Teaching / Learning Models

1. Introduction
Models of teaching are really models of learning.

The most important long-term outcome of

instruction may be the students's increased
capabilities to learn more easily and effectively
in the future, both because of the knowledge and
skill they have acquired and because they have
mastered learning processes.(Joyce, B., & Weil,
M.) That implies that a major role in teaching is to create powerful learners.
2. Where do models of learning/teaching come from?
A model of teaching is a description of a learning environment.

The descriptions have many uses, ranging from planning curriculums, courses, units
and lessons to designing instructional materials - books and workbooks, multimedia
programs, and computer - assisted learning programs. The "descriptions" have been
designed for a variety of different settings and can be adjusted to the learning styles of
students and to the requirements of the subject matter.

3. What kind of model is suited to...?

3.1 Summary of models

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 Models of teaching (4 groups/families)

Families The Social The Information The The Behavioral

Family Processing Personal Systems Family
Family Family
1. Partners in 1. Inductive 1. Non 1. Mastery learning
learning thinking directive
(classification teaching 2. Direct instruction
1.1 Positive oriented)
interdependence 2. Enhancing 3. Simulation
2. Concept self esteem
1.2 Structural attainment 4. Social learning
inquiry
3. Mnemonics 5. Programmed
2. Group (memory assists) Schedule (task
Models investigation performance
4. Advance reinforcement)
3. Role playing organizers

4. Jurisprudential 5. Scientific
inquiry inquiry

6. Inquiry training

7. Synectics

The Information Processing Family

These models emphasize ways of enhancing the human being's innate drive to make
sense of the world by acquiring and organizing data, sensing problems and generating
solutions to them, and developing concepts and language for conveying them. Some
models provide the learner with information and concepts, some emphasize concept
formation and hypothesis testing, and others generate creative thinking or enhance
general intellectual ability.

1. Inductive Thinking
The ability to analyze information and create concepts is generally regarded as
a thinking skill. It is used in awide variety of curriculum areas and with
students of all ages.
2. Concept attainment
This model is closely related to the Inductive model and is designed to teach
concepts and to help students to become more effective at learning concepts. It
provides an efficient method for presenting organized information from a wide
rangeof topics to students at every stage of development. The model provide a
way of delivering and clarifying concepts and of training students to become
more effective at developing concepts.

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3. Mnemonics (memory assists)
Mnemonics are strategies for memorizing and assimilating information. It can
help people to master interesting concepts and provide a lot of fun doing so.
Teachers can use mnemonics to guide their presentations of material and they
can teach devices that students can use to enhance their individual and
cooperative study of information and concepts.
4. Advance organizers
Students are brought into the scientific process and helped to collect and
analyzed data, check out hypotheses and theories, and reflect on the nature of
knowledge construction.
5. Scientific inquiry
From the beginning the student is brought into the scientific process and
helped to collect and analyze data, check out hypotheses and theories, and
reflect on the nature of knowledge construction.
6. Inquiry training
This model is designed to teach students to engage in causal reasoning and to
become more fluent and precise in asking questions, building concepts and
hypotheses, and testing them. It has value for teaching students how to make
inferences and build and test hypotheses.
7. Synectics
Was developed for use with "creative groups" in industrial settings. Synectics
is designed to help people "break set" in problem-solving and writing
activities and to gain new perspectives on topics of a wide range of fields.
Although designed as a direct stimulus to creative thought, synetics has the
side effect of promoting collaborative work and study skills and a feeling of
camaraderie among the students.

Personal family
Common understandings are a product of the negotiation of individuals who must
live and work and create families together. The personal models of learning begin
from the perspective of the selfhood of the individual. They attemp to shape
education so that we come to understand ourselves better, take responsibility for
our education, and learn to reach beyond our current development to become
stronger, more sensitive and more creative in our search for high quality lives.
These models accentuate the individual perspective and seek to encourage
productive independence, so that people become increasingly self-aware and
responsible for their own destinies.

Nondirective Teaching
The teacher plays the role of counselor. This model was developed from
counseling theory and emphasizes a partnership between student and teacher.
The teacher endeavours to help the students understand how to play major
roles in directing their own educations - for example, by behaving in such a
way as to clarify goals and participate in developing avenues for reaching
those goals. The teacher provides information about how much progress is
being made and helps the students solve problems. The nondirective teacher
has to avtively build the partnerships required and provide the help needed as
the students try to work out their problems.

