Changing Instructional Strategies and the Role of the Principal

1. Changing Instructional Strategies and the Role of the Principal Leadership for Innovative Omani Schools in the 21st Century

2. Basis for Active Learning Instruction Educational experiences, stimulus Processing Actively thinking, mentally engaged Performance Outcomes Response

3. “I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do and I understand.” Confucius

4. How much we tend to remember Our level of involvement 10% of what we read Reading Hearing Words Looking at Pictures Watching a Movie Looking at an Exhibit Watching a Demonstration Seeing it done on Location Verbal Receiving 20% of what we hear PASSIVE 30% of what we see Visual Receiving 50% of what we hear and see Receiving and Participating 70% of what we say Participating in a Discussion Giving a Talk Doing a Dramatic Presentation Simulating a Real Experience Doing the Real Thing ACTIVE 90% of what we say & do Doing Cone of Learning1

5. Teacher-centered Instruction: Lecture Advantages/Uses • Communicates interest and enthusiasm for subject matter • Provides students with model of how to question and solve problems • May describe subject matter that is not available in print or on web • May provide some basic structure for subject matter

6. Teacher-centered Instruction: Lecture (continued) Advantages/Uses • Can deliver large amounts of information efficiently • Cost effective; can reach many at the same time • Presents a minimum threat to students who are not comfortable participating in front of others

7. Teacher-centered Instruction: Lecture Weaknesses • Students lose attention after 15 minutes • Not ideal to all learners • Promotes lower- level learning • Not effective in changing attitudes • Lectures present same material to all • Students tend to dislike lecturing

8. Modified Lecture Models • Stop every 15 minutes and allow students to revise their notes for 2-3 minutes • Mix lecture with demonstrations, exercises or discussion • Use 2 mini-lectures separated by small study group with study guide

9. Modified Lecture Models • Lecture for 20-30 minutes with no note taking followed by student writing for 5 minutes what they remember and then getting into small groups (perhaps in pairs in a large class) to clarify material • In one class period each week, teacher discuss topics submitted in question form by the students

10. Active Learning2 Active learning is: “… students doing things and thinking about the things they are doing.”

11. Examples of Active Learning • Learning communities • Cooperative learning • Peer teaching • Project-based • Hands-on experiments • Problem based (stating problem, choosing solution, evaluating solution) • Real-world learning • Service learning • Inquiry learning • Case studies • Debates/drama • Role play, simulations • E-learning • Writing groups • Active writing (journals)

12. Types of Learning3 Individualistic: “We are each in this alone.” Competition: “I swim, you sink; I sink, you swim.” Cooperation: “We sink or swim together.”

13. Cooperative Learning Benefits of Cooperative Learning • Higher retention and achievement • Development of interpersonal skills • Personal responsibility • Heightened self-esteem and creativity

14. Cooperative Learning (continued) Elements of Cooperative Learning3 • Positive interdependence • Individual accountability • Interpersonal and small-group skills • Face-to-face interaction • Group processing

15. Common Characteristics of Active Learning2 • Students are more active – not just listening • Students are involved in higher order thinking • Less emphasis placed on gaining knowledge & more on developing intellectual skills • Students engaged in activities & thinking about what they are doing • Greater emphasis on students exploring attitudes & values

16. Assessment: Documentation of Student Outcomes (knowledge, skills, abilities) Assessment for Learning – Formative: 1. When students enter course or program to: • guide teachers in selecting teaching strategy • guide students in their learning efforts

17. Assessment: Documentation of Student Outcomes (knowledge, skills, abilities) 2. During course (graded or un-graded) or program for feedback to: • guide teaching decisions • inform students and parents about their progress toward outcomes • guide student quality & quantity of effort • identify potential learning problems

18. Assessment: Documentation of Student Outcomes (knowledge, skills, abilities) Assessment of Learning – Summative: 3. Student outcomes at the end of the course or program: • as a basis for decision making about the individual student (course grade, passing grade level) • as a basis for judgment about quality of the school or program

19. Checking for Understanding A technique that IS: • used by a teacher to check, early and often, to see what students are learning • NOT used for student grades

20. Checking for Understanding (continued) Learning Goals or Outcomes:4 • Develop ability to apply principles and generalizations already learned to new problems and situations • Develop analytic and problem solving skills • Develop ability to synthesize and integrate information and ideas, to think holistically • Inform the instructor about the students’ knowledge and abilities and to help develop appropriate learning activities for the course

21. Checking for Understanding (continued) Learning Goals or Outcomes:4 • Develop ability to apply principles and generalizations already learned to new problems and situations • Develop analytic and problem solving skills

22. Checking for Understanding (continued) Advantages for Teachers • Provide quick feedback about the teaching and learning on a day-to-day basis so immediate changes can be made • Provide useful information about student learning in less time (vs. tests, papers, and other traditional assessment) • Help foster good rapport with students • Encourage the view that teaching is a formative process that evolves over time with feedback

23. Checking for Understanding (continued) Advantages for Students4 • Helps them become better monitors of their own learning • Helps them break down feelings of anonymity, especially in larger courses • Points out the need to change study skills • Provides evidence that the instructor cares about student learning • Benefit from improved teaching

24. Checking for Understanding (continued) Disadvantages4 • Requires instructors to shift to student-centered teaching • Requires use of class time; can be perceived as an interruption • Requires active participation of students who may prefer to remain passive in the classroom

25. Checking for Understanding (continued) Examples4 • Background Knowledge Probe • Minute Paper • Muddiest Point • What’s the Principle? • Application Cards • Directed Paraphrase