1+Instructivism

// **Implications for planning and teaching** //
 * //What is Instructivism ?//**
 * Instructivism is direct instruction by a teacher employing objectives and lesson plans related to an overall curriculum guide in order to teach specific content, customarily using the lecture method.
 * Knowledge is in possession of the teacher.
 * There is explicit teaching of an agreed body of knowledge.
 * The teacher organises learning objectives and content beforehand. Material and skills are predetermined and defined in advance of learning
 * Material is delivered by the teacher, skills and material are learnt by the student
 * Students are assessed by their ability to remember the material or practise the skill

Source: http://www.worc.ac.uk/LTMain/LTC/StaffDev/Constructivism/

Objectivism/Instructivism/Non-radical Behaviouralism: As the name “Objectivism” might suggest, some theorists believe that there is an objective reality which exists outside of the students awareness and about which students can be taught. This places teachers in the position of holders and controllers of knowledge and access to it. A teacher’s responsibility is then to use clearly supported theories of psychology and instruction to cause learning to happen. Because objectivism as a learning theory does not need to speculate on the mechanisms of learning internal to students, it shares territory with conditioning theory and tends to see learning as evidenced in a change in behaviour. Without changes in the actions of students it is difficult, perhaps even impossible, to say that learning has occurred. In i nstructional approaches, objectivists tend to stress the functional relationships among students, teachers, and the knowledge to be learned and to the analyse those relationships. For this reason objectivists approaches to classroom practice favour the creation of formulas and procedural guidelines for the delivery of course content, questioning practices, the provision of assessment, and the rewarding of correct responses. While objectivists and instructivists tend to use standardized educational resources and methods they are not necessarily tied to traditional reading and lecture methodologies. The methods used are often solidly researched and materials are developed and tested by professional instructional designers. The role of the teacher is to use these materials properly to it becomes the instructor’s role to implement them properly. Ideas associated with Objectivism/Instructivism/ Behavioralism: · On task · Big Idea · Instructional Objectives · Behaviour Modification · Precision Teaching · Mastery Learning · Multiple Choice/matching/standardized testing Objections to Objectivism · Knowledge is not absolute but co-constructed among learners and teachers. (this objection may be met by pointing out that for many learners knowledge is “an object” that can or must be attained.) · There is less room for independent exploration. (This objection may be met by pointing out that exploration is often artificial in that it is shaped toward objectified ends) · A change in behaviour is not the only indication of learning. (This objection may be met with a statement such as “If you can see evidence of learning how do you know it has happened?”)