Principles of Instruction PDF

Principles of Instruction Research-Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know By Barak Rosenshine Even though these are three very different bodies of research,...

Principles of Instruction Research-Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know By Barak Rosenshine Even though these are three very different bodies of research, there is no conflict at all between the instructional suggestions T his article presents 10 research-based principles of that come from each of these three sources. In other words, these instruction, along with suggestions for classroom prac- three sources supplement and complement each other. The fact tice. These principles come from three sources: (a) that the instructional ideas from three different sources supple- research in cognitive science, (b) research on master ment and complement each other gives us faith in the validity of teachers, and (c) research on cognitive supports. Each is briefly these findings. explained below. Education involves helping a novice develop strong, readily A: Research in cognitive science: This research focuses on how accessible background knowledge. It’s important that background our brains acquire and use information. This cognitive research knowledge be readily accessible, and this occurs when knowledge also provides suggestions on how we might overcome the limita- is well rehearsed and tied to other knowledge. The most effective tions of our working memory (i.e., the mental “space” in which teachers ensured that their students efficiently acquired, thinking occurs) when learning new material. rehearsed, and connected background knowledge by providing B: Research on the classroom practices of master teachers: Mas- a good deal of instructional support. They provided this support ter teachers are those teachers whose classrooms made the high- by teaching new material in manageable amounts, modeling, est gains on achievement tests. In a series of studies, a wide range guiding student practice, helping students when they made errors, of teachers were observed as they taught, and the investigators and providing for sufficient practice and review. Many of these coded how they presented new material, how and whether they teachers also went on to experiential, hands-on activities, but they checked for student understanding, the types of support they always did the experiential activities after, not before, the basic provided to their students, and a number of other instructional material was learned. activities. By also gathering student achievement data, research- The following is a list of some of the instructional principles ers were able to identify the ways in which the more and less effec- that have come from these three sources. These ideas will be tive teachers differed. described and discussed in this article: C: Research on cognitive supports to help students learn complex Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning.1 tasks: Effective instructional procedures—such as thinking aloud, Present new material in small steps with student practice after providing students with scaffolds, and providing students with each step.2 models—come from this research. Ask a large number of questions and check the responses of all Barak Rosenshine is an emeritus professor of educational psychology in the students.3 College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Provide models.4 illustrations by James Yang A distinguished researcher, he has spent much of the past four decades Guide student practice.5 identifying the hallmarks of effective teaching. He began his career as a Check for student understanding.6 high school history teacher in the Chicago public schools. This article is Obtain a high success rate.7 adapted with permission from Principles of Instruction by Barak Rosen- shine. Published by the International Academy of Education in 2010, the Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks.8 original report is available at www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ Require and monitor independent practice.9 Publications/Educational_Practices/EdPractices_21.pdf. Engage students in weekly and monthly review.10 12 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2012  ensured that the students had a firm grasp of the skills and con- cepts that would be needed for the day’s lesson. Effective teachers also reviewed the knowledge and concepts that were relevant for that day’s lesson. It is important for a teacher to help students recall the concepts and vocabulary that will be relevant for the day’s lesson because our working memory is very limited. If we do not review previous learning, then we will have to make a special effort to recall old material while learning new material, and this makes it difficult for us to learn the new material. Daily review is particularly important for teaching material that will be used in subsequent learning. Examples include reading sight words (i.e., any word that is known by a reader automati- cally), grammar, math facts, math computation, math factoring, and chemical equations. When planning for review, teachers might want to consider 1. Begin a lesson with a short review of previous which words, math facts, procedures, and concepts need to learning: Daily review can strengthen previous learning and can lead to fluent recall. Research findings Daily review is an important component of instruction. Review The most effective teachers ensured can help us strengthen the connections among the material we that students efficiently acquired, have learned. The review of previous learning can help us recall words, concepts, and procedures effortlessly and automatically rehearsed, and connected knowledge. when we need this material to solve