Instructing Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: A Component and Composite Analysis

Instructional components that positively influence performance of adolescents are identified based on a comprehensive meta‐analysis of intervention studies for students with learning disabilities. Explicit practice and advanced organization are basic instructional components in a number of successful intervention programs. The purpose of this article is to identify the components of various instructional models that best predicted effect sizes for adolescents with learning disabilities. Three important findings emerged. First, 8 instructional factors (Questioning, Sequencing and Segmentation, Explicit Skill Modeling, Organization and Explicit Practice, Small‐Group Setting, Indirect‐Teacher Activities (e.g., homework), Technology, and Scaffolding) captured the majority of intervention programs for adolescents with LD. Second, only the organization/explicit factor contributed significant variance (16%) to effect size. This factor included only 2 instructional components: advanced organization and explicit practice. Finally, the single most important instructional component related to high effect sizes was explicit practice (treatment activities related to distributed review and practice, repeated practice, sequenced reviews, daily feedback, and/or weekly reviews).     

Can Increasing Teachers’ Teaching Autonomy Help Improve Instructional Quality? — Based on the Results of TALIS 2018

Teaching autonomy is an important power of teachers as professionals and also a key factor affecting instructional quality. Based on the relevant data of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, this study analyzes teachers’ teaching autonomy and its effect on instructional quality. It finds that, firstly, as compared to those in the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), teachers in Shanghai, China, have greater teaching autonomy, but there is still room for improvement in this regard. They have sufficient autonomy in determining the instructional content and disciplining students, but not in assessing students’ learning. Secondly, increasing the teaching autonomy in Shanghai can significantly improve instructional quality. Increasing their autonomy in assessing students’ learning has the greatest effect on improving instructional quality, while increasing the autonomy in choosing teaching methods has the least effect, which is culturally different from the situation in OECD countries. Thirdly, the influence of teaching autonomy on instructional quality is positively moderated by teaching efficacy, which means that teachers need to have the “ability” in addition to the “autonomy.” Based on this, suggestions are also made.     

Towards a personalized task selection model with shared instructional control

Modern education emphasizes the need to flexibly personalize learning tasks to individual learners. This article discusses a personalized task-selection model with shared instructional control based on two current tendencies for the dynamic sequencing of learning tasks: (1) personalization by an instructional agent which makes sequencing decisions on the basis of learner’s expertise, and (2) personalization by the learner who is given control over – final – task selection. The model combines both trends in a model with shared instructional control. From all available learning tasks, an instructional agent selects a subset of tasks based on the learner’s performance scores and invested mental effort (i.e., system-control). Subsequently, this subset is presented to the learner who makes the final decision (i.e., learner control). A computer-assisted instructional program has been developed to put the model into practice and preliminary results are discussed. The model can be used to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of instruction and to make it more appealing by providing the learner an optimal level of control over task selection. This research project is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, The Hague, project No. 411-02-107-V).     

The effects of principals’ perceived instructional and distributed leadership practices on their perceptions of school climate

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which leadership styles predict school climate, in order to identify whether a relationship exists between principals’ perceived practices of instructional and distributed leadership and their perceptions of school climate (mutual respect and school delinquency), controlling for a net of principal and school characteristics. This research was conducted on a principal data-set from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), which was administered by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Several linear regression models with and without the country controlled dummy variables were conducted, respectively. Results indicated that principals’ perceived distributed and instructional leadership practices are significant predictors of staff mutual respect in the school. Nevertheless, such leadership styles did not appear as important factors for school delinquency and violence. School size and socio-economic status turned out to be the two most important factors predicting school safety. These results add nuance to the findings of previous studies that principals’ emphasis on instructional practice and sharing leadership can play a significant role in promoting the trust, collegiality and respect among staff. However, more than such leadership styles may be needed for creating a safe and orderly school environment.     

How do students’ achievement goals relate to learning from well-designed instructional videos and subsequent exam performance?

Well-designed instructional videos are powerful tools for helping students learn and prompting students to use generative strategies while learning from videos further bolsters their effectiveness. However, little is known about how individual differences in motivational factors, such as achievement goals, relate to how students learn within multimedia environments that include instructional videos and generative strategies. Therefore, in this study, we explored how achievement goals predicted undergraduate students’ behaviors when learning with instructional videos that required students to answer practice questions between videos, as well as how those activities predicted subsequent unit exam performance one week later. Additionally, we tested the best measurement models for modeling achievement goals between traditional confirmatory factor analysis and bifactor confirmatory factor analysis. The bifactor model fit our data best and was used for all subsequent analyses. Results indicated that stronger mastery goal endorsement predicted performance on the practice questions in the multimedia learning environment, which in turn positively predicted unit exam performance. In addition, students’ time spent watching videos positively predicted practice question performance. Taken together, this research emphasizes the availing role of adaptive motivations, like mastery goals, in learning from instructional videos that prompt the use of generative learning strategies.     

