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Running Head: DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Differentiated Instruction Jason Nichols AET/525 March 3, 2014 Dr. Luke Petriccione

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Differentiated Instruction Goodwill Industries of Seattle, Washington provides a program for adult learners known as Community College 101 (lesson plan retrieved from http://www.aspenwsi.org/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/Community-College-101-Lesson-Plans.pdf.) The program is series of classes for adults interested in entering vocational skills training programs at local community colleges. This article looks at the first of 16 classes, College 101: Class OneExploring Your Career and College Options, and makes recommendations for varying the course content, instructional strategies, summative assessment, and learning environment in order to more fully engage learners and to make the course more accessible to diverse learners. Class One is intended as an exploration of career and education options and the process of preparing to enroll in and attend college courses. Varying Content The lesson plan for Class One in this series does an overall good job of addressing the basics of exploring the process of going to college. Up front, the lesson plan calls for delivery of certain competencies: an understanding of the course and its topics, an understanding of the importance of secondary education, an understanding of career options, an understanding of the pathway to those options through three local community colleges, and an understanding of the length of programs, credits earned, and so on. Part of the lesson plan includes a segment on SelfInvestment that addresses the idea of going to college as an investment from a financial point-ofview. It is recommended that the lesson plan be modified to include more content relating to selfinvestment from psychological and multicultural perspectives. Self-investment, from a financial perspective, is good; potential students may benefit from understanding that furthering their education is a means to furthering their earning

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION potential. However, for some students financial gain is not an appropriate incentive to support intrinsic motivation. Some cultures, and even some individuals, may see financial motivation as a form of greed. Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (2010) assert that when motivating by means of incentives it is important to consider the learners value for the activity or for what it leads to, the probability of increasing competence through the activity, and the cultural context. In other words, using financial gain alone to incentivize learners may be at best, insufficient, and at worst, inappropriate. Further recommendation to differentiate the content of this course is the inclusion of information related to learning styles. Most adults contemplating a vocational skills training

course probably have not taken a learning style assessment, but could benefit from understanding the various learning styles and which preference(s) they display themselves. This course lesson plan includes a presentation/activity segment titled the College Awareness Assessment, in which the student completes a True/False assessment relating to his or her prior awareness of all things college-related. It is recommended that the students be given an opportunity to take a learning style inventory in class and receive information from the instructor on each of the different learning styles. Understanding ones own learning preferencesand how to adjust to instructional methods outside those preferencesis part of the important step of students learning how to learn (Sangster, 1996). Varying Instruction For differentiating the instruction in this course, the first recommendation is to incorporate a greater variety of instructional strategies. While the lesson plan calls for a fair amount of discussion, the bulk of the instruction is instructor lecture. The lesson plan refers to a binder with several handouts to be covered in class. Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (2010) suggest

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION varying the modality of instruction between auditory, visual, and experiential modes in order to maintain learner attention and focus. This lesson plan makes use of critical questions, another of the motivational strategies suggested by Wlodkowski and Ginsberg, but there is very little experiential learning in the plan. Part of this lesson plan refers to the Internet and various websites. Activity #3 introduces a website that includes additional resource material, but only mentions it in passing. The suggestion for varying the instruction includes allowing students an opportunity to useand interact withthe website during the class, not just as a resource outside of the class. Allowing students an opportunity to use the websites mentioned is a good way to incorporate the second recommendation for differentiating instruction in this course: Provide more self-directed learning opportunities. According to Knowles (1973) one of the six principles of adult learning is that adult learners are internally motivated and self-directed. The previously mentioned website activities would provide the perfect opportunity for learners in this class to engage in self-directed

learning. Instead of having all of the information in this course delivered via instructor lecture or by reading handouts, the suggestion is that the course incorporate self-directed learning for at least the portion related to exploring the informational website. The website information precedes an activity that has students inputting information into a planner. Combining both of these activities to be self-directed, experiential activities would be beneficial to keeping learners interested, motivated, and engaged in the learning. Varying Demonstration of Content Mastery Class One of this 16-class series has no means of summative assessment or demonstration of the mastery of its content listed in the lesson plan. As such, it is recommended that the lesson plan be amended to add a means of assessing whether the learners have

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

understood and mastered the course content. Perhaps the best means of demonstrating mastery of the course content would be through informal observation. Each learner could demonstrate his or her understanding of the course by navigating the recommended websites and filling in the courses planner under supervision by the course instructor. A second suggestion for differentiating the summative assessment of this course is to create a final questionnaire. A good way to show the effectiveness of the course is to have students give end-of-course answers to slightly-altered questions from activity #1: 1.) Are you glad you took this class? 2.) What did you get out of this class? 3.) Are you more or less excited about going to school after taking this class? 4.) What concerns do you still have about going to school? By answering these questions, students have another chance to address any questions or fears they may still have. Outstanding questions might indicate a potential lack in the content of the course. Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (2010) stress the need for brining closure to learning activities in order to give a sense of completion; to do this, the authors suggest reviewing the concepts or skills achieved, allowing for clarification following the learning activity, and requesting feedback and evaluation. Adding these methods of assessment will prove helpful to the students who may still have questions or concerns by giving them opportunity to have lingering questions answered. These assessments could also prove useful for the instructor to recognize areas of instruction that need more emphasis or attention. Varying Class Environment In order to accommodate varied learning styles in this class it is recommended that that the course environment be altered to include visual and experiential portions for each of the

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION listed talking points. The lesson plan currently includes talking points for the sections labeled Self-Investment and Career Mapping. To ensure that varied learning styles get the most from these talking points, the lesson plan should be altered to include visual aids (dry erase board and projector are recommended) that demonstrate or exemplify the information provided in the talking points. The talking points should also be altered to include a hands-on component. Students should be allowed to add their own information to the career maps as a means of incorporating the kinesthetic component of learning. One suggestion for making the career

mapping component more hands-on is to add a sort of connect-the-dots activity to demonstrate how students can progress from this course all the way through certificate or degree completion at the community college. A second recommendation for varying the environment to include varied learning styles is to add computers to the classroom, or conduct the class session in a computer lab so that students have access to hand-on implementation of the Internet portions of this class. Two websites are referenced in the lesson plan, but only as talking points. It is recommended that the course include hands-on use of the websites for two reasons: first, some students may not have Internet access outside of the class and would, therefore, be unable to access the additional resources provided by the website. Second, some students who lack computer proficiency may need extra guidance to access and successfully navigate these websites in order to get the greatest benefit from them.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

References

Knowles, M.S., Holton, E.F., & Swanson, R.A. (1973). The adult learner. The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (7th ed.). New York, New York: Routledge. Sangster, A. (1996). Objective tests, learning to learn, and learning styles. Accounting Education, 5(2), 131-147. Retrieved from EBSCOHost database Wlodkowski, R.J. and Ginsberg, M.B. (2010). Teaching intensive and accelerated courses. Instruction that motivates learning. Retrieved from University of Phoenix eBook Collection database

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