problems or to understand Many went on to hands-on activities, new material. The development of expertise requires thousands of hours of practice, and daily review is one component of this but always after, not before, the basic practice. For example, daily review was part of a successful experiment material was learned. in elementary school mathematics. Teachers in the experiment were taught to spend eight minutes every day on review. Teachers used this time to check the homework, go over problems where become automatic, and which words, vocabulary, or ideas need there were errors, and practice the concepts and skills that needed to be reviewed before the lesson begins. to become automatic. As a result, students in these classrooms In addition, teachers might consider doing the following dur- had higher achievement scores than did students in other ing their daily review: classrooms. Correct homework. Daily practice of vocabulary can lead to seeing each practiced Review the concepts and skills that were practiced as part of word as a unit (i.e., seeing the whole word automatically rather the homework. than as individual letters that have to be sounded out and Ask students about points where they had difficulties or made blended). When students see words as units, they have more errors. space available in their working memory, and this space can now Review material where errors were made. be used for comprehension. Mathematical problem solving is also Review material that needs overlearning (i.e., newly acquired improved when the basic skills (addition, multiplication, etc.) are skills should be practiced well beyond the point of initial mas- overlearned and become automatic, thus freeing working-mem- tery, leading to automaticity). ory capacity. In the classroom 2. Present new material in small steps with student The most effective teachers in the studies of classroom instruction practice after each step: Only present small amounts understood the importance of practice, and they began their les- of new material at any time, and then assist students sons with a five- to eight-minute review of previously covered as they practice this material. material. Some teachers reviewed vocabulary, formulae, events, Research findings or previously learned concepts. These teachers provided addi- Our working memory, the place where we process information, tional practice on facts and skills that were needed for recall to is small. It can only handle a few bits of information at once—too become automatic. much information swamps our working memory. Presenting too Effective teacher activities also included reviewing the con- much material at once may confuse students because their work- cepts and skills that were necessary to do the homework, having ing memory will be unable to process it. students correct each others’ papers, and asking about points on Therefore, the more effective teachers do not overwhelm their which the students had difficulty or made errors. These reviews students by presenting too much new material at once. Rather, AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2012 13 these teachers only present small amounts of new material at any tifying the topics of new paragraphs. Then, she taught students to time, and then assist the students as they practice this material. identify the main idea of a paragraph. The teacher modeled this Only after the students have mastered the first step do teachers step and then supervised the students as they practiced both find- proceed to the next step. ing the topic and locating the main idea. Following this, the The procedure of first teaching in small steps and then guiding teacher taught the students to identify the supporting details in a student practice represents an appropriate way of dealing with paragraph. The teacher modeled and thought aloud, and then the the limitation of our working memory. students practiced. Finally, the students practiced carrying out all three steps of this strategy. Thus, the strategy of summarizing a In the classroom paragraph was divided into smaller steps, and there was modeling The more successful teachers did not overwhelm their students and practice at each step. by presenting too much new material at once. Rather, they pre- sented only small amounts of new material at one time, and they 3. Ask a large number of questions and check the responses of all students: Questions help students practice new information and connect new material to their prior learning. Research findings Students need to practice new material. The teacher’s questions and student discussion are a major way of providing this neces- sary practice. The most successful teachers in these studies spent more than half of the class time lecturing, demonstrating, and asking questions. Questions allow a teacher to determine how well the material has been learned and whether there is a need for additional instruction. The most effective teachers also ask students to explain the process they used to answer the question, to explain how the answer was found. Less successful teachers ask fewer questions and almost no process questions. In the classroom taught in such a way that each point was mastered before the next In one classroom-based experimental study, one group of teach- point was introduced. They checked their students’ understand- ers was taught to follow the presentation of new material with lots ing on each point and retaught material when necessary. of questions.11 They were taught to increase the number of factual Some successful teachers taught by giving a series of short questions and process questions they asked during this guided presentations using many examples. The examples provided practice. Test results showed that their students achieved higher concrete learning