BRENDAN C. A. MENG
Instructional Strategies Evidence
Instructional Strategies Navigation Menu
Instructional Strategies: Introduction
Collaborative & Group Learning
Direct Instruction
Graphic Organizers & Manipulatives
Spiraling of Skills: Graphing
Inquiry-Based Laboratory Investigations
Virtual Labs & Web-Based Learning
Vocabulary-Anchored Instruction
Whiteboarding
Instructional Strategies: Conclusion
Direct Instruction
The instructional strategy of direct instruction comes in many forms in my classroom. I utilize it to present notes on a new topic, provide instructional steps breaking down the process of how to arrive at solutions to practice problem solutions throughout the year during student work time, provide insight into key vocabulary words for a unit, and enhance my students' abilities on certain essential skills. This instructional strategy allows ample opportunity to stimulate discussion among my students as a way to probe for learner understanding, which also assists in the stimulation of higher order metacognitive processes. During discussions involving direct instructional time I assist my learners in articulating their ideas by meeting them where they are in their thinking process to help develop their knowledge, creativity, and abilities regarding the world in which they live with regard to content. I believe the ultimate purpose and greatest utilization of direct instruction as an instructional strategy is to introduce, clarify, and continue the deepening of my students understanding of content based on the needs of my learners as they are continually assessed throughout the learning process.
Most direct instruction is provided to my students through guided notes. Here is a student's completed guided notes from a biology lesson in Mendel's laws of inheritance. These notes were delivered with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation as well as direct instructional explanations of each concept.
Displayed here is direct instruction provided to biology students following their Water Properties Lab. The prompt on the board was used as a formative assessment of students' knowledge regarding their findings during the lab, their knowledge of the requirements for life to survive, and finally, their abilities to formulate and support a claim with evidence. Annotations were included to provide students with identification and organization of thoughts in their writing.
Displayed here is a student sample of the dihybrid Punnett square group whiteboarding activity. Once students had completed the Punnett squares at the four stations, direct instruction was provided on how to color code the F1 generation results by coloring ideantical genotypes within the square with the same color. Collecting student learning activities provides opportunities for formative assessment of skills as well as the opportunity to provide feedback and communication to students.
Most direct instruction is provided to my students through guided notes. Here is a student's completed guided notes from a biology lesson in Mendel's laws of inheritance. These notes were delivered with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation as well as direct instructional explanations of each concept.