Instructional Strategies and Methods

Instructional strategies determine the approach a teacher may take to help students achieve learning objectives. Strategies can be categorized as direct, indirect, interactive, experiential, or independent.
Instructional methods are used by teachers to create learning environments and to specify the nature of the activity in which the teacher and learner will be involved during the lesson. While particular methods are often associated with certain strategies, some methods may be found within a variety of strategies.

In the following pages, a few of the most commonly used instructional methods from each of five instructional strategies are described as they pertain to Wellness 10. Figure 1 provides an overview.

Direct Instruction

Direct instruction is highly teacher centred. It is usually deductive. For example, a rule or generalization is presented and then illustrated with examples. While this strategy may be easier to plan and use, it has limitations for developing the abilities, processes, and attitudes required for critical thinking and for interpersonal and group learning. Direct instruction should not be discounted, but used sparingly with a variety of other strategies. Some examples of instructional activities related to the direct instruction strategy are shown below.

Fig.1

Structured Overview

A structured overview refers to organizing and arranging topics or concepts to make them meaningful to students. It is often used as an advance organizer at the beginning of a unit and/or strand of Wellness 10. Alternatively, concepts can be added throughout a unit to serve as an organizer and review. An example of a structured overview is provided in Unit 1, Orientation.

Assessment Techniques

As this is usually used as an organizer, teachers are not likely to assess student understanding except for diagnostic purposes. Students could, when familiar with structured overviews, be asked to develop a structured overview for a presentation. Assessment of the presentation could include assessment of student understanding as demonstrated by the overview.

Guest Speakers

The importance of knowledgeable guest speakers to Wellness 10 cannot be overstated. Students can gain valuable knowledge about balancing the strands of wellness from guest speakers who have managed to attain that goal or are working toward it. In addition, students can learn a lot about both HIV testing and the value of volunteering from representatives of community agencies and organizations.

In planning for a guest speaker, the teacher or student can share the following information:

Assessment Techniques

Teachers and students arrange for guest speakers to motivate students, to change or reinforce attitudes, and to enable students to acquire knowledge from someone who is an expert source of information. Appropriate ways of assessing understanding range from assigning a cloze procedure to be completed in pairs to having individual students develop a concept map based on a completed listening guide.

Viewing Guides

To help focus students for specific purposes, teachers may employ a number of methods before, during, and after viewing. Viewing guides can incorporate before, during, and after viewing sections.

Pre-viewing

During Viewing

Post-viewing

Watching a video or other visual presentation is of little use to students if they are passive viewers/ listeners.

Assessment Techniques

One appropriate assessment technique is to advise the students, in advance of the viewing stage, that their completed chart, visual, or map/web will be used as assessment data. Another suggestion is to assess student understanding at the post-viewing stage by providing the small groups or individuals with the criteria that will be used to assess the summaries or outlines. Students can assess their own charts, visuals, or webs.