and elaboration that were useful for processing scores than did students whose teachers did not receive the new material. training. Teaching in small steps requires time, and the more effective Imaginative teachers have found ways to involve all students teachers spent more time presenting new material and guiding in answering questions. Examples include having all students: student practice than did the less effective teachers. In a study of Tell the answer to a neighbor. mathematics instruction, for instance, the most effective math- Summarize the main idea in one or two sentences, writing the ematics teachers spent about 23 minutes of a 40-minute period summary on a piece of paper and sharing this with a neighbor, in lecture, demonstration, questioning, and working examples. or repeating the procedures to a neighbor. In contrast, the least effective teachers spent only 11 minutes Write the answer on a card and then hold it up. presenting new material. The more effective teachers used this Raise their hands if they know the answer (thereby allowing extra time to provide additional explanations, give many exam- the teacher to check the entire class). ples, check for student understanding, and provide sufficient Raise their hands if they agree with the answer that someone instruction so that the students could learn to work independently else has given. without difficulty. In one study, the least effective teachers asked only nine questions in a 40-minute period. Compared with the Across the classrooms that researchers observed, the purpose successful teachers, the less effective teachers gave much shorter of all these procedures was to provide active participation for the presentations and explanations, and then passed out worksheets students and also to allow the teacher to see how many students and told students to solve the problems. The less successful teach- were correct and confident. The teacher may then reteach some ers were then observed going from student to student and having material when it was considered necessary. An alternative was for to explain the material again. students to write their answers and then trade papers with each Similarly, when students were taught a strategy for summariz- other. ing a paragraph, an effective teacher taught the strategy using Other teachers used choral responses to provide sufficient small steps. First, the teacher modeled and thought aloud as she practice when teaching new vocabulary or lists of items. This identified the topic of a paragraph. Then, she led practice on iden- made the practice seem more like a game. To be effective, how- 14 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2012 ever, all students needed to start together, on a signal. When ing students as they develop independence. When teaching read- students did not start together, only the faster students answered. ing comprehension strategies, for example, effective teachers In addition to asking questions, the more effective teachers provided students with prompts that the students could use to ask facilitated their students’ rehearsal by providing explanations, themselves questions about a short passage. In one class, students giving more examples, and supervising students as they practiced were given words such as “who,” “where,” “why,” and “how” to the new material. help them begin a question. Then, everyone read a passage and The following is a series of stems12 for questions that teachers the teacher modeled how to use these words to ask questions. might ask when teaching literature, social science content, or sci- Many examples were given. ence content to their students. Sometimes, students may also Next, during guided practice, the teacher helped the students develop questions from these stems to ask questions of each other. practice asking questions by helping them select a prompt and Many of the skills taught in classrooms can be conveyed by providing prompts, modeling use of the prompt, and then guiding students as they develop independence. develop a question that began with that prompt. The students How are __________ and __________ alike? practiced this step many times with lots of support from the What is the main idea of __________? teacher. What are the strengths and weaknesses of __________? Then, the students read new passages and practiced asking In what way is __________ related to __________? questions on their own, with support from the teacher when Compare __________ and __________ with regard to __________. needed. Finally, students were given short passages followed by What do you think causes __________? questions, and the teacher expressed an opinion about the quality How does __________ tie in with what we have learned before? of the students’ questions. Which one is the best __________, and why? This same procedure—providing a prompt, modeling, guiding What are some possible solutions for the problem of __________? practice, and supervising independent practice—can be used for Do you agree or disagree with this statement: __________? many tasks. When teaching students to write an essay, for exam- What do you still not understand about __________? ple, an effective teacher first modeled how to write each para- graph, then the students and teacher worked together on two or 4. Provide models: Providing students with more new essays, and finally students worked on their own with models and worked examples can help them supervision from the teacher. learn to solve problems faster. Worked examples are another form of modeling that has been used to help students learn how to solve problems in mathematics Research findings and science. A worked example is a step-by-step demonstration Students need cognitive support to help them learn to solve prob- of how to perform a task