3
Enhancing Self - Esteem
The personal, social and academic goals of education are compatible with one
another. The personal family of teaching models provides the essential part of the
teaching repertoire that directly addresses the students' needs for self-esteem and self-
understanding and for the support and respect of other students.

Behavioral Systems Family

Also known as social learning theory or behavior modification, behavior therapy and
cybernetics. Human beings are self-correcting communication systems that modify
behavior in response to information about how successfully tasks are navigated. These
models concentrate on observable behavior and clearly defined tasks and methods for
communicating progress to the student and has a firm research foundation. Behavioral
models include programs that are used for reducing phobias, learning to read and
compute, developing social and athletic skills, replacing anxiety with relaxation and
learning the complexes of intellectual, social and physical skills necessary to pilot an
airplane or a space shuttle.

Mastery learning and programmed instruction

Material to be learned is divided into units ranging from the simple to the
complex. The material is presented to the students, generally working
systematically as individuals, through appropriate media. They are tested and
if they haven't mastered any given unit they can repeat it until they have
mastered the material. Instructional systems based on this model have been
used to provide instruction to students of all ages in areas ranging from the
basic skills to highly complex material.

Direct instruction
Direct statements of objectives, sets of activities clearly related to the objectives,
careful monitoring of progress and feedback about achievements and tactics for
achieving more effectively are linked with sets of guidelines for facilitating learning.

Simulation
Theory-to-practice model mixes information about a skill with
demonstrations, practice, feedback and coaching until the skill is mastered.
Simulations are constructed from descriptions of real life situations. A less
than real life situation is created for the instructional situation. The student
engages in activity to achieve the goal of the simulation and has to do with
realistic factors until the goal is mastered.

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4. Glossary of Terms

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ#

Select the first letter of the word from the list above to jump to appropriate section of
the glossary. If the term you are looking for starts with a digit or symbol, choose the
'#' link.

-A-
Advance organizers
Students are brought into the scientific process and helped to collect and
analyzed data, check out hypotheses and theories, and reflect on the nature of
knowledge construction.

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-B-
Behavioral Systems Family
Also known as social learning theory or behavior modification, behavior
therapy and cybernetics. Human beings are self-correcting communication
systems that modify behavior in response to information about how
successfully tasks are navigated. These models concentrate on observable
behavior and clearly defined tasks and methods for communicating progress to
the student and has a firm research foundation. Behavioral models include
programs that are used for reducing phobias, learning to read and compute,
developing social and athletic skills, replacing anxiety with relaxation and
learning the complexes of intellectual, social and physical skills necessary to
pilot an airplane or a space shuttle.

Back to Top

-C-
Concept attainment
This model is closely related to the Inductive model and is designed to teach
concepts and to help students to become more effective at learning concepts. It
provides an efficient method for presenting organized information from a wide
rangeof topics to students at every stage of development. The model provide a
way of delivering and clarifying concepts and of training students to become
more effective at developing concepts.

5
Back to Top

-D-
Direct instruction
Direct statements of objectives, sets of activities clearly related to the
objectives, careful monitoring of progress and feedback about achievements
and tactics for achieving more effectively are linked with sets of guidelines for
facilitating learning.

Back to Top

-E-
Enhancing Self - Esteem
The personal, social and academic goals of education are compatible with one
another. The personal family of teaching models provides the essential part of
the teaching repertoire that directly addresses the students' needs for self-
esteem and self-understanding and for the support and respect of other
students.

Back to Top

-F-
(empty)

Back to Top

-G-
Group investigation
Group investigation is the direct route to the development of the community of
learners. A substantial part of a students' education should be by cooperative
inquiry into important social and academic problems. Group investigation has
been designed to lead students to define problems, explore various
perspectives on the problems, and study together to master information, ideas,
and skills - simultaneously developing their social competence.

Back to Top

6
-H-
(empty)

Back to Top

-I-
Inquiry training
This model is designed to teach students to engage in causal reasoning and to
become more fluent and precise in asking questions, building concepts and
hypotheses, and testing them. It has value for teaching students how to make
inferences and build and test hypotheses.
Inductive Thinking
The ability to analyze information and create conepts is generally regarded as
a thinking skill. It is used in awide variety of curriculum areas and with
students of all ages.
Information-Processing Family
These models emphasize ways of enhancing the human being's innate drive to
make sense of the world by acquiring and organizing data, sensing problems
and generating solutions to them, and developing concepts and language for
conveying them. Some models provide the learner with information and
concepts, some emphasize concept formation and hypothesis testing, and
others generate creative thinking or enhance general intellectual ability.