Instructional design for advanced learners: Establishing connections between the theoretical frameworks of cognitive load and deliberate practice

Cognitive load theory (CLT) has been successful in identifying instructional formats that are more effective and efficient than conventional problem solving in the initial, novice phase of skill acquisition. However, recent findings regarding the “expertise reversal effect” have begun to stimulate cognitive load theorists to broaden their horizon to the question of how instructional design should be altered as a learner's knowledge increases. To answer this question, it is important to understand how expertise is acquired and what fosters its development. Expert performance research, and, in particular, the theoretical framework of deliberate practice have given us a better understanding of the principles and activities that are essential in order to excel in a domain. This article explores how these activities and principles can be used to design instructional formats based on CLT for higher levels of skills mastery. The value of these formats for e-learning environments in which learning tasks can be adaptively selected on the basis of online assessments of the learner's level of expertise is discussed. In their preparation of this article, the first and last authors were supported by an Internationalization grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, The Hague, project number 411-01-010).     

General pedagogical knowledge,self-efficacy and instructional practice: Disentangling their relationship in pre-service teacher education

Teachers’ professional competence is composed of cognitive (professional knowledge) and affective (professional beliefs) components. These components are generally assumed to be related and to impact instructional practice. However, studies simultaneously relating cognitive and affective components to instructional practice are scarce. The present study investigates the relationship between general pedagogical knowledge (GPK), self-efficacy beliefs (SE), and reported instructional practice based on a sample of 342 pre-service teachers. No significant association was observed between GPK and SE. Furthermore, SE significantly predicted all investigated reported instructional practices, although GPK only predicted reported instructional practices that dealt with student support and provision of structure.     

Relationship Between Teacher Efficacy and Self-Reported Instructional Practices: An Examination of Five Asian Countries/Regions Using TIMSS 2011 Data

Teacher efficacy in a particular content area is seen as an important factor shaping teaching practice and student learning in the Western literature. However, inadequate efforts have been made to examine this assumption empirically. Drawing on the Trends of International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 mathematics teachers’ data at the eighth grade level, this study examines the relationship between teacher efficacy in teaching mathematics and teachers’ mathematical instructional practices in five Asian countries/regions. Guided with Bandura’s social cognitive theory, this study finds that overall teachers in the five countries/regions reported much lower teacher efficacy in teaching mathematics and lower levels of instructional practices than the international norms. The relationship between teacher efficacy and instructional practices varied within these countries/regions. Teacher efficacies in teaching mathematics are not always statistically and positively related to their instructional practices in engaging students. Together, these findings challenge the theoretical assumption about the positive relationship between teacher efficacy and instructional practices. Possible reasons of these findings and future directions are discussed.     

远程教育中实现信息交互的研究和实践

信息交互体现了教学设计和教学实施水平,是教学设计关注的重点活动,信息交互的水平与学生和学习支持人员的具体表现有关。为提高远程教育的质量,远程教育机构需要不断评价和改进教学设计水平和教学实施水平。本文从远程教育实际效果出发,提出以课堂授课实时信息交互为核心的远程信息交互模式,并论证了实现的可能性,找到改进教学设计和教学实施水平的有效途径,对推动电大系统教育事业的发展有着积极的意义。     

A review and new framework for instructional design practice variation research

This article reviews practice variation in the field of instructional design. First, it compares instructional designer practice as reported or observed in several classic research studies. This analysis is framed by the standards established by the International Board for Training, Performance, and Instruction competencies for planning and analysis, design and development, implementation, and management. Although no certain causal linkages exist, we briefly review some of the reasons posited in the literature to explain instructional design practice variation (lack of time and resources, control in decision making, the designer's perception of a task, underlying philosophical beliefs, and designer expertise). Limitations of the literature base are explored, followed by a proposal for an alternative view of instructional design practice variation and recommendations.     

“There’s got to be a better way to do this”: a qualitative investigation of informal learning among instructional designers

This study employed a qualitative research design to investigate informal learning among practicing instructional designers. Prior research has examined how instructional designers spend their time, make decisions, use theory, solve problems, and so on, but no published research has explored the nature and role of informal learning in instructional design work. Based on intensive interviews of practitioners in the field, this study produced eight themes organized according to two metathemes: (a) the nature of informal learning in instructional design practice and (b) instructional design as informal learning. Specific themes concerned what instructional designers learn through informal practical experience, how they learn it, and the meaning of this kind of learning for various aspects of their work. Overall, these results suggest that informal learning is a vital part of instructional design practice and that design itself can be thought of as a specialized type of informal learning. Other conclusions regarding informal learning in design are discussed and future directions for research are offered.     

