Instructional Modes

Eleven instructional modes, with short statements of purpose for each mode.

1. Use multiple representations to enrich students understanding of concepts, and to provide alternative ways to solve problems.

2. Make forward and backward references to help students to interconnect their knowledge store.

3. Explore extended contexts to avoid oversimplified generalizations, and to help students abstract concepts

4. Compare and contrast to sensitise students to those categories and features useful for analysis.

5. Classify and categorize to make students aware of useful categories, and to increase the sophistication of ideas used to classify.

6. Predict & show (inadequacy of old model) to help students become self-aware and self-invested, to give them practice in applying their models to new situations, and to confront other peoples’ models.

7. Explain (summarize, describe, discuss, define, etc) to become aware of features used for analysis and problem solving and to practice using and modifying one’s model.

8. Generate multiple solutions to encourage students to develop Strategic Knowledge elements, and to help them prioritize knowledge elements and organisational schemes.

9. Plan, justify and strategize to develop a deeper understanding of physics concepts and their role in problem solving, and to develop Strategic Knowledge.

10. Reflect (evaluate, integrate, extend, generalize etc) to solidify the results of other activities and increase the likelihood that long-term change has occurred, and to help students make the knowledge they acquire useful and accessible to them at a later time.

11. Meta-communicate to motivate students, to help students become self-invested, to address learning issues, and to improve communication.