Education Guidebook A
Glossary: Instructed Learning
GLOSSARY: INSTRUCTED LEARNING
1. Active Learning
This method of instruction refers to approaches used by instructors to involve the entire class actively in the learning. By contrast, with “traditional” methods of instruction, students are passively involved in the class, receiving information from the instructor often in a lecture-type format.
Using active learning instruction results in more learning and greater student retention than in courses taught by lecture. Students often find that hard to accept because, unlike the traditional lecture, active learning can feel messy, i.e., may feel somewhat disorganized, has predictable interruptions such as when students change discussion groups or regroup for full-class discussions. Students also may be concerned that their errors will not be corrected before class ends. Some students find these changes from the lecture format frustrating and confusing. (See Student Tips below for ways to manage these issues.)
Active learning instruction takes many forms and engages students in problems and issues through peer discussions in small and large groups, turn-and-talks, role-playing, prompts (verbal, auditory, written, tech), debates, mock courts, labs, co-teaching classes with peers, case studies, project-based learning (often referred to as problem-based learning), etc.
Active learning classrooms may include:
- Document Cameras
- Microphones
- Video
- White Boards
- Wi-Fi
- Monitors
Seating arrangements for ease of movement throughout the room and for small group work by students.
Student TIPS!
If you are taking a course that uses active learning methods, and many lecture-based courses do, and you have concerns or questions about participating in those learning methods, ask the instructor at the beginning of the course to discuss the active learning approaches that will used and their effectiveness for learning. Research shows that when instructors discuss active learning methods openly in class, most students’ feelings about the effectiveness of active learning improved over the duration of the course. In fact, ,most students felt better about being involved in active learning methods when they took lecture-based classes. (Deslauriers, L., et al, 2019)
A PEEK Behind the Instructor’s Door
When instructors want to get an accurate read on how well they are using active learning methods, they can use a tool called the Decibel Analysis for Research in Teaching (DART). This tool has an algorithm that uses sounds to identify teaching styles. It reports the kinds of activities going on in class based on sound waves (low or high volume and low variance = active learning, i.e., students are engaged in a task).
2. Adaptive Learning
This form of instruction is used in education services centers on campuses to prepare students for academic subjects when they need prerequisite skills and knowledge before moving ahead with new concepts, such as in mathematics courses. Students are referred to the education services center for this type of instruction based on the results from required placement examinations or by the academic advisor or accessibility services provider.
This software-based approach to learning adjusts automatically to individual students’ abilities and progress. It assesses what the students know, don’t know, and need to know, thus allowing students to focus on what is more challenging for them rather than using their time on what they already know. As a result, students become more actively involved in their learning and understand themselves better as learners. Instructors respond directly to questions asked by students in ongoing discussions about the subject matter. Because students progress differently in their understanding of the subject, abilities, and skills, the software system incorporates “mastery learning,” which means students must demonstrate that they know the material that is needed to move onto the next concept. This becomes critical to student success in courses where concepts build upon each other.
- This is a form of personalized learning.
Student TIPS!
Adaptive learning is different from adaptive technology, also referred to as assistive technology (AT), which refers to technology tools designed to assist students with disabilities perform tasks with greater ease and/or independence. The AT resource in this Guide provides information on how assistive technology can help students who have IH navigate their courses. (See #4 Guide to Academic Resources for College Students Who Have IH, p.9)
3. Career-Relevant Instruction
Although this term may not be found in the methodology section of the course syllabus, this approach is very common in undergraduate professional studies programs such as nursing, human services, business, communications media, and teacher education. Most recently, instructors outside professional studies programs on campus have begun using this approach to connect what students are learning in their classes to the future workplace by bringing the “outside world” into the class through a variety of techniques.
The workplace continues to inform higher education as to what skills, knowledge, and ways of thinking it expects of graduates. This includes identifying capabilities used in the workplace, such as being able to communicate effectively, make appropriate ethical decisions, solve problems efficiently, be adaptable, demonstrate leadership and teamwork skills, and be able to think critically.
Although these capabilities are being taught in academic disciplines other than professional studies programs, students may not be aware of how the knowledge and skills in those disciplines relate to their future careers or to being members of their communities. Thus, instructors in the liberal arts disciplines (e.g., humanities, arts, sciences, mathematics, social and behavioral sciences, etc.) are finding ways to make it evident to the students how their studies are preparing them for careers and life after college.
