effective team has an open climate where members are comfortable with each other and are not afraid to take risks. In a positive atmosphere, creativity can be expressed and laughter shared. Trust is a key element is creating this atmosphere, and it can be built through honesty, accessibility, acceptance, and dependability. A credible leader walks the walk.

9. Cooperative Relationships – When team members work cooperatively, the strength of each member is being utilized because everyone realizes that combining the skills of numerous people will produce something that could not be created alone. In cooperative relationships, feedback is given and received constructively, evaluations are acted upon, and success is celebrated.


10. Participative Leadership – When leadership is shared among team members, everyone takes responsibility for progress and feels that their contributions are valued and respected.

7. Setting Objectives & Providing Feedback

Learning objectives or outcomes can help learners organize knowledge by providing a purpose to which they can link information. Objectives tell learners what is expected of them, and what to expect from your instruction. To help learners become more self-directed and responsible for their own learning, some research suggests that objectives should be written in a general way to enable learners to "personalize" them to fit with their own learning goals (Marzano, Pickering & Pollock, 2001). Feedback is evaluative or corrective information provided to a student about how they did in light of some learning goal. Feedback tells the learner what was and what was not accomplished or learned, and how well it was learned. Over many decades, a wide variety of research indicates that immediate feedback in the form of knowledge of results significantly enhances both short-term and long-term learning (Cassidy, 1950; Cawelti, 2004; Makin, White, & Owen, 1996; Peterson, 1931). You can provide feedback directly to the student, can provide opportunities for peer feedback, or can enable the student to self-evaluate for feedback. The level of feedback provided varies from an overall grade or percentage of correct responses, to knowledge of which responses were correct and which were incorrect, to knowledge of the correct answers for all incorrect responses, to a detailed explanation of why incorrect responses were wrong. Feedback in the form of encouraging remarks and praise should also be given to students who have made attempts to improve. Consider the following guidelines for effective feedback:

• Feedback should always be constructive – supportive rather than demeaning.

• When giving feedback, avoid the use of slang. • Feedback should be designed to increase the learner’s capability to perform better in the future.

• Feedback should be related to the learner’s response, and should provide information concerning the correct answer when provided in response to an erroneous answer.

• Feedback should never convey to the learner that he or she is "stupid" or "a dummy."

• Humorous feedback in any form tends to get old very fast. • Feedback should not be misleading or ambiguous. • Feedback should occur as quickly as possible.


• Feedback is valuable to the learning process because it corrects mistakes and reinforces learning; gives students information on their progress; can create open, positive discussion; increases motivation; and conveys that the teacher is interested in the student and his/her progress.

8. Generating & Testing Hypotheses

Another of the nine effective instructional strategies proven to positively impact student achievement is building activities that prompt your learners to generate and test hypotheses (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). When learners complete learning activities that prompt them to generate and test hypotheses, they are using higher-order thinking skills and applying knowledge to solve problems. Generating and testing hypotheses are activities that are used not just in the science fields but in every field, and asking “What if?” questions applies to all subject areas and grade levels. Marzano, et al (2001) describes six different types of tasks for engaging learners in generating and testing hypotheses:

1. Systems Analysis 2. Problem Solving 3. Decision-making 4. Historical Investigation 5. Experimental Inquiry 6. Invention

“Which comes first, the rule or the e.g.?” Actually, either. Instructional designers can present concepts either deductively (rule/example) or inductively (example/rule). Tasks which engage learners in generating and testing hypotheses provide them with practice in both inductive and deductive reasoning skills. When designers provide learners with opportunities to observe and examine evidence and then make a prediction based on that evidence, they are presenting information inductively. Inductive reasoning goes from the specific (observations, data, figures) to the general (rules, theories, laws); from observation and examination of the evidence to a conclusion based on that evidence. On the other hand, when you provide general principles and rules and then prompt learners to make predictions about specific situations, your instruction is deductive. When someone begins by forming a hypothesis, they are basically concluding by guessing, and they must then collect evidence that will either prove or disprove their hypothesis.


It is important that learners have experience reasoning both inductively and deductively. Much of the instruction at the college level is taught deductively, starting with generalities and working to specifics. However, from a very young age, children tend to learn inductively, observing the world around them, testing things and people, and making general conclusions based on their observations. By providing practice in both methods, you will prepare your learners for a more balanced approach to learning about their world. Researchers recommend that learners be asked to explain their hypotheses and conclusions. You can help learners think more deeply about the process of generating and testing hypotheses with questions that engage them in higher level thinking. Consider the following questions and how they might extend and enhance the process of generating and testing hypotheses: • What are some examples that we can add to our list to test

with our current hypothesis? • How are these examples similar to and different from each

other? • What is a label for the concept or category that we are

discussing? • How did you develop your hypothesis? • Did you change your hypothesis? If so, why? • What are the different types of hypotheses created by our

class? • How many did you create? How many did the whole class

create?

