Childhood education is an issue of overwhelming importance, so it is no surprise that schools, governments, parents, and teachers have closely examined child psychology, social psychology, and even neurology in order to determine how school curricula should be best developed. Early theories of transmission have been superceded by constructivist theories and by theories of direct instruction (DI), but too often the theories that inform learning in the classroom are chosen for reasons other than effectiveness. Ease of use, social necessities, and an orientation toward the very best achievers as opposed to the "average" student, for example, have all led to constructivism being touted as the psychological theory upon which school learning should be based, even though learning often fails. Direct Instruction is likely a better theoretical basis upon which to create school curricula and teacher training
[...] B. Lahey & A. E. Kazdin (Eds.), Advances in clinical and child psychology (Vol pp. 429-473). New York: Plenum. Carnine, D., Grossen, B., & Silbert, J. (1994). "Direct instruction to accelerate cognitive growth." In J. Block, T Gluskey & S. Everson (Eds.), Choosing research based school improvement innovations. New York: Scholastic. Carroll J. B. (1963). model for school learning." Teachers College Record 64: 723-733. Engelmann, S. (1980). Direct instruction. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology. [...]
[...] The problem with constructivism Kirschner et al (2006) is worth quoting at length: A number of reviews of empirical studies have established a solid research- based case against the use of instruction with minimal guidance. Although an extensive review of those studies is outside the scope of this article, Mayer (2004) recently reviewed evidence from studies conducted from 1950 to the late 1980s comparing pure discovery learning, defined as unguided, problem-based instruction, with guided forms of instruction. He suggested that in each decade since the mid-1950s, when empirical studies provided solid evidence that the then popular unguided approach did not work, a similar approach popped up under a different name with the cycle then repeating itself. [...]
[...] Learners acquire information through choice-response discriminations, production-response discriminations, and sentence-relationship discriminations. The key activity for the teacher is to identify the type of discrimination required in a particular task, and design a specific sequence to teach the discrimination so that only the teacher's interpretation of the information is possible. The following precepts can be understood by a reading of the Engelmann literature: 1. The premise from which all the procedures derive either directly or indirectly is that the teacher is responsible for the learning and performance of the children. [...]
[...] Direct instruction also relies on small groups unison responding (to get high response rates from all students) to fixed signals from the teacher, rapid pacing, and correction procedures for dealing with student errors (Carnine, Grossen, & Silbert, 1994) Direct Instruction Model is best described by Becker and Carnine ( 1980): The Direct Instruction Model emphasizes the use of small-group, face-to- face instruction by teachers and aides using carefully sequenced lessons in reading, arithmetic, and language . They utilize advanced programming strategies which are consistent with current behavior theory, but which go beyond current research on task analysis and stimulus control . [...]
[...] leading the discussion on the contents of the sections of text that they jointly attempt to understand. In the flow of the group discussion, the teacher gives guidance and provides feedback according to the varying needs of the participants. According to social learning theory, children are equally inclined to replicate the behavior of peers or adults, according to two criteria. First, the behavior must appear to be instrumental in achieving goals. Second, the person performing the behavior must appear competent. [...]
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