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Re: [Phys-l] differentiated instruction



I have gotten curious about what different sources say is differentiated
instruction, so here is a random sampling of some ideas.
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New Horizons:
In this area we offer an excellent array of articles on differentiated
instruction that take into consideration the great variety of ways in which
students learn. With the growing diversity of students in every classroom,
it is essential to offer more choices in how to learn and more ways that can
engage learners in ways they learn best.

We are deeply concerned about current pressures to move towards greater use
of direct instruction in all subjects--even science! Direct instruction is
effective for helping students to memorize facts and skills, and will indeed
raise scores on standardized tests that use multiple choice, true and false,
and short-answer questions. It is an important educational tool for these
specific purposes. Direct instruction may not, however, help students to
understand and be able to apply what they have learned. It does not take
into account the fact that students learn in many different ways, and does
not help students to identify their strengths that can be used in learning.
It does not develop higher order thinking skills that are so essential in
today's world, nor does it foster curiosity, desire to learn, and the joy of
learning itself.

The following articles are written from both the mind and the heart. They
offer principles and tools that will not only help students to learn more
effectively but will help them to enjoy the process and be interested in
continuing to learn throughout life, Take heart! Direct instruction has its
place in teaching and learning, but have faith that integrating the arts and
other experiential processes in the curriculum will help students to meet
those higher standards in ways that foster the coordinated development of
mind, body, and spirit.
==================================================================
Staff Development for Educators:
Differentiated Instruction is an instructional concept that maximizes
learning for ALL students-regardless of skill level or background. It's
based on the fact that in a typical classroom, students vary in their
academic abilities, learning styles, personalities, interests, background
knowledge and experiences, and levels of motivation for learning. When a
teacher differentiates instruction, he or she uses the best teaching
practices and strategies to create different pathways that respond to the
needs of diverse learners.
=======================================
Wikipedia:
Differentiated instruction (sometimes referred to as differentiated
learning) is a way of thinking about teaching and learning. Differentiated
instruction involves providing students with different avenues to acquiring
content; to processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and to
developing teaching products so that all students within a classroom can
learn effectively, regardless of differences in ability[1].

Differentiated instruction, according to Carol Ann Tomlinson (as cited by
Ellis, Gable, Greg, & Rock, 2008, p. 32), is the process of "ensuring that
what a student learns, how he/she learns it, and how the student
demonstrates what he/she has learned is a match for that student's readiness
level, interests, and preferred mode of learning". Differentiation stems
from beliefs about differences among learners, how they learn, learning
preferences and individual interests (Anderson, 2007).

Differentiated instruction advocates that the educator proactively plans a
variety of instruction methods so as to best facilitate effective learning
experiences which are suited to the various learning needs within the
classroom[1].

Lessons should be on inquiry based, problem based and project based
instruction.
===========================================

It looks like the idea of learning preferences and "learning styles" is part
of differentiated learning. None of these definitions imply that each
student has to have an individual lesson plan. The New Horizon's definition
is very consistent with what PER would have teachers do. However the
Wikipedia article would seem to imply that you might have to provide lessons
involving video games and something different for the girls.

The Staff Development for educators definition would seem to be pie in the
sky. Maximizing learning for all is always the goal, and is very seldom
met. It is just as easy to minimize the learning of all, and conventional
teaching practices are very good at doing that.

The Wikipedia definition implies that different activities need to be
planned, but how should they be different? They also mention multiple
intelligences in the full article which they admit is disputed. The idea of
a pretest is mentioned, and this is an integral part of PER. As to project
based instruction, none of the PER methods use this extensively, and I don't
think there is firm evidence for its effectiveness. Is suspect it is low
for unmotivated students who are not self starters because projects are
often too open ended.

The New Horizons definition is very consistent with PER practices. However
if one is using a method such as Modeling, there are certain variations of
practice that are never used such as extensive direct instruction or
lectures, as New Horizon's also says. As to a variety of methods, writing
poems, songs... are methods which probably would have no place as a regular
feature in a physics class. That is the variety has to be based on sound
pedagogic research. An occasional fun activity is OK, but not on a regular
basis. One can however do different types of things such as ranking tasks,
interactive lecture demos, inquiry labs, problem solving, but there are
many types of things that must be excluded for best practices. Conventional
lectures and verification labs are the ones that come to mind. Also
frequent teacher demonstrations of problem solving are to be avoided, but a
very occasional sample problem can be OK in a specific context.

So Differentiated instruction might be considered to be a form of
"Constructivist" instruction, but this is often what administrators do not
have in mind. It would also seem to not mandate separate lessons for each
student. Good differentiated instruction can not be based on just general
ideas, but has to be particularized for the specific subject, and has to be
based on relevant educational research for that subject. All too often
lessons are made up by people who are ignorant of the subject, or ignorant
of the relevant research. This includes many of the suggestions for labs in
the conventional texts.

As to the evaluation of learning, that is very controversial. The Wikipedia
suggests that alternative evaluations should be used, but the states have
decreed high stakes conventional tests. I have not seen any good evidence
that alternative evaluations really work better, and there is an ETS
metastudy which suggests that some conventional testing is necessary for
good results. Some use of alternative evaluations such as lab practicums
may possibly work better, but I have only heard anecdotal evidence. I have
occasionally had students do concept maps as a test, and they are actually
very revealing, and I think they are quite accurate, but not necessarily
better than tests.

I admit this was a biased hurried sample, but the Wikipedia articles are
generally very accurate, and contain research references.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX