Effective Instructional Strategies Research Articles

The scope of language teaching studies

The scope of language teaching studies is wide and varied. This is because language teaching is complex and involves an array of interacting factors. Similarly, studies in this field have been addressing diverse issues, ranging from describing and understanding what goes on in the classroom to the examination of the effects of various types of instruction on learning to the study of the qualities and characteristics of the teacher and the learner as well as the various classroom settings in which instruction takes place. Studies of language teaching also include examination of strategies that aid not just learning but also processing or retaining various forms of linguistic knowledge obtained through instruction, including both written and spoken knowledge. Language Teaching Research has been publishing studies in all these domains. The six articles published in this issue of the journal fall into two of the categories described above. While three of them examine the effect of instructional strategies on learning outcomes, the other three focus on specific techniques that help learners process or retain information. In what follows, I will briefly summarize and then comment on the results and contributions of these studies. Hinenoya and Lyster report a quasi-experimental study that investigates the effect of instruction on learning the English definite article the by Japanese second language (L2) learners. They compared two types of instruction, one that was more linguistic, focusing on the as a grammatical structure to identify a referent, and the other that was more conceptual, drawing on the notion of schemata and mental space in interpreting the meaning of the article. Overall, the results showed an advantage for the more conceptually oriented instruction. The effects of the two types of instruction were also mediated by the nature of the article used. This study demonstrates the potential effectiveness of an approach to teaching English articles not typically used by teachers, but this type of instruction merits further investigation. Nakata’s and Rassaei’s studies focus on the role of feedback. Feedback is an important aspect of second language classroom instruction, and its examination has recently attracted the attention of many researchers. Nakata addressed the important issue of the timing of feedback (immediate versus delayed) and its effect on L2 vocabulary learning among Japanese learners of English. The study also examined whether the effect of timing was mediated by the frequency of practice and also lag to test (i.e., the period between the final 591391 LTR0010.1177/1362168814591391Language Teaching ResearchNassaji research-article2015

Effects of story mapping on third-grade students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of story mapping on the reading comprehension scores, on-task behaviors, and attitudes of third- -grade students (N = 6) with ADHD. Students’ reading grade equivalencies were assessed before and after the study. The teacher-researcher compared two other achievement measures before and during story mapping to assess growth. The practical difference in scores as calculated with Cohen’s d revealed that story mapping was successful in improving students’ comprehension. On tests from the reading basal, students’ scores improved an average of 16.00%, while tests from a computerized reading program improved 20.00%. Students exhibited on-task behavior 79.33% of the time and positive attitudes 82.33% of the time during the intervention. The implications of this study are important in determining effective instructional strategies to promote the active engagement of students and combat the core symptoms of ADHD.

Promoting Prospective Elementary Teachers’ Learning to Use Formative Assessment for Life Science Instruction

To support elementary students’ learning of core, standards-based life science concepts highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards, prospective elementary teachers should develop an understanding of life science concepts and learn to apply their content knowledge in instructional practice to craft elementary science learning environments grounded in students’ thinking. To do so, teachers must learn to use high-leverage instructional practices, such as formative assessment, to engage students in scientific practices and connect instruction to students’ ideas. However, teachers may not understand formative assessment or possess sufficient science content knowledge to effectively engage in related instructional practices. To address these needs, we developed and conducted research within an innovative course for preservice elementary teachers built upon two pillars—life science concepts and formative assessment. An embedded mixed methods study was used to evaluate the effect of the intervention on preservice teachers’ (n = 49) content knowledge and ability to engage in formative assessment practices for science. Findings showed that increased life content knowledge over the semester helped preservice teachers engage more productively in anticipating and evaluating students’ ideas, but not in identifying effective instructional strategies to respond to those ideas.

Learner Perception, Expected Competence, and Satisfaction of Team-Based Learning in Korean Nursing Students.

: The purpose of this study was to describe learner perception, expected competence, and factors influencing satisfaction with team-based learning in a nursing course. Four-hour TBL sessions were given in a structured three-phase sequence for a cohort of 139 second-year nursing students. TBL was found to be an effective instructional strategy inducing team learning and self-directed learning. Nursing educators should improve TBL quality by focusing on the student team learning process.

What Works in Gifted Education

The heart of effective programming for gifted students lies in the integration of advanced curricula with effective instructional strategies to develop leaning activities that will enhance student learning outcomes. However, empirical evidence of the effectiveness of units based on such curricular and instructional interventions from large-scale experimental studies in multiple settings are limited. To document the effectiveness of units that integrated the principles from curricular and instructional models in the field of gifted education, two language arts units for gifted third graders were developed and tested in a randomized cluster design. Multilevel analyses of data collected from more than 200 classrooms document statistically significant differences favoring the treatment group over the comparison group on standards-referenced assessments.

