Wellness 10 A Curriculum Guide for the Secondary Level

Indirect Instruction

Indirect instruction is student-centred. It is sometimes referred to as inquiry, induction, problem solving, and discovery.

Indirect instruction taps into students’ natural curiosity and encourages them to seek intriguing alternatives. Interpersonal skills are enhanced as students seek out the appropriate material and human resources. Some examples of instructional activities related to the indirect instruction strategy follow.

Concept Maps

This instructional activity can promote creative, meaningful, long-term learning. In Wellness 10, concept mapping is frequently used to encourage students to see the relationships between new information and what they already know.

Concept mapping:

is a technique used to identify key concepts and to show the hierarchical relationships between concepts
can make clear to students the key ideas
can be used as a pre-instructional tool to enhance the meaning of written material, field trips, or class activities
can be used to review subject matter
can be used to self-evaluate growth in knowledge and understanding
can provide a summary of a unit or lesson.

Assessment Techniques

When concept mapping is used as an introductory activity, a synthesis activity, or one that supplies diagnostic information, it is important to consider the type of information to collect in assessing students’ concept maps. Anecdotal records is an appropriate data recording method. Teachers might base anecdotal comments on:

inclusion of required concepts
relevance of relationships between concepts
student growth in developing concept maps
rationale or logic involved in the concept map structure.

These criteria may be inserted into the Sample Anecdotal Record Form found in the Assessment and Evaluation section of this curriculum guide. Alternatively, Novak and Gowin (1984) provide a scoring guide that can be used when assessing concept maps. If used, it is important that students are aware of these scoring criteria prior to developing their maps.

Case Studies

Case Studies refer to assigned scenarios based on situations in which students observe, discuss, analyze, record, implement, conclude, summarize, or recommend. The case study is a valuable activity for skill building, particularly in strengthening critical thinking abilities. Case studies can be developed by the teacher or by students. An example of using a case study approach is provided (see Confrontation Analysis and Solution).

Assessment Techniques

Case studies in Wellness 10 are ideal as ways of assessing the design phase of a student action plan. They are also useful in assessing the degree to which a student can generate alternatives and related consequences as a way of making an informed decision. A checklist, rubric, or scoring guide could be used to collect this assessment data.

Concept Attainment

Concept attainment is an inductive way to teach a concept in which examples and non-examples are provided in order to develop students’ understanding of a particular concept. For example, in Wellness 10, students are introduced to the concept of healthy eating affecting stress management through a concept attainment activity where examples of nutrient-dense food choices are interspersed with non-examples of empty calorie food choices to support students in understanding the concept.

Assessment Techniques

In assessing student learning, teachers may wish to focus on the following criteria recorded on an anecdotal record form or checklist:

student method of categorization
demonstrated knowledge of content elements
relationships between the content elements
formation of a general statement based on the above-mentioned elements.

Interactive Instruction

The interactive instruction strategy gives Wellness 10 students a structured environment in which to develop important social skills. However, to keep Secondary Level students motivated and focused requires more than providing the forum for discussion. Before the group members “set to work”, it is important that they are aware of what they are to accomplish, how much time they have, and what the recording and/or reporting procedures are.

Successful use of the interactive instruction strategy in Wellness 10 requires that the students be aware of and practise particular group process skills. A few basics include respect for the opinions of others, attentive listening skills, and recording and reporting skills. Some examples of instructional activities related to the interactive instruction strategy are shown below.

Panels

A panel refers to a small group of students that individually present, in front of the rest of the class, information or a point of view on an issue under the direction of a moderator.

Assessment Techniques

Rating scales, checklists, and anecdotal records are appropriate techniques for assessing students’ performance on panels. A Holistic Rating Scale for an Oral Presentation is an example that may be adapted. It is found in Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook (1991).
Role Plays

Role playing refers to an activity in which students in a group have been individually assigned a part or a role to play. This method can be used to practise a combination of new skills and information. Role playing can also be used as a means of trying out various alternatives and identifying their respective consequences.

Role playing is most effective when:

instructions to role players are specific
short written descriptions of less than fifty words are provided to describe each role
role players are given a short time to get their thoughts together
instructions are provided to observers (e.g., what to watch for, things to record)
debriefing begins with the players who respond to their experiences
debriefing concludes with the observers and what they saw and learned.

For an example of a learning experience that incorporates role playing, see Unit 4 (Learning Experience #2).

Assessment Techniques

Teachers may decide on the criteria they will use and insert them in any of the sample forms for anecdotal records, checklists, or rating scales. It is important that students know, in advance, the criteria that will be used to assess their role plays. Students can also self-assess their role play experience.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is used to generate ideas and imaginative solutions. The teacher or another student acts as facilitator and records student comments.

Brainstorming is most effective when:

all statements are accepted
quantity rather than quality is emphasized
no criticism is allowed, anything goes (no matter how outrageous or far-fetched)
no discussion (or judgements) take place except for clarification purposes
people can build on other ideas (piggybacking/ cross stimulation is encouraged)
a brief, fixed time is allocated.

When all ideas have been generated, they can be combined or sequenced, and then evaluated according to agreed upon criteria.

In Wellness 10, brainstorming sessions can be used at the beginning of each unit or strand as a means of reflecting on what students already know about a particular topic. Another way of using brainstorming is when students explore alternatives in decision making.

Assessment Techniques

Teachers may decide to assess brainstorming when it is used in the context of co-operative learning groups. Anecdotal records and observation checklists are ways of recording data. Samples are provided in the Assessment and Evaluation section of this curriculum guide.