http://miblsi.cenmi.org

Explicit Teaching and the Role of Automaticity

Laura Colligan & Kim St. Martin January, 2014

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1.0 Sharing Tricks of the Trade!

2.0 Review from previous session

3.0 Explicit teaching: preventing overloading and ensuring learning

4.0 Unpacking automaticity

5.0 Expert knowledge: obstacle to teaching to mastery?

Agenda

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1.0 Sharing the Tricks of the Trade

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IMPLEMENTATION

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Sharing your tricks:

How are you having your staff engage in the information presented during these sessions?

Part ONE: Use the Frayer Model to have a discussion with your leadership team to unpack this work at your district.

OUTCOME: To build a system of implementation to grow this work at all levels in every district.

Networking

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Part TWO: Strategic Discussion Groups

• Look at your name tag and locate colored dot. There is a corresponding poster on the wall. This is the cross district group you will be in.

• In the group discussion share ways your district has implemented this work, ideas to expand the work, and a question your group may still have.

• Goal to gather district input for building a implementation plan for growing knowledge with all stakeholders at each local district.

NETWORKING

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WHOLE GROUP SHARE OUT

NETWORKING

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2.0 Review from Previous Session

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Pairing Terminology

Direction instruction (Hattie, 2009), explicit instruction (Archer, 2011), principles of effective instruction (Rosenshine, 2012), and fully guided instruction are all terms used interchangeably

Their core features are the same

All terms are used in the literature so pairing is necessary to avoid confusion

“Direct Instruction” Effect and Other “Activators”

Teacher as Activator Teacher as Facilitator

Teaching students self-verbalization / questioning (.76)

Inductive teaching (.33)

Teacher Clarity (.75) Simulation and gaming (.32)

Reciprocal teaching (.74) Inquiry-based teaching (.31)

Feedback (.74) Smaller classes (.21)

Metacognitive strategies (.67) Individualized instruction (.22)

Direct instruction (.59) – can include elements of all in red!

Web-based learning (.18)

Mastery learning (.57) Problem-based learning (.15)

Providing worked examples (.57) Discovery methods in math (.11)

Providing goals (.50) Whole language (.06)

Frequent / effects of testing (.46) – also known as “retrieval practice”

Student control over learning (.04)

Graphic / Behavioral organizers (.41)

You could also add the following from the barometer:Formative evaluation (.90)Spaced vs. mass practice (.71)Worked examples (.57)

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• How does inquiry / discovery learning or problem-based learning fit with direct instruction?

Common Question to Address

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1. Student-centered learning

2. Small group learning

3. Teacher is a facilitator or guide

4. Authentic problems presented at the beginning of the lesson

5. Problems presented are used as tools to acquire the knowledge / skills to eventually solve the problem

6. Self-directed learning is used for students to acquire new information

Characteristics of Problem-Based Learning

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It is not an either or – but a when

Direct / Explicit Instruction and Inquiry

Direct / Explicit Instruction

Inquiry / Discovery

Little or no background knowledge

A great deal of background knowledge in the domain (subject or concept)

History of difficulty, or failure

History of success

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Integrating Inquiry Learning into the Explicit Instruction Format

“Principles of Effective Instruction” (Rosenshine) after #6 and #9:

After you “obtained a high success rate“Require and Monitor Independent Practice”

Explicit Instruction (Archer) #16: “Provide Distributed and Cumulative Practice”

Direct Instruction (Visible Learning, Hattie) #3 and #7: “Build Commitment and Engagement” and “Independent Practice”

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3.0 Explicit Teaching: Preventing Overload and Ensuring Learning

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1. How direct (explicit) should teaching be?

2. What if the content to be taught involves complex cognition?

Explicit Instruction Common Questions

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How direct (explicit) should teaching be? – Foundational concepts for explicit teaching

• Teacher is a coach / model• Teacher consciously uses principles of

observational learning in demonstrations

1. Modeling (exposure to successful performances)

+2. Verbal instruction, encouragement, scaffolding,

lots of practice with immediate feedback

Answers to Explicit Instruction

Common Questions

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Read pages 77-79 in your Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn books.

• Highlight things that resonated with you and make note of things that raise further question.

• Discuss with your partner or table mates (depending on the size of your group)

Activity

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What if the content to be taught involves complex cognition?