Strategies for Adopting Children's Refugee Literature in the Multicultural Classroom

Although many studies currently detail refugee experiences about famine, war, and frightening events like the holocaust, little research about the portrayal of the refugee experience in children’s literature exists ( Hope, 2008 ). This lack of research or gap creates a problem of understanding for educators and students in the multicultural classroom. These refugee children have had little or no formal education and this has created a major learning block for them in American classrooms. This study seeks to answer the question: what are examples of refugee children’s literature and effective strategies to help children better understand and appreciate one another and their cultures? A book review of selected refugee children’s literature and an analysis of pedagogy of effective instructional strategies were the methodologies used in the study. Study findings indicate four refugee children’s books represent similarities and the uniqueness of the literature and identify effective instructional strategies and activities to enhance greater understanding of the refugee experience. Policy implications from the study suggest strategies that educators may employ to adopt children’s refugee literature in the multicultural classroom. The path to embrace, to enhance, and to celebrate the life experiences of refugee children may be accomplished through the implementation of these effective instructional strategies in the multicultural classroom to help children better understand and appreciate one another and their cultures.

Effective Instructional Strategies for Kindergarten and First-Grade Students at Risk in Mathematics

This article provides an overview of effective instructional strategies and interventions for kindergarten and first-grade students at risk in mathematics. The article reviews instructional strategies and interventions within a multitier instructional model in order to provide a framework for teachers and schools looking to increase the effectiveness of their instructional support in the area of mathematics.

Influence of Pre-question and genre-based instructional strategies on reading

This study investigated the influence of Pre-question and genre-based instructional strategies on science undergraduates’ achievement in, and attitude to, reading. Using purposive sampling,two specialised universities in Nigeria were selected and stratified sampling was employed in assigning students to research groups based on gender and performance in a verbal ability test. Two hundred and eighty-five students participated in the study. Pre-post randomised block experimental design was used with three experimental groups and one control group. The experimental procedure involving Pre-question, genre-based instruction and a combination of Pre-question and genre-based instructional strategies were used for the experimental groups for four weeks whilst the control group received normal teacher input. Data were collected through a Reading Comprehension Achievement Test and Students’ Attitude Questionnaire. Qualitative data, obtained from videotapes of classroom interactions, were subjected to conversation and interaction analyses and quantitative data were analysed with Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results indicate that although there was no significant main effect of instructional strategy on students’ achievement in reading comprehension, there was significant main effect of instructional strategy on students’ attitude to reading (F(3,231) = 30.9;p <.05). Findings from the qualitative enquiry revealed that female students were more voluble and assertive in their responses probably because of the need to resist male domination whilst male students used discourse strategies to affirm their authority. The study indicated that the combination of pre-question and genre-based approach was the most effective in enhancing the students’ attitude to reading. Reading is one of the most useful of the Language Arts skills which learners need for academic reasons and for lifelong learning. The globalised world demands that the second language student of science and technology demonstrates competence in reading materials in his specialist area in order to participate fully in his discourse community.

Challenges Experienced with the Implementation of Supplemental Instruction at Institutions of Higher Education

This paper examines the challenges experienced with the implementation of supplemental instruction in institutions of higher education. Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a cooperative learning model designed to improve student performance in high-risk courses with a history of high failure rates. It is aimed at facilitating understanding of course content while at the same time assisting students to develop better learning skills. Although there is substantial evidence of the benefits of SI in institutions of higher education which have adopted it, there are challenges that hamper its successful implementation. The main findings in terms of the challenges were: lack of a coordinated plan; lack of articulated vision and ownership; SI leaders’ inability to model effective instructional strategies; SI leaders’ inability to effectively engage students in their own learning; and no feedback offered within the setup to keep stakeholders abreast and to promote individual growth DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p740

A Study of the Impact of Transformative Professional Development on Hispanic Student Performance on State Mandated Assessments of Science in Elementary School

This paper reports the findings of a study of the impact of the transformative professional development (TPD) model on student achievement on state-mandated assessments of science in elementary school. Two schools (one intervention and one control) participated in the case study where teachers from one school received the TPD intervention across a 2-year period while teachers at the other school received no program and continued business as usual. The TPD program includes a focus on the core conceptual framework for effective professional development (Desimone in Educ Res 38:181–199, 2009) as well as an emphasis on culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) and other effective science instructional strategies. Findings revealed that participation in TPD had a significant impact on student achievement for Burns Elementary with the percentage of proficient students growing from 25 % at baseline to 67 % at the end of the 2-year program, while the comparison school did not experience similar growth. Implications for future research and implementation of professional development programs to meet the needs of teachers in the realm of CRP in science are discussed.

