#031 Kris Boulton – Part 2: Minimal guided instruction, Understanding, How before Why
Oct 4, 2017
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Kris Boulton, an expert in education, discusses concerns with minimal guided approaches and understanding in maths. They explore teaching the How before the Why, cognitive load theory, and the challenges of assessing student understanding. The conversation touches on lesson planning, teacher training, and the benefits of centrally planned teaching resources.
Assessing both performance and learning helps gauge short-term understanding and long-term knowledge retention in education.
Prioritizing procedural fluency before conceptual understanding optimizes instructional effectiveness and enhances knowledge retention.
Deep dives
Effective Planning to Ensure Student Success
Planning lessons efficiently is crucial for teachers to guarantee student success. Experience plays a key role in streamlining the planning process, as teachers improve their knowledge of what and how to teach over time. Chris Bolton's method of planning a sequence of lessons on simultaneous equations involved mapping out the objectives and lesson sequence collaboratively. By focusing on knowing exactly what and how to teach, planning becomes more straightforward.
Challenges Faced in Lesson Planning for New Teachers
New teachers often struggle with lesson planning, especially in determining what needs to be taught. Lack of initial guidance during teacher training leaves novice teachers grappling with necessary content details. Developing planning skills requires experience and continual reflection on what works and what doesn't. Efficient planning involves breaking down lesson objectives and instructional sequences, a process that improves over time with practical teaching experience.
The Balance Between Direct Instruction and Student Inquiry
The debate between direct instruction and student-led inquiry in education centers on the balance between teacher guidance and student exploration. Direct instruction methods, like those advocated by Engleman, emphasize structured, teacher-led lessons based on clear objectives. In contrast, student inquiry approaches encourage discovery learning and problem-solving. Finding the optimal mix of these strategies involves considering student outcomes, including mathematical understanding, inquiry ability, and problem-solving skills.
Cultivating Informed Decision-Making in Teaching Methodologies
When choosing teaching methodologies, educators must assess the impact on student outcomes. By defining success based on problem-solving abilities, investigative skills, and mathematical understanding, teachers can adapt their approaches. An evaluation of how different methods influence student learning guides educators in selecting the most effective teaching strategies. Balancing directive instruction with student inquiry creates a comprehensive learning environment that fosters critical thinking and academic achievement.
Understanding Learning and Cognitive Load
Cognitive overload can hinder learning, showcasing the importance of keeping information load low for effective teaching. Sequencing content to guide learners towards logical conclusions enhances learning outcomes while minimizing cognitive burden. Balancing guided instructional paradigms with minimal guidance can impact the success of cross-curricular projects, emphasizing the significance of structuring learning experiences.
Substantive and Disciplinary Knowledge
Emphasizing the distinction between substantive and disciplinary knowledge across disciplines like math, science, and history provides clarity in educational frameworks. Focusing on what the disciplines know (substantive knowledge) and how they acquire knowledge (disciplinary knowledge) simplifies learning objectives. Illustrating the roles of mathematicians, scientists, and historians in acquiring knowledge enhances educational effectiveness.
Teaching Explicitly for Disciplinary Knowledge
Explicitly teaching disciplinary knowledge, particularly in mathematics, can sharpen students' understanding of the discipline-specific processes. Staying clear on the purpose of teaching substantive content versus disciplinary knowledge leads to more targeted and effective instruction. Balancing explicit instruction with inquiry-based approaches ensures a comprehensive educational experience.
Performance and Learning Assessment
Assessing both performance and learning in education clarifies the distinction between immediate understanding and lasting knowledge retention. Immediate performance assessments measure current grasp of concepts, while evaluating learning outcomes requires observing knowledge retention over time. Balancing assessments of performance and learning helps gauge short-term understanding and long-term knowledge acquisition.
Sequencing Conceptual Understanding and Procedural Fluency
Prioritizing procedural fluency followed by conceptual understanding in teaching sequences can enhance learning outcomes. Sequentially introducing algorithmic steps before delving into the underlying concepts helps build a foundation for deeper understanding. Balancing the order of procedural fluency and conceptual understanding optimizes instructional effectiveness.
Teaching How before Why
Introducing procedural knowledge before delving into the underlying rationale enhances comprehension and minimizes cognitive overload. Engaging students with how-tos before exploring the reasons behind mathematical algorithms facilitates a structured learning approach. Sequencing instruction to focus on procedural fluency before conceptual understanding supports cognitive development and effective knowledge retention.
Teaching Sequence Patterns in Mathematics
The podcast discusses the importance of teaching mathematics sequences and patterns effectively. It highlights the need to introduce skills before delving into the why of concepts. For example, in teaching equations, the importance of understanding the application of mathematical operations on both sides of an equation for solving it is emphasized before demonstrating the manipulation process.
Transition from Explicit Instruction to Problem Solving
The episode challenges the transition from explicit instruction to problem-solving skills in education. It questions how students can be prepared to solve complex, unpredictable problems after mastering explicit instruction. The discussion raises the need to bridge the gap between mastering foundational knowledge through explicit instruction and developing problem-solving abilities required for challenging exam questions.
Kris returns to the podcast for another epic. This time we cover Kris' concerns with minimal guided approaches to teaching, such a discovery and inquiry based learning. We also delve into what it actually means to understand something in maths, and whether we as teachers can ever truly assess that understanding. Finally, how do you decide if you should teach the How before the Why?