Strategies for Generating & Testing Hypotheses

#1 - Systems Analysis

Your learners belong to many systems. If you run a K-12 classroom, your learners are not only part of your class, they are also part of a grade or several grades made up of students that are approximately the same age in your school. The school is part of the district, which is part of the state educational system. Your students are also part of a family system, and so on. Knowing about and operating within systems is part of everyday life. You can use systems analysis to prompt students to generate and test hypotheses through evaluating the parts of a system and predicting what would happen if one aspect of a system were to change. A change in a single element often produces a significant impact on the rest of the system.


Election upsets illustrate how one vote makes a difference; a drop of black paint can change the color on an artist’s palette; and the ten-minute delay of one aircraft’s take-off in the morning can throw off the schedule for the entire airport by the afternoon.

There are many interesting simulations available online that allow learners to manipulate a situation or an environment and make predictions about outcomes. Will Wright’s company Maxis was one of the first to popularize these type of simulations with the release of SimCity in 1989. This was quickly followed by a whole series of simulations including SimSafari, Sim Farm, SimIlse, and more.

Identifying the parts of a system and describing the relationships between those parts and how they affect one another is an involved process, and systems analysis problems are often interdisciplinary and usually ill-structured, with no one “best,” set solution. However, they are real-life problems and you have only to pick up the paper to read examples of systems analysis problems that confront people and communities on a daily basis, for example:

• Where to locate a new municipal landfill • How to develop a policy for rent control in Chicago • How to pass a new funding law in a parliamentary country • What to advise the president on political strategies in the Middle East • How to resolve or at least mitigate racial prejudices in Malaysian schools • How to encourage biodiversity in Third World countries • What levels of farm subsidies to recommend in the Midwest

You can obtain ideas for systems analysis exercises by visiting the Union of International Associations web site (www.uia.org), which maintains a database of 30,000 problems around the world.


http://www.uia.org/

#2 - Problem Solving

In both the public and private sectors of society, the best problem solvers dominate the market. Engineers, builders, marketers, chemists, politicians, social workers, and maintenance workers are paid to solve problems. Problem solving is a part of our everyday experience and it is found everywhere, so it should be used frequently in schools. Jonassen (2003) describes problems as being either well-structured (like the traditional math story problem), or ill-structured. Ill-structured problems are commonly encountered in everyday life and they have solutions that cannot be predicted. In addition, such problems are often interdisciplinary (must be solved using concepts and principles from several domains), and possess many or no solutions, many “unknowns,” and require different and more critical thinking skills.

Well-designed, relevant projects can provide learners with practical experience and a sense of accomplishment. In addition, the process of presenting a project to an entire class prompts learners to elaborate on and extend their learning. When projects are critiqued by both peers, learners have the opportunity to obtain more diverse viewpoints and feedback on their work. Individual or group projects might include simulations, role playing, case studies, problem-solving exercises, group collaborative work, debates, small group discussion, and brainstorming.

Project-Based Learning - Project-based learning is a related strategy that can also be used to engage learners in generating and testing hypotheses. Both problem-solving and project-based learning involve experiential, hands-on student-directed learning experiences and both are often long-term and interdisciplinary. Both forms can be conducted as either individual or group learning exercises.

Close to a century ago, the progressive educator John Dewey promoted “learning by doing” and advocated the use of project-based learning activities to simulate real problems and real problem solving (1933). For the past two decades, schools are witnessing a revival of project-based learning and teachers are encouraging students to help choose their own projects and to create learning opportunities based upon their individual interests and strengths.


#3 - Decision-Making

Many adults would benefit from instruction in decision-making, and therefore it is a very vital skill that should be explicitly taught whenever possible.

#4 - Historical Investigation

Historical investigations can sometimes seem pretty unrelated to learners’ every day lives. One way to make them more relevant is to allow learners to investigate their own family genealogy or a historical event that occurred in their own community. One creative teacher took her Social Studies students to a local cemetery and had them select an old gravestone and do a graving rubbing. Later, the students were to “adopt” the person, investigate the historical era when they lived, and write a diary for the person. Historical fiction works can also liven up an investigation, helping learners to see how authors handle the “what if?” questions about history and how historical figures might have interacted with those around them.