Teaching Preschoolers to Count: Effective Strategies for Achieving Early Mathematics Milestones

Attention to early childhood mathematics instructional strategies has sharpened due to the relatively poor mathematics performance of U.S. students in comparison to students from other countries and research evidence that early mathematics skills impact later achievement. Early Childhood counting skills form the foundation for subsequent mathematics learning. In this article, we discuss the milestones of counting development and examine preschool classroom mathematics observations through the lenses of two CLASS Dimensions, Concept Development and Instructional Learning Formats. Recommendations for effective instructional strategies around counting and suggestions for incorporating mathematics instruction into storybook reading are provided.

Comparing the effects of worked examples and modeling examples on learning

Example-based learning is an effective instructional strategy for students with low prior knowledge, and is increasingly being used in online learning environments. However, examples can take many different forms and little is known about whether and how form affects learning outcomes. Therefore, this study investigated whether worked examples and modeling examples with and without a visible model would be equally effective in fostering learning of a problem-solving task. In Experiment 1, secondary education students (N=78) learned how to solve a probability calculation problem by watching two videos that, depending on the assigned condition, provided worked examples (written text, pictures of problem states), modeling examples with a visible model (spoken text, a demonstration of the task), or modeling examples without a visible model (spoken text, pictures of problem states). Results showed that all three conditions were equally effective at fostering learning, near transfer, effort reduction, self-efficacy, and perceived competence. Experiment 2 (N=134) replicated these results with a younger student population that only studied one example. These findings suggest that the format of examples does not affect learning outcomes for this task; future research should investigate whether this would generalize to other problem-solving tasks.

A contextual game-based learning approach to improving students' inquiry-based learning performance in social studies courses

Inquiry-based learning, an effective instructional strategy, can be in the form of a problem or task for triggering student engagement. However, how to situate students in meaningful inquiry activities remains to be settled, especially for social studies courses. In this study, a contextual educational computer game is developed to improve students' learning performance based on an inquiry-based learning strategy. An experiment has been conducted on an elementary school social studies course to evaluate the effects of the proposed approach on the inquiry-based learning performances of students with different learning styles. The experimental results indicate that the proposed approach effectively enhanced the students' learning effects in terms of their learning achievement, learning motivation, satisfaction degree and flow state. Furthermore, it is also found that the proposed approach benefited the “active” learning style students more than the “reflective” style students in terms of learning achievement. This suggests the need to provide additional supports to students with particular learning styles in the future.

A Job Aid for Effective Learning: The ID Ready Reckoner

A blueprint for effective learning can be created quickly using the ID Ready Reckoner. This is a job aid that assists learning professionals in selecting appropriate instructional techniques for different levels of learning objectives based on their content types. The job aid also recommends the most suitable assessment formats for a given learning objective level. Instructional techniques and assessment formats together provide an effective instructional strategy for classroom training design. The use of this job aid requires little or no specialization in instructional design.

PENGARUH STRATEGI PEMBELAJARAN KOOPERATIF DAN MOTIVASI BELAJAR TERHADAP HASIL BELAJAR DETEKSI DINI TUMBUH KEMBANG AUD

The objective of this research is to study the effect of instructional strategy of cooperative and learning motivation on the learning outcome in the course of Early Detection of Early Aged Children’s Development. The research conducted conducted at IAIN Raden Intan Lampung as from April through August 2013, selected 40 students randomly as samples. The research employed experimental research with treatment by level 2x2.The findings indicate (1) learning outcomes of the students with cooperative instructional strategy is higher than those who received expository instructional strategy,(2) there is interaction between instructional strategy and learning motivation of the students, (3) learning outcomes of the students with high learning motivation are higher when cooperative instructional strategy is used than when they learn with expository instructional strategy, and (4) learning outcomes of the students with low learning motivation are higher when cooperative instructional strategy is used than when they learn with expository instructional strategy. Result of the research shows that students’ learning outcomes on early detection of development kindergarten could be improved by applying appropriate teaching instructional strategy considering their learning motivation level.

Beyond Involvement

With many states adopting new standards and evaluation systems, teachers must adopt effective instructional strategies and assessment methods aligned to the rigor of new standards and assessments. One way to improve student achievement is through supporting student ownership of learning, a core component of formative instructional practices. Teaching students to take an active role in their learning can benefit students by promoting student goal setting, self-assessment, and self-determination. As students become meaningfully engaged in their learning, they gain a better understanding of learning targets, how to collect and document evidence of their learning, and how to evaluate and clarify additional learning needs, leading to the ultimate goal of improving student achievement. This article (a) describes how promoting student ownership benefits students, (b) identifies some evidence-based practices that promote student ownership of learning, and (c) illustrates the important role student ownership plays in formative instructional practices.