or how to solve a problem. The presenta- lems. The teacher modeling and thinking aloud while demonstrat- tion of worked examples begins with the teacher modeling and ing how to solve a problem are examples of effective cognitive explaining the steps that can be taken to solve a specific problem. support. Worked examples (such as a math problem for which the The teacher also identifies and explains the underlying principles teacher not only has provided the solution but has clearly laid out for these steps. each step) are another form of modeling that has been developed Usually, students are then given a series of problems to com- by researchers. Worked examples allow students to focus on the plete at their desks as independent practice. But, in research car- specific steps to solve problems and thus reduce the cognitive ried out in Australia, students were given a mixture of problems load on their working memory. Modeling and worked examples to solve and worked examples. So, during independent practice, have been used successfully in mathematics, science, writing, and students first studied a worked example, then they solved a prob- reading comprehension. lem; then they studied another worked example and solved In the classroom another problem. In this way, the worked examples showed stu- Many of the skills that are taught in classrooms can be conveyed dents how to focus on the essential parts of the problems. Of by providing prompts, modeling use of the prompt, and then guid- course, not all students studied the worked examples. To correct AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2012 15 this problem, the Australian researchers also presented partially dents to work on the problems. Under these conditions, the stu- completed problems in which students had to complete the miss- dents made too many errors and had to be retaught the lesson. ing steps and thus pay more attention to the worked example. The most successful teachers presented only small amounts of material at a time. After this short presentation, these teachers 5. Guide student practice: Successful teachers then guided student practice. This guidance often consisted of the spend more time guiding students’ practice teacher working the first problems at the blackboard and explain- of new material. ing the reason for each step, which served as a model for the Research findings students. The guidance also included asking students to come to It is not enough simply to present students with new material, the blackboard to work out problems and discuss their proce- because the material will be forgotten unless there is sufficient dures. Through this process, the students seated in the classroom rehearsal. An important finding from information-processing saw additional models. research is that students need to spend additional time rephras- Although most teachers provided some guided practice, the ing, elaborating, and summarizing new material in order to store most successful teachers spent more time in guided practice, this material in their long-term memory. When there has been more time asking questions, more time checking for understand- sufficient rehearsal, the students are able to retrieve this material ing, more time correcting errors, and more time having students work out problems with teacher guidance. Teachers who spent more time in guided practice and had higher success rates also had students who were more engaged during individual work at their desks. This finding suggests that, when teachers provided sufficient instruction during guided practice, the students were better prepared for the independent practice (e.g., seatwork and homework activities), but when the guided practice was too short, the students were not prepared for the seatwork and made more errors during independent practice. 6. Check for student understanding: Checking for student understanding at each point can help students learn the material with fewer errors. Research findings The more effective teachers frequently checked to see if all the students were learning the new material. These checks provided easily and thus are able to make use of this material to foster new some of the processing needed to move new learning into long- learning and aid in problem solving. But when the rehearsal time term memory. These checks also let teachers know if students is too short, students are less able to store, remember, or use the were developing misconceptions. material. As we know, it is relatively easy to place something in a In the classroom filing cabinet, but it can be very difficult to recall where exactly we Effective teachers also stopped to check for student understand- filed it. Rehearsal helps us remember where we filed it so we can ing. They checked for understanding by asking questions, by ask- access it with ease when needed. ing students to summarize the presentation up to that point or to A teacher can facilitate this rehearsal process by asking ques- repeat directions or procedures, or by asking students whether tions; good questions require students to process and rehearse the they agreed or disagreed with other students’ answers. This check- material. Rehearsal is also enhanced when students are asked to ing has two purposes: (a) answering the questions might cause summarize the main points, and when they are supervised as they the students to elaborate on the material they have learned and practice new steps in a skill. The quality of storage in long-term augment connections to other learning in their long-term mem- memory will be weak if students only skim the material and do not ory, and (b) alerting the teacher to when parts of the material need engage in it. It is also important that all students process the new to be retaught. material and receive