#5 - Experimental Inquiry

Experimental Inquiry is a variation of inquiry that involves observation, analysis, prediction, testing, and re-evaluation. Experimental inquiry is not just a technique to use with science classes, but can be used in all disciplines. For example, T.V. news programs often pose questions for viewers, asking them to call in or email to register a vote on the issue displayed. Your learners can do their own inquiry, surveying peers, relatives, or others to collect data to either prove a hypothesis or to analyze for developing a hypothesis. If the process is new for your learners, supply them with graphic organizers and forms to record their observations, and give them practice articulating their findings.


#6 – Invention Imagine! Somewhere out in the classrooms of America, or in the online classes of universities, there may be the next Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, or Leonardo Da Vinci. What can you do to foster that sort of potential through your instructional design? One way to spark creativity in learners and to make learning fun is to involve them in a project that requires them to invent something. You can prime their learning by having them search for patent numbers on items at home and then visit the U.S. Patent Office site where they can enter the patent number and see the very plans submitted for the patent! (http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html).

Invention can be used in the process of teaching any design discipline, and can also be taught as a subject in its own right. Teaching learners about inventions can be as simple as announcing a contest to see which group can make the tallest structure with tape and straws. Each group then makes a prediction concerning the sort of configuration necessary to support a tall structure and tests their hypothesis by constructing the structure.

Case Studies Note that case studies can be used with any of the above strategies for generating and testing hypotheses. Case studies emphasize practical thinking and prompt learners to draw upon their past experiences and prior knowledge to analyze a situation and solve a problem. Case studies are real or imagined scenarios, vignettes, or anecdotal accounts that can be used along with other instructional strategies (such as any of the tasks for generating and testing hypotheses) to provide authentic learning experiences. Effective case studies are those that are relevant and interesting for learners and that match their experience level. For example, with systems analysis, the case report would consist of facts regarding the system, the environmental context, and descriptions of the stakeholders involved in the case. In addition to facts, it would also contain the opinions and views of the people involved. Learners would then prompted to consider a change in the system or a problem that might require change. Learners can work individually or in groups to analyze the situation and come to a conclusion. Later, they are given access to problem solutions or impact statements so that they can compare their own conclusions with actual case results.


http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

9. Cues, Questions & Advance Organizers

Cues, prompts and probes help students explain their thinking or uncover incorrect reasoning. Cues and prompts are defined as “any verbal or nonverbal expression (usually by the teacher) that assists students in making connections or associations that will facilitate correct responses” (Walsh & Sattes, 2005, p. 170). The teacher uses prompts that guide the student toward more complex behaviors. For example, when trying to teach students the Greek prefixes for numbers, a teacher might prompt with the statement, “A monocle is a lens that is used in only _____ eye.” Or, in teaching the names of colors in a foreign language, the instructor can cue or prompt students by writing the foreign word using the color itself:

BLAU (the German word for the color blue)

The challenge for teachers is to provide appropriate prompts that give responding students the opportunity to give full and complete answers, in a way that uncovers misunderstandings. Probes are follow-up questions that you and other students can use to seek more information from the responding student, to clarify and extend responses, and to enhance the learning of the whole class. Useful probes that move a student’s thinking to higher levels might include: “Can you tell me more about that?” “What do you think about that?” “What do you think the next step would be?” or “If you were the one affected, how would you handle that situation?” Questioning is one of the oldest strategies used in the teaching profession. The Greek philosopher Socrates was the first to popularize the method, and the early 20th century progressive educator, John Dewey (1933), considered questions the very core of teaching. In many cases, questions form the structure of a lesson plan and are central in the delivery of instruction. They also promote discussion and interaction in the classroom. Questioning techniques should support deeper learning by:

• Asking questions that require students to think at all the cognitive levels in Bloom’s revised taxonomy.

• Redirecting questions to other students. • Posing questions before calling on students.

Encouraging attention to and respect for peer answers by not repeating student answers, so that students pay better attention to and respect their peer’s responses (Walsh & Sattes, 2005). Recall that Bloom’s revised taxonomy illustrates a progression of thinking skills from the more basic skills of remembering, understanding, and applying (typically used for declarative facts, procedures and events), to the more complex skills of analyzing,