Predictors of the Instructional Strategies that Elementary School Teachers Use with English Language Learners

Background/Context According to demographers, the number of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S schools has been increasing and is likely to continue to increase in coming years. For various reasons relating to language acquisition, cultural adjustment, and persistent discrimination, these students tend to experience academic difficulties. Improvement in their performance depends on teachers’ use of effective instructional strategies, but few surveys have investigated the extent to which teachers use such strategies or the conditions that encourage them to do so. Focus of Study This study addressed the following research questions: (a) To what extent do elementary content-area teachers use various research-based practices for teaching ELLs? (b) In consideration of appropriate statistical controls, to what extent are elementary content-area teachers’ professional training, attitudes, bilingualism, and their schools’ characteristics, singly and in combination, associated with their reported use of a set of research-based strategies for teaching English language learners? Participants Participants were a random sample of Ohio elementary school teachers (n = 419) in schools in the highest quartile of ELL enrollment. Research Design The current study surveyed elementary teachers in Ohio and then used multiple regression methods to identify significant predictors of teachers’ use of research-based strategies with ELLs. Findings Findings showed that teachers reported frequent use of research-based strategies, but their preference was for strategies recommended for all learners. They were less likely to use strategies specifically intended for ELLs. In addition, regression results showed that teachers’ attitudes and the percentage of ELLs in their schools were significant predictors of teachers’ use of research-based strategies—a positive predictor in the first instance and a negative predictor in the second. Ancillary analyses revealed that teachers’ years of experience and bilingualism, as well as the schools’ resources, were significant predictors of teachers’ attitudes toward ELLs, with more experienced teachers exhibiting more negative attitudes, and bilingual teachers and those in higher resource schools exhibiting more positive attitudes. Conclusions/Recommendations Findings point to the likelihood that continued efforts to prepare elementary school teachers to work with ELLs will entail the provision of additional resources to schools with large and increasing ELL populations. In addition, efforts to increase teachers’ use of research-based strategies with ELLs will involve professional preparation powerful enough to change attitudes. Instruction in a second language appears to be an approach that bears consideration.

A creative thinking approach to enhancing the web-based problem solving performance of university students

Along with the advancement of information and communication technology, researchers have pointed out the necessity and challenges of developing effective instructional strategies to enhance student...

Class-Centered Teaching Practice and Language Learning Outcome

Class-Centered Teaching (CCT) is a teaching framework claimed to be an effective means of language teaching by promoting cohesive behavior in the class. In this research, CCT focused on nine (9) teaching principles and assessed the language knowledge and language skills of the students. This study was conducted with the use of a descriptive research method. The result shows that the level of class-centered teaching practice of college teachers in English is generally high. Moreover, the level of the language learning outcome of the college students is also generally high. With the data gathered from student respondents assessing selected language teachers, it was found out that the established language learning outcome of the students did not necessarily depend on the class-centered teaching practices observed by the instructor even if behavior towards language learning may have been improved. It is concluded in this study that the teachers should continue to utilize effective and interactive instructional strategies to promote quality language learning which may include CCT thatClass-Centered Teaching Practiceand Language Learning OutcomeSV PHILIP S. MERLASORCID No: 0000-0002-3980-3711Svphilipmerlas1978@gmail.comUniversity of MindanaoDavao City, PhilippinesGENELIN RUTH PAMPLONA-JAMESORCID No: 0000-0001-6036-623XMarch71978@gmail.comUniversity of MindanaoDavao City, Philippines can be beneficial in boosting up a positive behavior among students towards enhancing their command in the English language. Furthering the findings of this study may be made with the use of more comprehensive research methodologies like experimental study so as to see how such class-centered teaching framework affect directly specific language learning outcomes.Keywords: Language Education, Teaching Practice, Descriptive Research, Philippines

Evidence-based instructional leadership in community colleges: a conceptual approach

Instructional leadership remains a complicated and debated issue for education. In fact, traditional theories of leadership from within both education and the organizational sciences increasingly face criticism. Drawing from ideas applicable to differentiated contexts of learning, this article develops an alternative model of instructional leadership for two-year, community colleges. It focuses on the potential and need for establishing a reciprocal relationship between administration and faculty in order to achieve effective instructional strategies through a pragmatic and research-based teaching practice that begins in the classroom. The model is itself justified through an analysis of literature on action research, organizational theory, community college strategic planning documents, and Carnegie Foundation recommendations.