Back to Top

-J-
Jurisprudential inquiry
This model is designed for secondary students in the social studies and implies
the case study method, reminiscent of legal education. Students study cases
involving social problems in areas where public policy is to be made (justice
and equality, poverty and power etc.) They are led to identify the public policy
issues as well as options available for dealing with them and the values
underlying those options. This model can be used in any area where there are
public policy issues for instance ethics in science, business and sports etc.

Back to Top

-K-
(empty)

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Back to Top

-L-
(empty)

Back to Top

-M-
Mastery learning and programmed instruction
Material to be learned is divided into units ranging from the simple to the
complex. The material is presented to the students, generally working
systematically as individuals, through appropriate media. They are tested and
if they haven't mastered any given unit they can repeat it until they have
mastered the material. Instructional systems based on this model have been
used to provide instruction to students of all ages in areas ranging from the
basic skills to highly complex material.
Mnemonics (memory assists)
Mnemonics are strategies for memorizing and assimilating information. It can
help people to master interesting concepts and provide a lot of fun doing so.
Teachers can use mnemonics to guide their presentations of material and they
can teach devices that students can use to enhance their individual and
cooperative study of information and concepts.

Back to Top

-N-
Nondirective Teaching
The teacher plays the role of counselor. This model was developed from
counseling theory and emphasizes a partnership between student and teacher.
The teacher endeavours to help the students understand how to play major
roles in directing their own educations - for example, by behaving in such a
way as to clarify goals and participate in developing avenues for reaching
those goals. The teacher provides information about how much progress is
being made and helps the students solve problems. The nondirective teacher
has to avtively build the partnerships required and provide the help needed as
the students try to work out their problems.

Back to Top

8
-O-
(empty)

Back to Top

-P-
Personal family
Common understandings are a product of the negotiation of individuals who
must live and work and create families together. The personal models of
learning begin from the perspective of the selfhood of the individual. They
attemp to shape education so that we come to understand ourselves better, take
responsibility for our education, and learn to reach beyond our current
development to become stronger, more sensitive and more creative in our
search for high quality lives. These models accentuate the individual
perspective and seek to encourage productive independence, so that people
become increasingly self-aware and responsible for their own destinies.
Partners in learning
Cooperative learning procedures facilitate learning across all curriculum areas
and ages, improving self-esteem, social skill and solidarity, and academic
learning goals ranging from the acquisition of information and skill through
the modes of inquiry of the academic disciplines.

Back to Top

-Q-
(empty)

Back to Top

-R-
Role playing
Role playing help students to understand social behaviour, their role in social
interactions, and ways of solving problems more effectively. It also helps
students collect and organize information about social issues, develop empathy
with others, and attempt to improve their social skills. The model requires of
students to "act out" conflicts, to learn to take the roles of others, and to
observe social behavior. With adaptation role playing can be used with
students of all ages.

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Back to Top

-S-
Scientific inquiry
From the beginning the student is brought into the scientific process and
helped to collect and analyze data, check out hypotheses and theories, and
reflect on the nature of knowledge construction.
Simulation
Theory-to-practice model mixes information about a skill with
demonstrations, practice, feedback and coaching until the skill is mastered.
Simulations are constructed from descriptions of real life situations. A less
than real life situation is created for the instructional situation. The student
engages in activity to achieve the goal of the simulation and has to do with
realistic factors until the goal is mastered.
Synectics
Was developed for use with "creative groups" in industrial settings. Synectics
is designed to help people "break set" in problem-solving and writing
activities and to gain new perspectives on topics of a wide range of fields.
Although designed as a direct stimulus to creative thought, synetics has the
side effect of promoting collaborative work and study skills and a feeling of
camaraderie among the students.
Social Family
When we work together we generate a collective energy that we call synergy.
In order to take advantage of this phenomenon we build learning
communities. The development of positive school cultures is a process of
developing integrative and productive ways of interacting and norms that
support vigorous learning activity.

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-T-
(empty)

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-U-
(empty)

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-V-
(empty)

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-W-
(empty)

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-X-
(empty)

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-Y-
(empty)

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-Z-
(empty)

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-#-
(empty)

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Revised: .

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5. References
Bruce, J. & Weil, M., (1992). Models of Teaching, Fifth Edition.

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