This instructional method broadens what students typically learn in liberal arts classes and is designed to help students understand the practical value of what they are studying, how they are thinking, and the contributions of their degree to their future lives. The career relevancy of this method of instruction to students who have IH can boost their engagement in courses which otherwise do not draw their interest or motivate them.
4. Competency-Based Instruction (CBI)
Competency-based instruction (CBI) focuses on what students know and can do rather than how much time they spend in class, credits earned, GPAs, test scores, and academic terms completed, all of which are not feasible for many students. CBI breaks courses and credits into competencies for which students must demonstrate mastery, i.e., knowledge, skills, and abilities in a subject. It’s a personalized approach to learning that provides flexibility in the amount of time (at own pace) and the ways in which mastery is demonstrated to meet the course’s learning goals (outcomes), for example through task-based activities and project-based learning.
Typically, personal academic support, educational resources, and remote access are available to the student. Students can earn certificates as well as two– and four–year academic degrees. Instruction may occur in-person, remotely, or be a hybrid of the two.
Student TIPS!
Before making a commitment …
- It is very important for students to determine and understand what is meant by competency-based instruction where they are studying and whether they would benefit from it.
- Verify that the program is accredited by an accrediting organization of the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
- Ask about the ways in which CBI is offered; examples include campus-based in person or hybrid courses, fully remote courses including those taught online, flat rate fees, non-linear course completion, and programs designed with employer input.
- Inquire whether competencies are interchangeable across institutions and, if so, how that happens.
5. Discussion-Based Instruction
Students may enroll in courses that use discussion-based methods for course instruction or discussion-based techniques in some of the classes. One such approach is a “pure” version of the Socratic method of teaching (see Socratic Instruction below); other approaches may be derivatives of the Socratic method (see Intentional Conversation below); and, Interactive Instruction is another example.
Socratic Instruction is a method in which the instructor has undergone specialized, advanced training to foster development of critical thinking skills by posing carefully constructed questions to students that contain the “elements of reasoning”. Students are taught how to think critically about questions and responses and engage in discussions with peers about those questions and responses, while reflecting reasoned thinking.
Intentional Conversation is a derivative of a Socratic seminar in which learning occurs through a discussion among students engaged in collaborative thinking about a subject that has meaning for them. This technique (Socratic Circle) is not a primary instruction method for the course but rather a technique that teaches students to “dig into” the material, think critically about it, and guide themselves in their learning about the subject—all skills important to the workplace, being engaged citizens, and life in general. The Socratic Circle is a structured format, with an inner circle of students who engage in the conversation and an outer circle of students who observe behaviors, interactions, contributions, and provide feedback to their peers (by text, screens, notes, etc.). The goal is to intentionally instruct the students about the components of a conversation.
6. Experiential Learning
This method of instruction actively involves the student in learning through discovery of knowledge by working on a project, problem, or issue and critically reflecting about it. This can be the primary way of learning for the course (e.g., internship), the basis of class-related activities and assignments, or a component of academic programs. Examples include working on problems or projects for classes, service-learning, and course or program-related practicum experiences (AEE.org; NSEE.org). This method of instruction and learning is discussed at length in Education Guidebook B: Experiential Learning.
7. Flipped Classroom Instruction
In a traditional lecture, students often try to capture what is being said the instant the speaker says it. They are not able to stop to reflect on or respond to what is being said because they are trying to take notes on the significant points of the lecture.
In a flipped lecture, the instructor typically uses video or other prerecorded media of what otherwise would be the content of the lecture; this shifts the lecture from in-class to pre-class and transforms class meetings into times and places where active learning occurs. Without this transformation, it’s not a flipped class.
In the flipped class, the content of the lecture is now under the control of the students: they can watch, pause, rewind, fast-forward, and view more than once, according to their needs.
Class time is devoted to the application of concepts—as in “hands-on”; during that time, instructors have opportunities to detect errors in thinking that may be widespread in the class.
