Strategies That Work: Knowing When To Use the Right Strategy
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Combining digital tools with high-effect size instructional strategies is a piece of cake. The question is, "Do you know when is the right time to use a particular strategy?"
In this session, you will explore the power of surface, deep and transfer learning to organize your approach to strategies and digital tools.
Topics
Before We Get Started....
“How do you know if what you’re doing in the classroom is effective?”
John Hattie developed a way of synthesizing various influences in different meta-analyses according to their effect size (Cohen’s d). In his ground-breaking study “Visible Learning” he ranked 138 influences that are related to learning outcomes from very positive effects to very negative effects.
Hattie found that the average effect size of all the interventions he studied was 0.40. Therefore he decided to judge the success of influences relative to this ‘hinge point’, in order to find an answer to the question “What works best in education?”
1- Types of Learning Intentions
"What and when are equally important when it comes to instruction that has an impact on learning.
Approaches that facilitate students' surface-level learning do not work equally well for deep learning, and vice versa.
Matching the right approach with the appropriate phase of learning is the critical lesson to be learned."
- Hattie, Fisher and Frey (Visible Learning for Mathematics, 2017)
Want to maximize student growth? Select instructional strategies that work best for different phases of learning.
Prior knowledge is the information and educational context a learner already has before they learn new information. A learner's understanding of educational material can be improved by taking advantage of their prior knowledge before dealing with the new material (Source).
Activate Prior Knowledge through the use of strategies like graphic organizers, concept maps, KWL charts, anticipatory sets, and brainstorming (Source).
Activate Prior Knowledge through the use of strategies like graphic organizers, concept maps, KWL charts, anticipatory sets, and brainstorming (Source).
Surface Learning
Content focused.
At this stage, you introduce students to concepts, skills, and/or strategies. Think of it as building a strong foundation. Strategies seek to help student gain requisite knowledge needed to move forward to deep learning.
Deep Learning
Relationship in and among contents.
We define deep learning as a period when students consolidate their understanding and apply and extend some surface learning knowledge to support deeper conceptual understanding . . . We think of this as a 'sweet spot' that will often take up more instructional time, but can be accomplished only when students have the requisite knowledge to go deeper.
Transfer Learning
Transfer of new skills to new situations or tasks.
Transfer learning [is] the point at which students take their consolidated knowledge and skills and apply what they know to new scenarios and different contexts. It is also a time when students are able to think metacognitively, reflecting on their own learning and understanding.
Source: Hattie, Fisher and Frey (Visible Learning for Mathematics, 2017)
Some Example Learning Intentions & Strategies
Core factor. These include strategies that affect everything about a lesson. Some sample strategies include:
Teacher Credibility (1.09)
Success Criteria (.88)
Teacher Clarity (.76)
Feedback (.64)
Surface Learning. At this stage, you introduce students to concepts, skills, and/or strategies. Think of it as building a strong foundation. Strategies seek to help student gain requisite knowledge needed to move forward to deep learning. Some sample strategies include:
Jigsaw Method (1.20),
Summarization (.74),
Direct Instruction (.59)
Flipped Classrooms (.58)
Interactive Video (.54)
Deep Learning: In this category, strategies assist students gain a deeper conceptual understanding. A few favorites include:
Reciprocal Teaching (.74),
Classroom Discussion (.82)
Concept Mapping (.64)
Metacognition Strategies (.58)
Transfer Learning. As you might imagine, students must finally apply what they know to new scenarios and contexts. Students should also be metacognitive, reflective on their learning. Strategies that typify this include the following:
Transfer Strategies (.86)
Problem-Solving Teaching (.68)
Service Learning (.58)
Peer Tutoring (.53)
Gaining a deeper understanding of high-effect size instructional strategies can be difficult.
Two Questions To Remember
"What will YOU as the teacher do?" This involves mapping out what ONE instructional strategy you are going to use.
“What will you and your students be doing in the lesson?” Carefully select and define what strategy your students will be engaged in.
Remember to match the strategies you choose to the learning intention.
2 - Introducing Weston Kieschnick's work
Weston Kieschnick defines "strategic technology integration" as the blending of high-effect size instructional strategies with digital tools. He does this through a five BOLD step process. You can find his original steps online. Below is an adapted version inspired by his efforts. Any errors, misunderstanding are mine.
-Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin)
Action Step #1: Develop and Pre-Assess Learning Outcomes
Focusing on learning outcomes enables both teacher and coach to develop student-centered goals. What’s more, focusing on learning outcomes lets you connect to standards-based goals. Weston suggests several questions. One of the important ones is What priority standards will you focus on? If you were going to write these as “I can” statements for students, what would they look like?
Action Step #2: Select Your High-Effect Size Instructional Strategy
In this action step, you will reflect on the academic standards and skills you want students to know. Weston suggests asking questions that are quite practical. For example, which specific HES instructional strategy will you leverage to meet goals?
Remember to consider these questions:
Where are your learners in their learning?
Where are they going?
How will they get there?
Action Step #3: Decide on the Digital Tool(s)
For ed tech advocates, the rush to select a digital tool is strong. So many tech tools are available now, it’s tempting to use as many as possible. However, focus on only ONE digital tool to use with students. Later, you can app-smash but it has to be in service of learning.
Action Step #4: Craft Your Lesson Procedure
“Plan your lesson, every activity, thinking through what your students will do.” Words of insight from a few years ago via my colleague, Diana Benner. I was in the throes of planning out a workshop that strained complexity. Whomever your audience for lesson design, put yourself in the place of your students.
Action Step #5: Post-Assess Student Learning and Reflect
What student data will inform teacher instructional practices? For many educators, learning to analyze state assessment data as a team is familiar. Others may find they need more personalized data. For this, they may rely on a variety of assessment tools, many of which are available online. Some are tech-based, but others can be paper-and-pencil or other.
The goal of these assessments is to gain insight into what students know before instruction. It is also to gain insight into what they have learned after instruction. Use assessments to adjust instruction as well to meet the needs of students
3 - Matching Strategies and Digital Tools
Ready to explore how Kieschnick blended high-effect size instructional strategies with technology? Here are a few for your consideration:
How are you putting high-effect size instructional strategies and technology together to accelerate student growth and learning?
4 - Meet ALDO
Wondering about the connection between brain-based research and high-effect size instructional strategies? I’ve always wondered at what point these two connect. Let's explore these ideas.
Engage students’ brain with these approaches:
Start positive and cultivate physical and emotional safety in the class
Inject suspense into your lesson. Try adding suspenseful pauses.
Movement activates the brain. Incorporate movements that support learning activities relevant to content.
Chunk learning to scaffold comprehension and processing
The new and unusual are of high interest to the brain. Create situations or demonstrations that break students out of their learning routine.
Take advantage of Think-Pair-Share type activities
Ever wish you had an easy to follow checklist when designing learning for students? I know I have…often. Some of my colleagues effortlessly design amazing lessons. I have to plod through each point. When I change my lesson design outline, I improve (or not) student learning. That’s why I’d like to take a moment to share my latest version of the outline I use.
Get the Amazing Learning Design Online (ALDO),
a tool for guiding lesson design for diverse learners.
a tool for guiding lesson design for diverse learners.
Explore the digital tools at each step.
5 - More Ideas from Educators