evaluating, and creating (synthesizing). The level of the question is determined by what you are trying to get the student to do in response. Several researchers have identified levels of questioning that correspond to four of Bloom’s cognitive thinking skills levels: recall (which corresponds to the “remember” level), comprehension (understanding), analysis, and evaluation (Crunkilton & Krebs, 1982; Callahan & Clarke, 1988). Unfortunately, from 75 to 80% of the questions posed to elementary and secondary students are at the knowledge recall (remembering) level. However, the research shows that when students are provided with opportunities to answer higher-level questions by using the skills of analysis, summarization, and evaluation, they also score better on tests that measure recall and understanding (Gall, 1984; Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001; Redfield & Rousseau, 1981). If students do not answer a question immediately or give an answer that is different from the one sought, teachers will often answer their own questions. As a result, interaction decreases and the teacher often lapses into a monologue that potentially puts students to sleep. However, when teachers redirect unanswered or incorrectly answered questions, they can direct and facilitate a discussion without dominating it. If a teacher calls on a student to answer before posing a question, other students often do not attempt to formulate a response. (For example, “Steven, why did Germany invade France via Belgium?”) When you pose a question prior to selecting a specific student for the answer, it communicates that all students are responsible for formulating an answer. The research indicates that teachers typically wait less than one second after asking a question before calling on a student to answer. Silences can be extremely uncomfortable, but the research shows that when teachers wait three to five seconds after asking a question and before calling on a student for an answer, students tend to give longer responses, answer more frequently at higher intellectual levels, demonstrate more confidence in their answers, and ask more questions to clarify understanding (Barnette, et al, 1995; Hunkins, 1995; Rowe, 1986; Tobin, 1987). This is referred to as Wait Time 1. Furthermore, when teachers wait three to five seconds after a student answers a question before providing feedback, students tend to answer more completely. This is referred to as Wait Time 2, defined as the time period immediately following a student’s answer. When teachers use Wait Time 2, students tend to consider and expand upon their responses, tend to draw more conclusions, ask more questions, increase interactions with other students, and demonstrate more confidence in their responses (Barnette, et al, 1995; Hunkins, 1995; Rowe, 1986; Tobin, 1987). In short, allowing more wait time before calling on students and after students provide answers increases the depth of student thinking. Good questions foster good class discussions. Close-ended questions are those that can be answered with a one-word, or simple “yes” or “no” answer. Such questions typically do not encourage further discussion. Open-ended questions, on the other hand, are those that force respondents to talk, give information, further the


discussion or to ask questions themselves. There are a number of different types of open-ended questions, including: • Factual questions which generally ask “who?” “what?” “where?” or “when?” • Justifying questions used to challenge old ideas or misconceptions or to develop new ideas (e.g., “how would you defend...?” “what is the justification for...?” or “why do you think...?”)

• Hypothetical questions which ask “what if?” and are used to explore unknown topics or to change the course of a discussion.

• Alternative questions used to help a group make decisions between alternatives and to gain agreement or consensus on a topic or project.

Marzano, et al, (2001) provides examples of other types of questions including inferential and analytic questions. Posing questions and encouraging students to develop their own questions engages students in active learning. The research on active learning concludes that “educational outcome depends to a large degree on how much of themselves students put into what they study” (Morgan, 2003, p. 361). When students are engaged in answering and posing questions, they invest themselves in the topic and learn far more than they would otherwise. Advance organizers are another way of providing students with help in organizing their learning. First introduced by the American psychologist David Ausubel (1960; 1962; 1968), advance organizers are learning aids given to students to help them organize and interpret new, forth-coming information. Advance organizers provide information and a structure to tie the new information to, and they have been shown to work best when the learners have no prior knowledge or experience with the topic (Mayer, 2003). Since research shows that a person’s prior knowledge (also referred to as “schemas” or “mental models”) affects what they remember from a unit of instruction (Anderson, Spiro & Anderson, 1978), the advance organizer provides the appropriate prerequisite knowledge, thus making new material meaningful and more easily learned and remembered. Ausubel recommended the use of advance organizers to provide intellectual “scaffolding” for learners (Ausubel, 1968, p. 148). If the learner has prior knowledge of the subject, the advance organizer can be used to help them recall that prior knowledge. Ausubel recommended that advance organizers be written at a higher level of abstraction than the learning material with the goal of “explaining, integrating, and interrelating the material they precede “ (Ausubel, 1968, p. 148). While summaries or overviews usually present information at the same level of abstraction as the instruction itself, advance organizers (such as an outline), serve to provide learners with a framework on which to pin the more comprehensive information presented through the instruction.



What type of advance organizers can be used to help your students? Advance organizers can be linguistic or nonlinguistic (graphic-, image-, or model-based), and many graphic structures typically used for other purposes can be repurposed to serve as advance organizers. There are many ways to expose students to information before they "learn" it. You should vary the style of advance organizers that you use by telling a story, modeling strategies for skimming a text, or creating a graphic image. Some examples follow: • Pictographs • Concept maps • Cause/effect process organizers • Hierarchical charts and graphs • KWL (Know, Want to Know, Learn) charts • Venn diagrams • Brainstorming exercises

identifying similarities & differences

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