New Understandings of Instructional Theory: Finding the Instructional ‘Sweet Spot’

Abstract

This chapter examines the contemporary understanding of instruction verified by the accumulation of generations of scientific work and looks at finding the instructional ‘Sweet Spot’ where teachers can design instruction that is fun, efficient, and rigorous. Two instructional models are interrogated, the Constructivist Learning Theory and the Cognitive Load Theory, by reviewing empirically based literature and exploring the key ideas that surround the salient variables implicated in instruction. The chapter challenges the misconceptions and benefits associated with each of the two models and an argument is put forward, based on empirical research, highlighting that instructional models that produce substantial learning effects occur when the instruction is clear, short, unelaborated, does not overload the mind, and learners are provided with a supply of worked examples. Specific empirical evidence is unpacked that asserts that students who are exposed to teachers who employ directive teaching methods increase their achievement scores, which challenges the current paradigm of some educational practices. While evidence suggests that direct instruction has many benefits, the chapter explores that, at times, non-direct instruction may have some place in teaching and that the instructional ‘Sweet Spot’ may be a blend of both direct and non-direct instruction. The chapter concludes by providing strategies, based on evidentiary research, for creating instructional tasks designed using cognitive load principles and non-direct instruction techniques to help educators find the elusive instructional ‘Sweet Spot’.