|
|
|
Principles
of Instruction Basic to Pace Learning Systems
Educational research indicates that most students who experience early and
consistent success in learning continue to succeed. Educational research also
indicates that students who experience consistent failure in learning
continue to fail and may give up on learning altogether. It is successful
learning experiences, not experiences ending in failure, that enable students
to reach skill mastery. Pace Learning Systems are designed to provide
students with successful learning experiences.
By working through instruction that is carefully constructed, or programmed,
the student can acquire and master new skills and knowledge with few errors.
Throughout the instruction, students experience success rather than failure.
Students learn efficiently as they work through a series of small, manageable
learning tasks.
The five principles of instruction upon which Pace Learning Systems rest are
- Small Steps.
- Active Responding.
- Immediate Feedback.
- Self-Paced Instruction.
- Validation Data.
Small Steps
Unlike students in a traditional classroom, who are expected to digest an
entire chapter of material covering numerous skills, sub-skills, and concepts
all at once, students learning with a Pace Learning System read and interact
with small portions of instructional material. A Pace Learning System lesson
focuses on a specific competency or set of related skills. Lessons are
presented in small segments of instruction called frames. Students proceed
through each lesson, interacting with the content taught frame by frame.
Active Responding
Another finding from learning laboratories is that when students respond
while learning, they learn more quickly and are able to retain concepts and
skills longer. A variety of interactions is present in the lessons of all
Pace Learning Systems to ensure active responding. Lessons require students
to write their answers as they work through each frame of instruction. This
process keeps students involved with the material they are learning.
Immediate Feedback
Also incorporated in the lessons of a Pace Learning System is the
principle of immediate feedback: students learn best when they can check
their answers immediately after responding. This feedback is important in
that it confirms whether the student is on the right track for learning.
Feedback in the lesson is constant and positive. The frequent feedback,
practice opportunities, and instructional reinforcement of key concepts will
help students to become fluent in their skills.
Self-Paced Instruction
Each student has his own rate of learning. Some students proceed more rapidly
or more slowly than others. If the pace of instruction is too fast or too
slow for a student, he may not learn as well as when he works at his own rate
of learning. With Pace Learning Systems, each student works through
instruction at his own pace.
Validation Data
Finally, as students work through lessons, they generate performance data for
evaluating and validating learning. If the data show that students are not
successfully meeting the objectives of a lesson, instructors can explore the
reasons for students' failure. Some factors affecting performance may be a
student's functional reading level, classroom management procedures, or
inaccurate testing and prescribing.
Keeping data on a student's performance through the lessons, an instructor
can validate whether the student is making progress. The results of the
Mastery Test at the end of a lesson determines whether a student has mastered
the skills and concepts taught in a lesson.
Records that indicate the number of students mastering a programmed course
and students' pretest-to-posttest competency gains are validation data which
are useful in evaluating the instructional program as a whole.
Back to top
...
|
|
     
|
