This article hopes to put an end to the debate of whether students
learn best when they have to discover/construct knowledge or when they
are provided with direct, explicit instruction. As you will read, the
direct, explicit approach to instruction is
proven to be more effective, according to the research of authors
Clark, Kirschner, and Sweller. Direct instruction takes many forms,
though, including lectures, modeling, demonstrations, practice,
feedback, videos, computer based presentations, small group
and independent projects. Sounds a lot like the Fisher Gradual Release
Model, doesn't it?
"Controlled experiments almost uniformly indicate that when
dealing with novel information, students should be explicitly shown what
to do, how to do it, and then have an opportunity to practice with
corrective feedback. Curiously, if given a choice,
lower performing students prefer discovery learning and higher
performing students prefer explicit instruction- in both cases, they're
picking the approach that does them the least good."
Constructivism is a theory of how students learn. It is not a
prescription of how to teach students knowledge and skills. For
everyone except those who have demonstrated mastery, partial guidance
during instruction is significantly less effective than
full guidance.
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