Flipped classroom instruction has become popular because research has found that the lecture, as we have known it, is an outdated way of teaching, i.e., an ineffective way for students to learn. Why? Because the lecture focuses on the transfer of information rather than on the highest level of learning that can occur “when students are faced with questions that reflect how the world really works so they have the chance to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate what they have learned. When students are assessed only on their ability to regurgitate memorized knowledge, they are working at a lower level (of cognitive functions/skills) and over time retain less of what they were taught.” (Mazur, 2014).
The impetus for this revolutionary approach to instruction was research on how much learning was (or wasn’t) actually going on in lecture hall classes in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) departments at research universities, whose lecture halls hold hundreds of students or more. Today, this method of instruction is redesigning or replacing lectures in numerous courses, regardless of academic discipline or class size.
When done effectively, flipped instruction can bring about a distinctive shift in priorities for the student and the instructor—from merely covering material in class to working toward mastery of it. It gets the lecture “out of the way” and allows active learning to take place, which is necessary for deeper learning. It places the lecture where it is most beneficial for most students: available remotely and on demand, when students are ready for it. This feature can be very useful to the student who has IH (see Student Tips below). By moving the information to be remembered to outside of class, in-class time can be used for active learning activities such as teamwork in problem solving, which taps into higher thinking skills (analyzing, synthesizing, problem-solving, etc.) and deepens learning.
The flipped instruction model puts more of the responsibility for learning on the students. Activities can be student-led, and communication among students can become the determining dynamic of a session that is devoted to learning through “hands-on” work. This enables project-based and lab-style activities to take place during a single class block of time.
The success of the flipped classroom depends on a number of factors, all of which the students should see happening in their courses:
- The instructor addressing misconceptions and providing clarifications.
- Flexibility and student engagement.
- Opportunity for the development of “whole person” skills, such as autonomy, communications, teamwork, and problem solving.
- Students accessing lectures on their own schedules, at their own pace, in their own contexts.
- Students involved in tasks that are at the edge of their knowledge of a topic, causing students to stretch and encounter real difficulties that are best addressed in collaboration with their peers.
Flipped-Instruction Techniques
Because this approach represents a comprehensive change in the dynamic of the class and the classroom architecture, some instructors have chosen to implement only a few elements of the flipped model or do so only in selected class sessions of a course. Limitations to classroom space conducive to this method, and the technology to support it, have made using a flipped model quite challenging on campuses, financially and structurally. In some instances, renovations to buildings have been necessary. Here are a few of the frequently used techniques:
- Short video lectures viewed by students prior to class sessions.
- In-class time devoted to exercises, projects, and discussions.
- Multiple lectures of 5-7 minutes each followed by active learning activities, either during an in-person class or using a remote platform; quizzes are often used to assess learning.
- Immediate quiz feedback and the ability to rerun lecture segments to clarify points of confusion.
- In-class discussions, or a studio classroom, where students create, collaborate, and put into practice what they learned from the lectures they viewed outside class.
- Ad hoc workgroups to solve problems that students struggle to understand.
- Collaborative projects that encourage social interaction among students, making it easier to learn from one another and support peers with varying skill levels.
- Techniques from SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Active Learning Environment With Upside-Down Pedagogy) are being used on hundreds of campuses. Students work on a problem in small groups at large round tables, with their laptops and whiteboards, as the instructor and Teaching Assistants (TA) circulate the room, asking questions and dispatching teams of students to help other teams with the problem.
Student TIPS!
- Watching/listening to lectures can be incredibly taxing on anyone, especially someone who has IH. If students who have IH fall asleep during lectures, they can’t necessarily come back to it later. However, in a flipped class, students who have IH can come back to the lecture, watch it when they are most awake and adjust the rate of speech or repeat information when needed. A flipped class also may allow students who have IH to take night classes if those courses fit better with their awake and sleep schedules.
- This type of instruction may demand a greater degree of self-discipline and organizational skills than is demanded in traditional classes.
- Your equipment and access might not always support the rapid delivery of video and other forms of technology being used in the course; check the syllabus for information about these details.
- Keep in mind that no two flipped courses are the same.
- You may need time to get used to this way of learning.
A PEEK Behind the Instructor’s Door
In case you were wondering, instructors use learning analytics systems to feed them information and insights about students’ understanding of the subject being studied.