楚雄电大实践教学运作及反思

在开放教育的实践中,不可避免地受到重理论轻实践的传统观念的影响,加之部分专业的教学计划和课程设置不合理,某些课程实践环节偏少,学校教学经费紧张,实践教学设施不能满足教学要求,不少教师缺乏实际操作和技术应用能力,在教学中,难以将理论与生产实例结合起来,不少学员往往只注重理论考试能否过关,而漠视课程实践环节的学习和训练,因此容易使师生形成重理论轻实践、重结果轻过程的思想。针对存在问题,我们注意突出网络环境、自主互动、合作探究、定期指导、有效控制、阶段评估等要点,在实践教学的各个环节进行了按重点分层次的改革,初步构建了系统性的实践教学框架,基本保证了目前实践教学的顺利开展。     

"数字图像处理"实验课教学改革与实践

根据《数字图像处理》课程本身的特点以及国家示范性软件学院培养实用型软件人才的目的,将基于项目的学习理论和方法引入数字图像处理的实验课教学中,并从实验环境的建立、学习内容的筛选、教学策略的运用、以及学习评价等方面进行了论述。教学实践显示,这一系统的教学改革方案对于提高课程学习者的学习效果有显著作用。     

Maximal performance on divergent thinking tests by gifted,talented, and nongifted children

Explicit instructions to “be creative” often are used to estimate the role of task-perception in divergent thinking test performance; however, previous research on this topic has employed only nongifted individuals. The present investigation compared gifted (n = 97), talented (n = 53), and nongifted (n = 90) intermediate school children in terms of divergent thinking fluency, flexibility, and originality scores elicted by standard and explicit instructions. Results indicated that the scores of all groups were significantly different in the two instructional conditions. More importantly, there was a significant interaction between this instructional effect and children's level of ability. The explicit instructions enhanced the originality scores of the talented and nongifted children more than those of the gifted children; and the same instructions inhibited the fluency and flexibility scores of the gifted children more than those of the talented and nongifted children. These results have important implications for testing creativity and for our understanding of giftedness.     

Examining Instructional Design Principles Applied by Experienced Designers in Practice

There has been ongoing debate regarding the efficacy of teaching instructional design models to novice designers given that experienced instructional designers often use principles and adapted models when they engage in the instructional design problem‐solving process. This study utilized the Delphi technique to identify a core set of guiding principles used by designers in their practice. The purpose of this study was (1) to examine and describe the principles that guided instructional designers’ practice and (2) to identify the extent to which participants’ frames of reference included components of the ADDIE instructional design model. Sixty‐one principles were ultimately identified (reached consensus among the Delphi panel members). Thirty‐two of the principles aligned with the primary components of the design process (e.g., analysis, design, development, and evaluation). Additional principles (n = 29) related to other characteristics of design such as communication, project management, and design characteristics.     

Implications of cognitive theory for instructional design: Revisited

The field of cognitive science is contributing significantly to the research and theory on learning, and to the development of intelligent tutoring systems. The instructional design literature indicates an interest in cognitive theory as well as attempts to integrate it into our theory and research base. However, cognitive psychologists do not necessarily find this synthesis satisfactory. The purpose of this article is to point out the conflicts, so that instructional designers can be aware of the nature of our coexistence. This paper was written while the author was with Human Resources Research Organization, Alexandria, VA.     

加强顶岗实习师范生信息化教学设计能力的研究

顶岗实习师范生要胜任教师角色,需要具备较高的信息化教学设计能力。通过对信息化教学设计能力进行阐述,并对顶岗实习师范生进行培训和调查,分析他们的信息化教学设计能力现状,从而提出提高顶岗实习师范生信息化教学设计能力的对策和建议。     

Evaluation of simSchool: An Instructional Simulation for Pre-Service Teachers

This study uses theory-based design principles to evaluate the effectiveness of an instructional simulation, simSchool. It begins by examining the simulation and evaluation literature, followed by an evaluation of the simSchool software. It is a Web-based simulation designed to emulate various students (reactions) in order to provide practice for pre-service teachers in instructional planning, assessment, and communication. This article uses a framework to analyze the simulation, according to the simulation's instructional goals and design models. The framework for designing a simulation approach to instruction, based on the model-centered instructional theory, provides a detailed model for dissecting the seven functional layers of a simulation. When combined with user testing, results indicated that simSchool provides a valid model of a simulated environment for pre-service teachers to practice instructional activities.     

基于专题学习网站的课堂教学设计实例及解析

文章是在信息技术与课程整合的理念下,在对《大瀑布的葬礼》做教学设计、制作《大瀑布的葬礼》专题学习网站和具体的教学实践的前提下,将相关教学理论与教学实践结合起来分析了整个教学设计的思路及其理论依据,并在此基础上对整个教学设计与教学实践进行了反思。     

Tracking instructional quality across secondary mathematics and English Language Arts classes

Teachers have the largest school-based influence on student learning, yet there is little research on how instructional practice is systematically distributed within tracking systems. We examine whether teaching practice varies significantly across track levels and, if so, which aspects of instructional practice differ systematically. Using multilevel modeling, we find that teachers of low track classrooms provided significantly less emotional support, organizational support, and instructional support to students in their classes than did teachers of high track classrooms. Mathematics classes were also observed to have higher quality instructional support for both content understanding and analysis and problem solving than English classes. We develop cases illustrating how small but significant differences in instructional quality are associated with substantially diverging lived experiences for students in high and low track classes.