feedback, so they do not inadvertently store In contrast, the less effective teachers simply asked, “Are there partial information or a misconception in long-term memory. any questions?” and, if there were no questions, they assumed the In the classroom students had learned the material and proceeded to pass out In one study, the more successful teachers of mathematics spent worksheets for students to complete on their own. more time presenting new material and guiding practice. The Another way to check for understanding is to ask students to more successful teachers used this extra time to provide addi- think aloud as they work to solve mathematical problems, plan tional explanations, give many examples, check for student under- an essay, or identify the main idea in a paragraph. Yet another standing, and provide sufficient instruction so that the students check is to ask students to explain or defend their position to oth- could learn to work independently without difficulty. In contrast, ers. Having to explain a position may help students integrate and the less successful teachers gave much shorter presentations and elaborate their knowledge in new ways, or may help identify gaps explanations, and then they passed out worksheets and told stu- in their understanding. 16 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2012  Another reason for the importance of teaching in small steps, vised student practice), and by giving sufficient practice on each guiding practice, and checking for understanding (as well as part before proceeding to the next step. These teachers frequently obtaining a high success rate, which we’ll explore in principle 7) checked for understanding and required responses from all comes from the fact that we all construct and reconstruct knowl- students. edge as we learn and use what we have learned. We cannot simply It is important that students achieve a high success rate during repeat what we hear word for word. Rather, we connect our under- instruction and on their practice activities. Practice, we are told, standing of the new information to our existing concepts or makes perfect, but practice can be a disaster if students are prac- “schema,” and we then construct a mental summary (i.e., the gist ticing errors! If the practice does not have a high success level, of what we have heard). However, when left on their own, many there is a chance that students are practicing and learning errors. students make errors in the process of constructing this mental Once errors have been learned, they are very difficult to summary. These errors occur, particularly, when the information overcome. is new and the student does not have adequate or well-formed As discussed in the previous section, when we learn new mate- background knowledge. These constructions are not errors so rial, we construct a gist of this material in our long-term memory. much as attempts by the students to be logical in an area where However, many students make errors in the process of construct- their background knowledge is weak. These errors are so common ing this mental summary. These errors can occur when the infor- that there is a research literature on the development and correc- mation is new and the student did not have adequate or The most successful teachers spent more time in guided practice, more time asking questions, more time checking for understanding, and more time correcting errors. tion of student misconceptions in science. Providing guided practice after teaching small amounts of new material, and check- ing for student understanding, can help limit the development of well-formed background knowledge. These constructions are not misconceptions. errors so much as attempts by the students to be logical in an area 7. Obtain a high success rate: It is important where their background knowledge is weak. But students are more for students to achieve a high success rate likely to develop misconceptions if too much material is presented during classroom instruction. at once, and if teachers do not check for student understanding. Providing guided practice after teaching small amounts of new Research findings material, and checking for student understanding, can help limit In two of the major studies on the impact of teachers, the investi- the development of misconceptions. gators found that students in classrooms with more effective I once observed a class where an effective teacher was going teachers had a higher success rate, as judged by the quality of their from desk to desk during independent practice and suddenly oral responses during guided practice and their individual work. realized that the students were having difficulty. She stopped the In a study of fourth-grade mathematics, it was found that 82 per- work, told the students not to do the problems for homework, and cent of students’ answers were correct in the classrooms of the said she would reteach this material the next day. She stopped the most successful teachers, but the least successful teachers had a work because she did not want the students to practice errors. success rate of only 73 percent. A high success rate during guided Unless all students have mastered the first set of lessons, there practice also leads to a higher success rate when students are is a danger that the slower students will fall further behind when working on problems on their own. the next set of lessons is taught. So there is a need for a high suc- The research also suggests that the optimal success rate for cess rate for all students. “Mastery learning” is a form of instruc- fostering student achievement appears to be about 80 percent. A tion where lessons are organized into short units and all students success rate of 80 percent shows that students are learning the are required to master one set of lessons before they proceed to material, and it also shows that the students are challenged. the next set. In mastery learning, tutoring by other students or by In the classroom teachers is provided to help students master each unit. Variations The most effective teachers obtained this success level by teaching of this approach, particularly the tutoring, might be useful in in small steps (i.e., by combining short presentations with super- many classroom settings. AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2012 17  8. Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks: The teacher and at the same time provide labels for their mental processes. provides students with temporary supports and Such thinking aloud provides novice learners with a way to scaffolds to assist them when they learn difficult tasks. observe “expert thinking” that is usually hidden from the student. Research findings Teachers also can study their students’ thought processes by ask- Investigators have successfully provided students with scaffolds, ing them to think aloud during problem solving. or instructional supports, to help them learn difficult tasks. A scaf- One characteristic of effective teachers is their ability to antici- fold is a temporary support that is used to assist a learner. These pate students’ errors and warn them about possible errors some scaffolds are gradually withdrawn as learners become more com- of them are likely to make. For example, a teacher might have petent, although students may continue to rely on scaffolds when students read a passage and then give them a poorly written topic they encounter particularly difficult problems. Providing scaffolds sentence to correct. In teaching division or subtraction, the is a form of guided practice. teacher may show and discuss with students the mistakes other Scaffolds include modeling the steps by the teacher, or thinking students have frequently made. aloud by the teacher as he or she solves the problem. Scaffolds In some of the studies, students were given a checklist to evalu- also may be tools, such as cue cards or checklists, that complete ate their work. Checklist items included “Have I found the most part of the task for the students, or a model of the completed task important information that tells me more about the main idea?” against which students can compare their own work. and “Does every sentence start with a capital letter?” The teacher then modeled use of the checklist. In some studies, students were provided with expert models with which they could compare their work. For example, when students were taught to generate questions, they could compare One characteristic of effective their questions with those generated by the teacher. Similarly, teachers is their ability to anticipate when learning to write summaries, students could compare their summaries on a passage with those generated by an expert. students’ errors and warn them 9. Require and monitor independent practice: Students about possible errors some of them need extensive, successful, independent practice in are likely to make. order for skills and knowledge to become automatic. Research findings In a typical teacher-led classroom, guided practice is followed by independent practice—by students working alone and practicing the new material. This independent practice is necessary because The process of helping students solve difficult problems by a good deal of practice (overlearning) is needed in order to modeling and providing scaffolds has been called “cognitive become fluent and automatic in a skill. When material is over- apprenticeship.” Students learn strategies and content during this learned, it can be recalled automatically and doesn’t take up any apprenticeship that enable them to become competent readers, space in working memory. When students become automatic in writers, and problem solvers. They are aided by a master who an area, they can then devote more of their attention to compre- models, coaches, provides supports, and scaffolds them as they hension and application. become independent. Independent practice provides students with the additional In the classroom review and elaboration they need to become fluent. This need for One form of scaffolding is to give students prompts for steps they fluency applies to facts, concepts, and discriminations that must might use. Prompts such as “who,” “why,” and “how” have helped be used in subsequent learning. Fluency is also needed in opera- students learn to ask questions while they read. Teaching students tions, such as dividing decimals, conjugating a regular verb in a to ask questions has been shown to help students’ reading foreign language, or completing and balancing a chemical comprehension. equation. Similarly, one researcher developed the following prompt to help students organize material.13 1. Draw a central box and write the title of the article in it. 2. Skim the article to find four to six main ideas. 