Abstract
Meeting the diverse and various needs of learners, who come from different cultural and social environments, imposes changes in a modern education system through the implementation of new teaching approaches and practices, such as differentiated instruction. This literature review examines 16 studies regarding differentiated instruction in higher education which have taken place during the last decade. The results of the research revealed that differentiated instruction contributes to mobilizing preservice teachers, improving their performance and developing positive attitudes and beliefs of trainees and educators in higher education. There is also a need for further research regarding the effectiveness of the implementation of differentiated instruction in higher education, especially in Greece, where no relevant research has been conducted, compared to the international field.
Highlights
In a modern educational system, educators are asked to address the diverse and various needs of learners who come from different cultural and social environments
Regarding the contribution of differentiated instruction in the mobilization of preservice teachers for the achievement of specific goals pursued and the improvement of their performance in higher education, the results of the present study show that differentiated instruction contributes to the mobilization of preservice teachers in achieving specific goals pursued and in improving their performance in higher education internationally (Santangelo & Tomlinson, 2009; Butler & Van Lowe, 2010; Chamberlin & Powers, 2010; Dosch & Zidon, 2014; Dack, 2015; Chen & Chen, 2018)
Regarding the mobilization of preservice teachers in achieving specific goals and improving their performance, it appears that differentiation had a positive and significant impact on student learning as they benefited more and performed better than those students who attended traditional teaching
Summary
Differentiated instruction is a teaching practice that focuses on learners and aims to mitigate inequalities and differences between them as they have different abilities, skills and learning styles (Chamberlin & Powers, 2010). According to Tomlinson (2001), differentiated instruction is an approach to organizing teaching that can offer learners a variety of learning choices that meet their different needs. The adoption of differentiated instruction incorporates a variety of approaches, principles, organization, teaching and assessment that allow educators to move away from the traditional way of teaching which focuses on teacher and frontline teaching and leads many learners to failure (Dosch & Zidon, 2014). Differentiated instruction modifies curricula, teaching methods, learning activities and assessments to maximize learning effectiveness (Subban, 2006; Tomlinson, 1999)
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