Riley

Jennings
2-2-16
The Integrative Model
EDC 311
Is about



Helping students gain a deep understanding of organized bodies of knowledge and helping them develop critical thinking abilities.

Theory and
Planning

Theory: This model is based on

the constructivism theory
Planning
Identify Topics: any organized
body of knowledge would be
an acceptable topic
Specify Learning Goals:
Determine a specific
generalization you want your
students to discover, but they
may stumble upon a different
generalization so try to
anticipate those and prepare
ways to steer them back to
what you want them to learn
Prepare Data: select data to
present students so that they
can find their way to your
specified learning content goal.
You can use graphic organizers.
Specify Questions: have preset
questions that you can ask the
students about the data you
give them to make them notice
what you want noticed about
the data

Assessment and
Motivation

Implementing

Open-Ended Phase: present
the data to the students and
have them analyze it, describe
everything they see and make
comparisons and find patterns
and create their own matrix
The Causal Phase: have
students look for the cause,
the why, of the patterns and
connections they found in the
previous phase
The Hypothetical Phase: ask
questions that change the
situation just a little, so that
the students have to adjust
their thinking and factor with
something new
Closure and Application: the
students will summarize what
they have learned in broad
generalizations that they can
apply to other similar, but
different, situations which you
have not discussed with the
class

Motivation: working in pairs or

small groups is great for
motivating students. When the
students fill in their graphic
organizer with their
data/observations and then
their organizer is d isplayed it
gives them a s ense of
accomplishment
Assessment: you can provide a
generalization that the
students should know based on
the class discussion. Ask which
items out of a list would fulfill
that generalization, or you
could give a list of items and
ask the students to answer a
question that depends on their
knowledge of the
generalization b eing tested. To
assess the critical thinking
goals, present the students
with the raw data and ask
them to form their own
generalization and then apply
it, on their own.

Modifications
Students with diverse
backgrounds: the initial
graphic organizer you present
with the data should be very
visually rich in detail. You will
also need to be more specific
and structured, and for some
concepts it may be good to
have the students assist you
in creating the initial data
matrix. This model, because
it requires so much verbal
interaction, is good to help
students with English as their
second language develop
their English skills.

So What?? This model forces students to understand entire organized bodies of knowledge because they have to make the

connections between the raw data pieces, understand why those connections exist, realize how their whys would
change if this or that piece of data changed, and how to apply it all to various situations.