Instructional Strategies

Research Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement

Some people say research in education is not as vigorous or conclusive as research in "the hard sciences" such as physics and chemistry. Larry Hedges found that the studies from Physics were almost identical to the studies from social sciences in their terms of variability. In physics roughly 40% of the findings from a study were omitted due to results that were extreme or unexplainable. In educational research it is rare for even 10% of studies to be discarded.
(How Hard is Hard Science: How Soft is Soft Science?)

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
-Presenting explicit guidance in indentifying similarities and differences
-Asking students to independently identify similarities and differences
both enhance students understanding and ability to use knowledge

2. Summarizing and Note Taking
-Verbatim Note Taking= least effective
Trying to record all of what is heard or said takes up so much of the student's working memory that she does not have "room" to analyze the incoming information, and they are not engaged in the act of synthesizing information.
-Notes should be considered a work in progress
reviewing and revising is a powerful activity
-Notes should be used as study guides for tests
-The more notes that are taken, the better

3. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
Success is generally attributed to:
Ability
Effort
Other People
Luck
Believing effort is the most important factor in achievement, you have a motivation tool that can apply to any situation.
-Teach the connection between Effort and Achievement to Students
-Reward is most effective when contingent upon standard of performance
-Abstract symbolic recognition is more effective than tangible rewards
"When praise and other forms of positive feedback are given and later removed, people continued to show interest in their work." (Kohn, 1993, p.55) Verbal Praise is an extrinsic motivator that positively alters attitude and behaviors.


4. Homework and Practice
Elementary School - ES=.15
Middle School- ES= .31
High School- ES=.64
-Effect size increases dramatically in higher grade levels
-If homework is assigned it should be commented on
Homework not commented on- ES=.28
Homework graded- ES=.78
Homework graded and written comments on- ES=.83
-Establish and communicate a home work policy
consistent & organized place for homework to be done
consistent schedule
encourage motivate and prompt child but do not sit and do it with them
ask child which steps are easy or hard for him and how will he improve
minutes child spends on homework should be 10 ten their grade level
(2nd- 20 mins, 3rd- 30 mins, ect.)
when bed time comes please stop your child, even if he is not done
-Clearly Articulate Purpose and Outcome of Assignments
-Chart Speed & Accuracy

5. Nonlinguistic Representations
dual coding= linguistic & imagery
linguistic- statements in long term memory
imagery- mental pictures or physical sensations

6. Cooperative Learning
Ability Grouping by Class- ES=.10
it is bad, promotes inequity
homogeneous groups
low ability- ES= -.6
high ability- ES= .09
middle ability- ES= .51
Positive Interdependence - sink or swim together
Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction - helping each other learn & praising successes and efforts
Individual & Group Accountability - each person is needed
Interpersonal and Small Group Skills - communication, trust, leadership and decision making
Group Processing - reflecting on how the team is functioning & how to improve
Cooperative Learning - ES= .78 when compared to students competing against each other
-Ability grouping should be used sparingly
-Cooperative groups should be kept small
-Cooperative learning should be applied consistently and systematically, but not overused

7. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback
goal setting for learning
goals focused on understanding not tasks
-Instructional goals narrow what students focus on
-Instructional goals should not be too specific
-Students should be encouraged to personalize the teachers goal
"The most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback. The simplest prescription for improving education must be dollops of feedback." -John Hattie after analyzing almost 8,000 studies
-Feedback should be corrective in nature
-Feedback should be timely
-Feedback should be specific to criterion
-Students can effectively provide some of their own feedback

8. Generating and Testing Hypotheses
Ask students to clearly explain their hypotheses and conclusions
Systems Analysis
Problem Solving
Historical Investigation
Invention

9. Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers
-Cues and Questions should focus on what is important as opposed to what is unusual.
-Higher level questions produce deeper learning than lower level questions.
-"Waiting" briefly before accepting responses from students has the effect of increasing the depth of students answers
-Questions are effective learning tools even when asked before a learning experience


Declarative Knowledge 

Vocabulary
wide reading- six exposures before you are able to remember the meaning 
most effective- high ability students & low density reading 
instruction in new words increases ES
associate an image with a word to learn it
direct vocabulary instruction works
most powerful = direct instruction on words that are critical to new content procedures 
Process for teaching new terms and phrases
Step 1- brief explanation or description of the word
Step 2- nonlinguistic representation 
Step 3- ask students to generate their own description 
Step 4- ask students to generate their own nonlinguistic representation 
Step 5- periodically review accuracy of their description and add new insights

Details
-students should have systematic, multiple exposures to details
-details are high amenable to dramatic instruction 

Organizing Ideas- Generalizations & Principles 
(ex: specific battles sometimes disproportionately influence the outcome of a war.) 
-students commonly have misconceptions about organizing ideas 
-students need opportunities to apply organizing ideas 

Procedural Knowledge 

Mental Skills
Tactics- general pattern of rules but no set order (ex: how to read a histogram)
Algorithms- specific steps & outcomes (ex: multicolumn subtraction)
skills are most useful when learned to the level of automaticity

Processes:
Students should practice the parts of a process in the context of the overall process


Instructional Planning
Beginning of Unit- setting learning goals
allow students to identify, record and share with others their personal learning goals
During- monitor progress toward learning goals
introducing new knowledge
practice, review and apply knowledge
provide students feedback and help them self assess how they are reaching their goal
periodically celebrate legitimate progress towards learning goals
End of Unit-help students determine how well they achieved their goals
Learning Logs & Audiotape Assessments- faster & more thorough & personal grading - good idea to consider