8. High-Impact Practices
You may read in the description of a course or a campus activity that it is a “high-impact” practice or it meets the criteria for one. High-impact practices are active learning practices that, when designed effectively, promote deep learning through student engagement and improve student performance.
There are 11 high-impact active learning practices in higher education identified by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU):
- First Year Seminars & Experiences
- Common Intellectual Experiences
- Learning Communities*
- Writing-Intensive Courses
- Collaborative Assignments* & Projects*
- Undergraduate Research*
- Diversity/Global Learning
- Service Learning*, Community-Based Learning*
- Internships*
- Capstone Courses & Projects*
- ePortfolios
*Experiential learning
How do high-impact practices affect a student’s performance? High-impact practices, when well designed, can cultivate a student’s dispositional attributes. These are personal, innate attributes that have been linked to effective performance; they include interpersonal skills, intrapersonal competencies, conscientiousness, resilience, and self-regulation skills. These are attributes that families expect students to develop by the time they graduate from college; they are also attributes that employers expect their employees to have. Importantly, these attributes contribute to students’ persistence in and completion of the high-impact experiences and activities in which they are involved (Kuh, 2008; Kuh & O’Donnell, 2013; Kuh, et al, 2018).
Students who have IH may find that high-impact practices will help them remain motivated and persist throughout the activity or course and help them to persist in courses taught differently.
What are the characteristics of well-designed high-impact practices?
Just because a learning experience is identified as a high-impact practice does not mean that deep learning necessarily occurs. If the way the course or activity is taught is not effective in promoting student learning, then it is not a well-designed high-impact practice.
There are key characteristics that well-designed high-impact practices share, which are integrated into the course design, course outcomes, expectations of students’ performance, and interactions with the instructor (Kuh, 2008; Kuh & O’Donnell, 2013). Students can expect all of these characteristics in a well-designed high-impact course or activity:
- Performance expectations set at appropriately high levels
- Significant investment of time and effort by students over an extended period of time
- Interactions with faculty and peers about substantive matters
- Experiences with diversity, wherein students are exposed to and must contend with people and circumstances that differ from those with which students are familiar
- Frequent, timely, and constructive feedback
- Periodic, structured opportunities to reflect and integrate learning
- Opportunities to discover relevance of learning through real-world applications
- Public demonstration of competence
9. Inclusive Instruction
Inclusive instruction refers to methods that address the needs of students with a variety of backgrounds, learning modalities, and abilities; these methods support “accessible and meaningful” learning for all students, so that students feel equally valued in the class. Much structure is typically used in the design of the course (syllabus, assignments, class plans, evaluations, student connections), as it is when universal design techniques are used.
If the term “inclusive” is not used in the Course Description section of the syllabus, check to see if it is used in the Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes, Methodology, Accessibility Statement, or Message from the Instructor sections. If not, then the following are syllabus indicators that the class may be taught in an inclusive way:
- Growth-focused approach to student involvement in the course
- Expectations for students’ success clearly stated
- Content taught from multiple perspectives (visual, auditory, written, etc.)
- Ground rules for interactions are noted and clearly stated
- Learning evaluated pre, post and during class (low-stake quizzes)
- Clearly-stated ways to find support for class work
- Stakes in major papers reduced (e.g., can drop 1 or 2 of the worst scores on exams, assignments, quizzes; can replace an earlier score with a cumulative final grade)
Class activities may include:
- Think-pair-share or turn-and-talk activities, which can incorporate brief periods of silence for students to think through concepts/problems
- Structured small discussion groups (with rotation of group roles, e.g., reporter, skeptic, facilitator; instruction given on how to participate in small groups
- Anonymous participation in class activities, for example by technology (e.g., clickers)
- Options for meeting learning outcomes, e.g., making a recording (video) vs. presenting in front of class
The instructor’s presence is very important in courses taught using an inclusive approach, and that can be evident in a number of ways. For example, the instructor would:
- Welcome student differences
- Be interested in students’ prior knowledge and experiences with the subject (academic, personal, job-related)
- Seek concrete, actionable feedback from students throughout the course to gauge learning and student perceptions of class climate (e.g., may use the stop-start-continue method)
- Provide ways for anonymous and confidential feedback throughout the course
10. Lectures in the 21st Century
Lectures have a valuable role to play: they can introduce material, motivate and inspire students, create connections, provide perspective, and contextualize material.
