Teachers should make plans for any courses they teach and this is very important for improving the teaching efficiency and effectiveness, according to my teaching experience. As you know, there will not be any two students who are same, or any two teachers. So deferent teachers may have different ways to achieve the goals and I think following a model is an easy choice, especially for the novices who just begin to teach. The process of instructional designing is very complex and it won’t be easy for any teachers to take all the aspects of the teaching into their considerations. So following an instructional design model can help teachers make plans step by step. Also the models from many books are the summarization of many teachers’ experiences which are already proved to be effective. When I was a teacher, some teaching models helped me a lot with my planning for the courses I taught.
The DID model that the author talked about in this chapter includes six steps:
Step1: know the learners. This is the first step of this model and also an important step, I think. Because not having an understanding of different learning styles may negatively impact the effectiveness of your teaching. Knowing the learners’ needs, their learning styles and their background related to the course you are going to teach is the beginning of DID model.
Step2: state the objective. What goal will be achieved as a result of the instruction you are designing? That is what you want the students to learn after completing the course you designed. What they are supposed to do or to know after taking this class.
Step3: establish the learning environment. We know that a learning environment includes all the conditions, circumstances, and influences that affect the students’ learning. So I think any components in the process of teaching or learning should be included and considered by the designers.
Step4: identify teaching and learning strategies. The educator already know who are the learners from step1, what he or she will teach from step 2 and in what kind of environment he or she will be teaching from step 3, so now it is the time for them to think about what strategies should she or he employs to achieve the goal. That means the teacher should decide what method should be used to assist students in achieving the objective.
Step5: identify and select technologies. This is the step to choose what tools you need to use to enhance and support Step 4. Considering that different technologies have different use, advantages and disadvantages and also the strategies that you are going to use is necessary before choosing the appropriate technologies to achieve your objective.
Step6: summative evaluation and revision plan. No design is flawless, revision based on summative evaluation is needed. Maximizing the good qualities through the revision will help us make progress.
Above is my experience of using models to help with my teaching and the steps of DID model that the author discussed in this chapter. What I want to say is always first considering situations you have and then decide what model you need. Even when you are following a model you still can make some changes according to the situations you are in. Taking everything in books is worse than not reading any books. I mean the most important thing is to analyze your unique situations before employing models in books.
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3 comments:
You make a very good point. All teachers need to prepare for each class. Identifying the technology first, saves any mishaps or problems with keeping students on task. It is, however, still just a part of what we should be doing as educators anyway.
You have made some great points and they are all in my view right on the money. All of these things are needed to have a successful learning environment.
As a formal teacher one concept doesnt work without the other in order to have your lesson/instruction to be comprehending and executed in such a way that all students are able to learn in their own way but in the same moment.
Wonderful Job of getting that through my head again. Like it a lot.
Houbin,
I have studied numerous instructional models from many theorists. It all sounds great on paper, but like you said, no two teachers and no two students are the same. Therefore teachers must learn what works for them. I've taken a little of each theorist with me into the classroom. I teach at an alternative school that serves mostly poor, minority students so the challenges are unique. Most instructional models do not address this type of setting, but over the past year, I've learned how to deal with behavior the best I can. At least I had some models to go by and they helped me out greatly.
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