Making Instructional Decisions

There are certain basic assumptions people make about the rudimentary skills of all teachers. Many of these expectations have to do with their expertise in instructional decision-making:

How they decide on what content and processes to teach;
How they organize and deliver course content; and
How they choose effective methods of instructional delivery.

In that vein, the following recommendations are meant to help teachers make good instructional decisions. These suggestions can be a guide for both novice or preservice teachers, as well as reflective tools for veteran teachers well into their careers. This array of ideas are also meant to be helpful to college professors too — especially ones who want to make good instructional decisions that actively engage students. And they are meant to aid teachers at all levels in organizing and sequencing content.

Major considerations in orchestrating and delivering instruction:

The methods you use to construct courses should be based on these primary considerations:

Your end vision of you learners (What do you want them to be able to do, know and understand, and at what level of mastery? As you consider these questions, be very specific!)
The nature of the content and concepts you are responsible for teaching,
Your teaching style (What you feel comfortable doing or attempting.) and
Your knowledge of your students (What do you know about their learning styles, instructional preferences, how they best retain information, and their educational, social and cultural backgrounds. We sometimes make assumptions about our student populations that may not be accurate! For instance, we might assume all students have cell phones, or that they are computer savvy or can navigate cyberspace. Challenge your assumptions, ask questions, assess skill levels, and know your demographic.)

Secondary considerations for making good instructional decisions might be:

Domain (Which area(s) does the content or process fall into – cognitive, affective, psychomotor [kinesthetic, tactile, haptic]?)
Level of learning (Are your learners at the novice, intermediate, or mastery level?)
Size of the audience or class
Time allotments (length of the period, semester, term, or school year)
Importance of the information or skill in the context of the course or semester (This decision should dictate your time allotment and the course’s progression. Is the material considered a must, need, or nice to know?)
Sequence within the curriculum (Is it a beginning skill on which other skills or content depend or build, or is it something that can stand alone?)
Availability of materials/resources, and/or fiscal support for activities
Resources needed for students to complete assigned tasks. (Do they need access to special equipment, expertise, or technology?)

Choosing the best methods of instructional delivery:

Good teaching is not simply imitating methods you were exposed to as a learner. It is about making informed choices concerning methods of instruction that are best suited to:

your style of teaching;
your subject – both its content and processes; and
your learners and their instructional needs.

Exploring the intersection between these three needs is a continual process. At this level of exploration and performance teaching becomes both an art and a science. The science part is based on available research that examines how students learn best, and what teaching models and methods are best suited to your content. The artful part is based on finding your professional voice and a style of teaching that is both comfortable for you but also one that challenges you to continually improve and reflectively evaluate your performance as a teacher.

Finding a balance on which teaching methodologies work best for you is a personal choice. This process should be a continual flow of trial, error, and self-reflection as all of the considerations listed above intersect within your classroom be it a real physical space, or in creating and maintaining a cyberspace.

Which models should I choose?

There is a large body of research on the effectiveness of certain models of teaching, and also on which models might work best for which types of content or processes, or even which models suit certain types of learners best. Skilled teachers actively experiment with different methods of delivery, and they also do their homework and study the research on which methods are most effective.

Here are your choices for instructional delivery:

Teacher-centered teaching methods

Lecture

one instructor/audience
efficient, especially for large groups
effective for lower-level learning only, and only if students listen and rehearse or apply information
students are placed in a passive mode
may provide foundational information preceding other methods

Questioning

“Socratic” discovery method leads students to progress to correct answer
may be combined with lecture or other methods
monitors learning, actively involves students
is useful as a supplementary method, but rarely used as an only method
can cause student anxiety as they may feel put on the spot
can be time consuming

Demonstration

useful for psychomotor skills or processes
addresses higher-order cognitive skills
usually preceded by lecture and followed by practice
AV and media can facilitate demonstrations to groups or classes with large numbers

Interactive teaching methods

Class discussion

whole group participates
teacher leads, coaches
effective for upper level cognitive domain
class size must be small
may cause student anxiety
can be time-consuming

Smaller discussion groups

used for larger groups
reduces anxiety
groups may be structured for homogeneity or diversity
useful for cognitive and affective domains

Individualized teaching methods

Programmed instruction

small, sequential steps using structured materials
information—questions—feedback—further information
useful only for lower levels of knowledge
very structured
immediate feedback
self-timed

Modularized instruction/independent study

independent use of resources (texts, audio-visual)
practice and feedback at end of each module
allows for individual speeds of learning
time-consuming to produce, but reduces teacher time later
requires students to be highly motivated and able to work independently
may be used at all cognitive and affective levels

Computerized instruction

ranges from automated programmed instruction to sophisticated simulations, games, interactive programs
immediate feedback, infinite repetitions, allows independent work
may cause anxiety in technophobes
may be expensive, time consuming to find or produce
may not be available to meet specific needs

Experiential teaching methods

Note: experiential teaching methods are necessary for the development of affective and psychomotor skills

Field/clinical

provides real-life experience
less controllable
student completes tasks while being observed and/or reports back and receives feedback late
evaluations more difficult, may be more subjective
requires much planning

Laboratory

hands-on practice
more controlled by teacher
useful for upper level cognitive, affective, psychomotor
necessary when field is impossible for practical or safety reasons
evaluation may be difficult
requires much advance planning

Role-playing

useful for interpersonal skills or upper cognitive levels
allows practice in lower-threat environment
may be difficult to simulate real situations
difficult to evaluate

Simulations/games

facilitates practice in all domains
requires well-structured materials
immediate feedback; highly interactive

Drill and practice

repetitions of tasks to build automatic response
useful for psychomotor and lower cognitive domains

See related pages –

The instructional design/curriculum development process
Models of teaching
The flipped classroom model(ideal for online learning)
The Madeline Hunter Model – drill and practice
Teaching today’s students
Teaching essentials Table of Contents

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