Introduction
Almost every characteristic of people’s daily lives involves problem solving and learning. Whether they are working, playing games, studying or engaging in any activity, people are always continually applying or adding to their ever-expanding pool of knowledge. Learning starts at birth and it ends when one dies.
It takes place everywhere i.e. in schools, home, at work e.t.c. Learning refers to the act of acquiring knowledge through such aspects as socialization and observation. Morrison, Ross, & Kemp (2001), in their studies stated that for learning to be carried out effectively, there must be some key elements which include the learner, the teacher and the information to be learned.
There are many different types of design theories that use the tenets of learning theories to build effective instruction. Instruction design theories usually describe how instructions are organized with an aim of achieving objectives.
Design theories are perspective theories in that, they enable a teacher or an expert to select and organize instructional events to enhance the learning process. The basis of design theories is on how people learn (Morrison, Ross, & Kemp, 2001, p. 62-83).
The following essay is concerned with educational design theories. The essay focuses on how the design theories can help improve the constructed responses in reading on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE).
The Wiggins’s theory of backwards design
The Backward Curriculum design was developed by Wiggins and McTighe. The Backward Curriculum Design is based on the notion that the design process should first identify the set objectives to be achieved and then work backwards to create instruction. This approach to curriculum design is completely different with the traditional approach which first identifies what topic requires to be covered.
It departs from the common approach in that, the teacher starts with the end in determining the curriculum instead of starting with a textbook. The Backward design has three main stages. The first stage identifies the desired results. According to this theory, the teacher has the role of identifying the course objectives, as well as the enduring understanding i.e. the learning that should be covered over long-term.
Question format which focuses on the line of inquiry is used in identifying the desired learning. Benchmarks or state standards are used in determining the desired learning. The second stage is the assessment of the desired results and outcomes. This stage aims at defining the forms of assessment that best demonstrates the students’ understanding and skill.
There are three types of assessments i.e. performance task, criteria referenced assessment and unprompted assessment. The third stage determines the sequence of learning experience that is ideal for the students.
The Backward design can help improve the constructed responses in reading on the WKCE because it has the effect of delaying the selection of teaching as well as other instructional strategies until the last stage of the process (Moore, 2005, P.45).
Gagne’s nine events of instruction
Gagne’s nine events of instruction is a learning theory that was developed by Robert Gagne. Each of Gagne’s nine events is meant to boost the learning process or to ensure that learning takes place effectively. Information processing learning theory is the main basis of these events and is key in the success of every event. According to this theory, the first presentation of the instruction is supposed to motivate the learner.
The event thus, has the role of focusing the learners on the goals to be accomplished. Learning cannot take place effectively without focusing on the tasks. Some of the methods that are used for gaining the attention of the students include presenting discrepant events.
It can improve the constructed response in reading in that, the teachers can gain the attention of learners through actions that makes them to focus on the tasks to be learned (Mastrian, McGonigle & Mahan,2011,P.97).
The second event is informing the learner about the objective to be accomplished. The learner should be provided with the learning outcomes. This plays an important role in enabling the learner to know his or her instructional destination. The learner is able sort out the necessary materials from a list (Briggs, 1991, P.199-206).
Stimulating recall of prerequisite learning is the third event of Gagne’s learning theory. According to this theory, learning is intended to build on what is already known. Learners are required to have prerequisite knowledge or skill in order to integrate them with new ones. This in turn helps to improve the constructed response in reading (Briggs, 1991, P.199-206).
The fourth event of Gagne’s learning theory is presenting the stimulus material. This event of instruction presents the learners with the necessary information to be learned. The main aim of presenting materials is to ensure that the learners have basic knowledge on the tasks to be learned (Briggs, 1991, P.199-206).
The other event of Gagne’s event of instruction is providing learning guidance. The main role of this event is to provide the learners with an opportunity to know what actions bring an ideal performance. Usually, learners are better placed to perform tasks on their own after observing from others. The teachers can provide learning guidance to learners by showing them all the steps involved in solving a problem (Briggs,1991,P.199-206).
Eliciting performance is the sixth of Gagne’s nine events of instruction. The learners are provided with an opportunity to test out their understanding through certain activities or questions. The learner is thus given an opportunity to practice what requires to be learned in this event (Briggs, 1991, P.199-206).
Providing feedback is the seventh event of instruction according to Gagne’s nine events. Feedback is usually provided to learners in order to convey information about their accuracy or correctness of their performance (Briggs, 1991, P.199-206).
The other instruction event of Gagne’s nine events is assessing performance. Assessing performance provides the learner with an opportunity to demonstrate the learning outcomes without the assistance from teachers (Briggs, 1991, P.199-206).
The last event of Gagne’s nine events of instruction is the enhancement of retention and transfer. Knowledge and skills are mainly valuable if the learners can apply them at appropriate times (Briggs, 1991, P.199-206).
The four elements of teaching for understanding
The standards for the four elements of teaching for understanding include the following i.e. generative topics, understanding goals, understanding performances and ongoing assessments (Reigeluth, 1999, P.108).
A generative topic is concerned with the topic selection. This element requires that the learners should be presented with topics that are easily understandable and authentic. The main features of this element of teaching for understanding are that the topic should be relevant, connectible, accessible and interesting to both the learners and the teacher (Reigeluth, 1999, P.108).
With regards to understanding goals, the element requires that the students should do their best to understand the learning outcome. Goals should not be ambiguous. The teacher should share goals with the learners in order to enable them to fully understand the learning outcomes (Reigeluth, 1999, P.108).
Understanding performances provides the learners with an opportunity to prove their understanding of the learning objectives. This element of teaching for understanding enables the teacher to actively engage his or her learners (Reigeluth, 1999, P.108).
The ongoing assessment is the fourth element for teaching for understanding. The main role of ongoing assessment is to provide the teachers with a forum of assessing the performance of the students and thus make improvements where necessary. Ongoing assessment should be done on regular basis and should be explicit (Reigeluth, 1999, P.108).
Conclusion
The best process of instruction that will ensure that students complete or even do the constructed response sections of the exam is the Gagne’s nine events of instruction. This method of instruction is ideal because it is goal driven. It is appropriate for the students as it can enable them to form a constructed response.
Gagne’s nine events of instruction enhance the learning process in that; it has the ability of identifying the learning outcome. Also, it identifies the events that should take place, organizes them in a sequence manner and ensures that each event includes all the relevant information for the objectives to be attained.
Reference List
Briggs, L. (1991). Instructional design: principles and applications. New York: EducationalTechnology.
Mastrian, K, and McGonigle & Mahan, W. (2011). Integrating technology in nursing education: tools for the knowledge era.Sadbury: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Moore, K. (2005). Effective instructional strategies: from theory to practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Morrison, G, Ross, S. & Kemp, J. (2001). Task Analysis in Designing Effective Instruction. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Reigeluth, C. (1999). Instructional-design theories and models, Volume 2.London: Routledge.