3. Write each main idea in a box below the central box. 4. Find and write two to four important details to list under each main idea. Another form of scaffolding is thinking aloud by the teacher. For example, teachers might think aloud as they try to summarize a paragraph. They would show the thought processes they go through as they determine the topic of the paragraph and then use the topic to generate a summary sentence. Teachers might think aloud while solving a scientific equation or writing an essay, 18 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2012 In the classroom The more successful teachers provided for extensive and success- 17 Principles of ful practice, both in the classroom and after class. Independent practice should involve the same material as the guided practice. Effective Instruction If guided practice deals with identifying types of sentences, for The following list of 17 principles emerges from the research example, then independent practice should deal with the same discussed in the main article. It overlaps with, and offers topic or, perhaps, with a slight variation, like creating individual slightly more detail than, the 10 principles used to organize compound and complex sentences. It would be inappropriate if that article. the independent practice asked the students to do an activity such Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning. as “Write a paragraph using two compound and two complex Present new material in small steps with student practice sentences,” however, because the students have not been ade- after each step. quately prepared for such an activity. Limit the amount of material students receive at one Students need to be fully prepared for their independent prac- time. tice. Sometimes, it may be appropriate for a teacher to practice Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations. some of the seatwork problems with the entire class before stu- Ask a large number of questions and check for dents begin independent practice. understanding. Research has found that students were more engaged when Provide a high level of active practice for all students. their teacher circulated around the room, and monitored and Guide students as they begin to practice. Think aloud and model steps. Provide models of worked-out problems. The best way to become an expert Ask students to explain what they have learned. Check the responses of all students. is through practice—thousands of Provide systematic feedback and corrections. Use more time to provide explanations. hours of practice. The more the Provide many examples. practice, the better the Reteach material when necessary. Prepare students for independent practice. performance. Monitor students when they begin independent practice. –B.R. supervised their seatwork. The optimal time for these contacts was 30 seconds or less. Classrooms where the teachers had to stop particular topic is large and well connected, it is easier to learn at students’ desks and provide a great deal of explanation during new information and prior knowledge is more readily available seatwork were the classrooms where students were making errors. for use. The more one rehearses and reviews information, the These errors occurred because the guided practice was not suf- stronger these interconnections become. It is also easier to solve ficient for students to engage productively in independent prac- new problems when one has a rich, well-connected body of tice. This reiterates the importance of adequately preparing knowledge and strong ties among the connections. One of the students before they begin their independent practice. goals of education is to help students develop extensive and avail- Some investigators 14 have developed procedures, such as able background knowledge. cooperative learning, during which students help each other as Knowledge (even very extensive knowledge) stored in long- they study. Research has shown that all students tend to achieve term memory that is organized into patterns only occupies a tiny more in these settings than do students in regular settings. Pre- amount of space in our limited working memory. So having larger sumably, some of the advantage comes from having to explain the and better-connected patterns of knowledge frees up space in our material to someone else and/or having someone else (other than working memory. This available space can be used for reflecting the teacher) explain the material to the student. Cooperative on new information and for problem solving. The development learning offers an opportunity for students to get feedback from of well-connected patterns (also called “unitization” and “chunk- their peers about correct as well as incorrect responses, which ing”) and the freeing of space in the working memory is one of the promotes both engagement and learning. These cooperative/ hallmarks of an expert in a field. competitive settings are also valuable for helping slower students Thus, research on cognitive processing supports the need for in a class by providing extra instruction for them. a teacher to assist students by providing for extensive reading of a variety of materials, frequent review, and discussion and appli- 10. Engage students in weekly and monthly cation activities. The research on cognitive processing suggests review: Students need to be involved in extensive that these classroom activities help students increase the number practice in order to develop well-connected and of pieces of information in their long-term memory and organize automatic knowledge. this information into patterns and chunks. Research findings The more one rehearses and reviews information, the stronger Students need extensive and broad reading, and extensive prac- the interconnections between the materials become. Review also tice in order to develop well-connected networks of ideas (sche- helps students develop their new knowledge into patterns, and it mas) in their long-term memory. When one’s knowledge on a (Continued on page 39) AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2012 19  Principles Endnotes 1. Suggested readings: George A. Miller, “The Magical (Continued from page 19) Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information,” Psychological Review helps them acquire the ability to recall past 63, no. 2 (1956): 81–97; and David LaBerge and S. Jay Samuels, “Toward a Theory of Automatic Information learning automatically. Processing in Reading,” Cognitive Psychology 6, no. 2 (1974): 293–323. The best way to become an expert is 2. Suggested readings: Carolyn M. Evertson, Charles