Question
An effective teacher continually seeks out ways to engage students. Implementing a variety of instructional strategies creates a learning environment that optimizes student achievement. When students are provided with multiple ways to express their understanding, learning becomes meaningful for all learners.
This assignment will require you to demonstrate your understanding of the instructional strategies advocated by Larson and Keiper (2013). You will discover the following categories of instructional strategies and how to implement them in your classroom.
o Lecture/Interactive Presentation
o Questioning
o Concept Formation
o Cooperative Learning
o Simulations, Role-Play, and Dramatization
o Discussion and Debate
o Student-Directed Investigation
First paragraph: explain how you plan on implementing the instructional strategy in your classroom
Second paragraph: discuss why you believe this approach is a good choice for your class; and what are some potential challenges to anticipate?
The new approach is not as authentic as implementation; however, I trust the combination of your previous classroom experience combined with the metacognitive approach will still prove beneficial for your professional practice. Good strategists often anticipate challenges and plan accordingly!
Please choose any of the 4 bullet points and discuss them according to the assignment update. Below is the one of the references that must be included into the reference page. The others should come from reputable sources. NO BLOGS or Forums. I would stick to mostly to Peer Reviewed Journal Articles.
Solution
Instructional Strategies Implementation
Teachers use instructional strategies to assist learners in becoming independent creators and users of knowledge. The approaches become learning strategies when learners become independent selectors of the means to achieve their learning goals and objectives. Instructional strategies are motivating and help students to organize information and use it to support their education process. Teachers are expected to apply practical strategies to support teaching and learning by engaging students. Student-centered approaches are the most effective because they place the student at the center of learning. In this approach, the teacher can work with learners to select the most effective strategies to implement in classrooms. Larson and Keiper (2013) propose several effective instructional strategies, such as lecture/interactive presentation, questioning, concept formation, cooperative learning, simulations, role-play, and dramatization, discussion and debate, and student-directed investigation. To achieve success in my high school computer science class and help students to understand IT-related concepts, I will use cooperative learning; discussion and debate; student-directed investigation; and questioning.
Implementation Plan
Cooperative learning is one of the most effective methods in the delivery of content in computer science. The strategy involves organizing learners in small groups to achieve common goals in their learning process (Larson & Keiper, 2013; Slavin, 2015). Students work in groups or teams to complete projects or tasks that the teacher assigns. In my computer science class, I will group students according to their different capabilities and assign them tasks that they can complete together. The grouping process will be as significant as the task itself because students will learn from their colleagues as they discuss and finalize the group assignment.
Secondly, I will use student-directed investigation to enable the student to research and report their findings in the classroom. Instead of helping the students to learn content, I will give them the opportunity to research on their own. I will use Larson and Keiper’s (2013) idea that students learn better when they create their knowledge. Lastly, I will support students to use discussion and debate, and questioning in the classroom. The strategies promote active interaction between the students as they learn from their peers (Snow & O’connor, 2016). Students will present the findings of the allocated assignments depending on the level of ability and the goal of the learning process. For example, I could assign them tasks based on the chapter of the current text to provide each group with a chance to study a specific concept. They will present their work and encourage other learners to discuss and ask questions to improve understanding of the concepts. The blending of the strategies will make the learning process more effective because students can use their different learning strengths to understand concepts.
Effectiveness and Challenges
Computer science is a technical subject; hence, teachers should ensure that all students understand the content by enhancing their study approach. The subject requires methods, such as cooperative learning, student-centered research and discussions that will engage all students in the learning process (Tran, 2014). The strategies will involve students in the learning process and allow them to contribute to the overall achievement. The approaches will also work for the class because they will help learners to develop particular transferable skills and integrate other learning strategies to enhance the understandability of concepts (Al-Tamimi & Attamimi, 2014). Working in teams, research and classroom presentations and questioning will also promote collaboration and conflict resolution among students. It will help them to use the skills in other tasks, even outside the classroom. The strategies will also work effectively with other approaches and create a better learning environment than the traditional teaching approach.
Regardless of the efficacy of the student-centered learning strategies in promoting learning, they have a few challenges that could affect its implementation. One of the problems includes the lack of interest among students to engage in self-directed learning. For example, students could also lack the motivation to work in groups. Another possible challenge is distractions when students are expected to work in groups and discussing in the classroom, When students work in a team, they can easily engage in other discussions outside the educational content. They end up wasting a lot of time, which could have used to discuss and work on their tasks. Therefore, to use the strategies effectively, the teacher should develop the necessary skills to support students to work collaboratively and engage in meaningful discussions (Moges, 2019). The educator should be able to blend various strategies to achieve a holistic approach in the teaching and learning process.
Conclusion
As a computer science teacher, I have a variety of teaching strategies that I can use to support my students in understanding IT and computer concepts. Computer science is a technical subject, which means that the selected approaches should promote their understanding of content. Cooperative learning; discussion and debate; student-directed investigation; and questioning are among the most effective instructional strategies that would develop transferable skills. I will implement the strategies by creating groups of individuals with diverse abilities to collaborate and discuss concepts. The approaches will also allow a combination of instructional strategies to improve its efficacy. Available evidence reveals the effectiveness of such learning strategies to support a student-centered process. However, to enhance its efficiency, the teacher should address inherent challenges, such as distraction and lack of motivation to work in groups.
References
Al-Tamimi, N. O. M., & Attamimi, R. A. (2014). Effectiveness of cooperative learning in enhancing speaking skills and attitudes towards learning English. International Journal of Linguistics, 6(4), 27.
Larson, B. E., & Keiper, T. A. (2013). Instructional strategies for middle and high school. New York: Routledge.
Moges, B. (2019). Practices and challenges of cooperative learning in selected college of Arsi University: As a motivational factor on enhancing students’ learning. Universal Journal of Psychology 7(1), 1-17,
Slavin, R. E. (2015). Cooperative learning in elementary schools. Education 3-13, 43(1), 5-14.
Snow, C., & O’connor, C. (2016). Close reading and far-reaching classroom discussion: Fostering a vital connection. Journal of Education, 196(1), 1-8.
Tran, V. D. (2014). The effects of cooperative learning on the academic achievement and knowledge retention. International Journal of Higher Education, 3(2), 131-140.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