But lectures cannot do the “heavy lifting” of education—the learning. That is the student’s work, and that is where the research has shown the traditional lecture has fallen short and become outdated. Lectures focus on the transfer of information, not more complex learning outcomes, student engagement, or higher learning skills.
The response in colleges and universities has been to give the traditional lecture significant makeovers. Even medical schools (e.g., the University of Vermont) have dropped lectures for more active, engaged, hands-on approaches to learning.
What do a few of these changes to the lecture look like?
- Flipped classrooms
- SCALE-UP guided-inquiry-based instruction strategies
- Small-group exercises
- 15-minute bursts of lecture; then group work
- Student paper “snowballs” contain important points from a lecture that are thrown around the class for others to read and add to
- Use of personal response devices (e.g., clickers)
- Confusion or misunderstandings about the subject content addressed by students brainstorming with nearby peers (e.g., using Turn and Talk)
- Work groups determined early on in the course, with students encouraged to sit together so they can work together in class and outside of class
- Ad hoc work groups that change throughout the course
11. Interactive Instruction
This discussion-based approach uses active learning strategies to provide opportunities for students to interact and share with and learn from their peers, instructors, and outside experts. Because the focus of the instruction is more on development of skills, values, and behaviors, students are involved in analyzing, synthesizing, interpreting, and evaluating course content. Consequently, this method of instruction can foster the following skills:
- Social skills and abilities
- Assessment and organizing
- Structured, rational arguments
- Leadership and teamwork
- Learning how to learn
- Learning with others (collaborative learning)
To develop these skills, numerous active learning techniques are used to engage students in class subjects:
- Think-Pair-Share activities
- Case studies, stories, vignettes
- Experiments, games, simulations, problem-solving activities
- Reflective papers, journals, reports, presentations, websites
- Group projects, peer-partner learning
- Brainstorming, reporting out from small groups
- Debates, discussions
- Interviewing, panels, role plays
- Tutorial groups
- Research, lab groups
12. Personalized Learning
The term “personalized” refers to a variety of instructional methods, learning experiences, and academic support techniques intended to address the uniqueness of the student by:
- determining the learning needs, abilities, interests, aspirations, and cultural background; and,
- providing learning experiences that are customized to the student.
This approach to instruction includes competency-based, student-centered, and adaptive instruction.
13. Project-Based Instruction (PBI)
Project-based instruction, also referred to as problem-based learning, is one of the identified High-Impact Practices in higher education. Its intent is to build students’ creative capacity to work through difficult or open-ended problems, often in teams, and design, develop, and construct hands-on solutions to the problems. These projects can take months to complete or can be completed within a single class block. Creativity and collaboration figure importantly into the projects, especially when cross-disciplinary teams are comprised of students from different academic backgrounds. Students benefit whether the projects are simple or complex because of their connections across academic majors.
The students are challenged by often unstructured or open-ended projects because students learn more when there are no predictable or prescribed solutions. Students are expected to do their own “structuring” of the problem—a process that has been shown to enhance students’ abilities to transfer knowledge and skills to other problem-solving situations.
14. Student-Centered Instruction
This method of instruction requires students to take on the primary, active role in the learning process, making them responsible participants in their own learning, at their own pace. Students become more autonomous, independent learners as they develop their “voices.” The instructor takes the role of facilitating the learning. In this sense, it is a personalized approach to learning.
Student-centered instruction recognizes individual differences in students and takes into account each student’s interests, abilities, and ways of learning. Also referred to as learner-centered instruction, the method of instruction focuses on skills and practices that enable lifelong learning and independent problem-solving skills. It differs from the traditional “teacher-centered” model of instruction, which situates the teacher as having the primary, “active” role in the learning process while students take a more “passive,” receptive role.
When students enroll in a course using this method of instruction, they can expect the instructor to use these learning strategies:
- Allows students choices and autonomy
- Uses open-ended questioning techniques
- Encourages student collaboration and group projects
- Encourages student reflection
- Creates individual, self-paced assignments
- Uses community-based learning projects