W. through practice—thousands of hours of Anderson, Linda M. Anderson, and Jere E. Brophy, practice. The more the practice, the better “Relationships between Classroom Behaviors and Student Outcomes in Junior High Mathematics and English Classes,” the performance. American Educational Research Journal 17, no. 1 (1980): 43–60; and Thomas L. Good and Jere E. Brophy, Educational In the classroom Psychology: A Realistic Approach, 4th ed. (New York: Longman, 1990). Many successful programs, especially in 3. Suggested readings: Thomas L. Good and Douglas A. the elementary grades, provided for exten- Grouws, “The Missouri Mathematics Effectiveness Project,” Journal of Educational Psychology 71, no. 3 (1979): sive review. One way of achieving this goal 355–362; and Alison King, “Guiding Knowledge is to review the previous week’s work every Construction in the Classroom: Effects of Teaching Children How to Question and How to Explain,” American Monday and the previous month’s work Educational Research Journal 31, no. 2 (1994): 338–368. every fourth Monday. Some effective 4. Suggested readings: John Sweller, “Cognitive Load Theory, Learning Difficulty, and Instructional Design,” teachers also gave tests after their reviews. Learning and Instruction 4, no. 4 (1994): 295–312; Barak Research has found that even at the sec- Rosenshine, Carla Meister, and Saul Chapman, “Teaching Students to Generate Questions: A Review of the ondary level, classes that had weekly quiz- Intervention Studies,” Review of Educational Research 66, no. 2 (1996): 181–221; and Alan H. Schoenfeld, zes scored better on final exams than did Mathematical Problem Solving (New York: Academic Press, classes with only one or two quizzes during 1985). the term. These reviews and tests provided 5. Suggested readings: Evertson et al., “Relationships between Classroom Behaviors and Student Outcomes”; and the additional practice students needed to Paul A. Kirschner, John Sweller, and Richard E. Clark, “Why Minimal Guidance during Instruction Does Not Work: An become skilled, successful performers who Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, could apply their knowledge and skills in Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching,” Educational Psychologist 41, no. 2 (2006): 75–86. new areas. 6. Suggested readings: Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey, INTENTIONALLY Teachers face a difficult problem when they need to cover a lot of material and Checking for Understanding: Formative Assessment Techniques for Your Classroom (Alexandria, VA: Association LEFT BLANK for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2007); and don’t feel they have the time for sufficient Michael J. Dunkin, “Student Characteristics, Classroom Processes, and Student Achievement,” Journal of review. But the research states (and we all Educational Psychology 70, no. 6 (1978): 998–1009. know from personal experience) that 7. Suggested readings: Lorin W. Anderson and Robert B. Burns, “Values, Evidence, and Mastery Learning,” Review of material that is not adequately practiced Educational Research 57, no. 2 (1987): 215–223; and and reviewed is easily forgotten. Norman Frederiksen, “Implications of Cognitive Theory for Instruction in Problem Solving,” Review of Educational T Research 54, no. 3 (1984): 363–407. he 10 principles in this article 8. Suggested readings: Michael Pressley and Vera Woloshyn, Cognitive Strategy Instruction that Really Improves Children’s come from thre e different Academic Performance, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, MA: Brookline sources: research on how the Books, 1995); and Barak Rosenshine and Carla Meister, “The Use of Scaffolds for Teaching Higher-Level Cognitive mind acquires and uses informa- Strategies,” Educational Leadership 49, no. 7 (April 1992): tion, the instructional procedures that are 26–33. 9. Suggested readings: Barak Rosenshine, “The Empirical used by the most successful teachers, and Support for Direct Instruction,” in Constructivist Instruction: the procedures invented by researchers to Success or Failure? ed. Sigmund Tobias and Thomas M. Duffy (New York: Routledge, 2009), 201–220; and Robert E. help students learn difficult tasks. The Slavin, Education for All (Exton, PA: Swets and Zeitlinger, research from each of these three sources 1996). 10. Suggested readings: Good and Grouws, “The Missouri has implications for classroom instruction, Mathematics Effectiveness Project”; and James A. Kulik and and these implications are described in Chen-Lin C. Kulik, “College Teaching,” in Research on Teaching: Concepts, Findings, and Implications, ed. Penelope each of these 10 principles. L. Peterson and Herbert J. Walberg (Berkeley, CA: Even though these principles come McCutchan, 1979). 11. Good and Grouws, “The Missouri Mathematics from three different sources, the instruc- Effectiveness Project.” tional procedures that are taken from one 12. These stems were developed by King, “Guiding source do not conflict with the instruc- Knowledge Construction in the Classroom.” 13. Sandra J. Berkowitz, “Effects of Instruction in Text tional procedures that are taken from Organization on Sixth-Grade Students’ Memory for another source. Instead, the ideas from Expository Reading,” Reading Research Quarterly 21, no. 2 (1986): 161–178. For additional strategies to help students each of the sources overlap and add to each organize material, see Wisconsin Department of Public other. This overlap gives us faith that we are Instruction, Strategic Learning in the Content Areas (Madison, WI: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, developing a valid and research-based 2005). understanding of the art of teaching. ☐ 14. Slavin, Education for All. AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2012 39