– Studies that have explored this (two are highlighted in Hattie & Yates’ book) found complex cognition in the form of strategic thinking produced significant gains

– Students were taught using the components of explicit instruction:1. Modeling (exposure to successful performances)

+2. Verbal instruction, encouragement, scaffolding, lots

of practice with immediate feedback

Answers to Explicit Instruction

Common Questions (cont.)

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• Goal is to get information automatic such that it is in Long Term Memory (LTM) and reduces cognitive load

• Explicit teaching includes: modeling, verbal instruction, encouragement, scaffolding, lots of practice with corrective feedback

• The absence of direct information and corrective feedback students must rely on prior knowledge (not a sure bet)

Explicit Teaching - Bottom Line

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• Explicit teaching can be used to teach complex tasks

• Observational learning does build knowledge and is evolutionary for the human species

• Information gained through direct teaching can be more durable and more readily available

Explicit Teaching - Bottom Line (cont.)

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“When your knowledge becomes so automatic that you can access it quickly, with virtually no effort, then the working

memory system is said then to be bypassed through to the automaticity

stage – a more desirable place to be.” (Hattie and Yates, 2014, p. 147)

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Recall: Sources of Overload

Little prior knowledge

Weak mental strategies or inappropriate strategies to learn the information or cope with overload

Unrealistic expectations for learning (goal too high, over confident)

Poor instruction

Learning conditions were not favorable for learning the information

Anxiety around assessment

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1. Intrinsic: – This is fixed and based on the nature of

the task. – Determined based on the learner’s prior

knowledge (e.g., learning about brakes)

2. Extraneous: – Imposed by the learning conditions

and instructional context (way in which we are teaching the content)

Sources of Cognitive Load

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Recall: Conditions for Learning

1. Time, effort and motivation

2. Concentration (spans are short)

3. Distributed practice - more effective than massed practice (or cramming)

4. Prior knowledge - effects are powerful

5. Multimedia input - is important (mind responds to the combination of visual and auditory information)

6. Mind needs to do something with the information

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Recall: Sources of Overload

Little prior knowledge

Weak mental strategies or inappropriate strategies to learn the information or cope with overload

Unrealistic expectations for learning (goal too high, over confident)

Poor instruction

Learning conditions were not favorable for learning the information

Anxiety around assessment

Intrinsic

Extraneous

Extraneous

Extraneous

Intrinsic

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“Several studies have shown how learners may tolerate relatively high levels

of extraneous load in simple learning situations. But as learning gets harder,

learners benefit markedly from any condition that reduces sources of

extraneous load.” (Hattie and Yates, 2014, p. 149)

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4.0 Unpacking Automaticity

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• Phonics instruction (ES = .60)

• Repeated reading (ES = .67)

• Providing goals (ES = .50)

• Whole language (ES = .06)

Automaticity Chapter and Connections to VL Effect Sizes

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Read pages 59-61 in your Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn books.

• Highlight things that resonated with you and make note of things that raise further question.

• Discuss with your partner or table mates (depending on the size of your group)

Activity

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• Not an attribute that can be quickly “trained up” or done through many classroom lessons

• Takes years for elite level skills to be developed…so automaticity is something every child has to achieve by having consistent support and opportunities to apply learning.

• This involves all the adults in the child’s life BUT there are many things teachers can do to help the process along!

Teaching to Automaticity?

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Learning to read is of the best ways to demonstrate automaticity. Hattie and Yates also draw parallels in having

automaticity in math.

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Well researched classroom methods: • Repeated readings

• Teacher-directed programs: include opportunities for retrieval practice and include corrective feedback

Classroom Methods to Help with Automaticity

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5.0 Expert Knowledge - Obstacle to Teaching to Mastery?

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Not so cut and dry…

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Expert knowledge vs. Expert teacher

• Expert knowledge: expertise in the content area (math, science)

• Expert teaching: expertise in the domain of teaching

Remember: to develop expertise you need a minimum of 10,000 hours of structured practice

Distinction

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Read pages 12-top of 13 in your Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn books.

• Highlight things that resonated with you and make note of things that raise further question.

• Discuss with your partner or table mates (depending on the size of your group)

Activity

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A teacher cannot be ignorant about the content area but just having a high level of expertise about the content area does not automatically translate into being able to effectively teach the content area

Bottom Line

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• Underestimate the level of difficulty for novice learners

• Can struggle to effectively communicate the content knowledge

Limitations of Experts

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• High level of pedagogical knowledge

• Higher ability to improvise and adjust instruction based on the situation

• Deep understanding of why students are successful or are unable to perform a task

• More apt to provide appropriate learning strategies that engage, challenge intrigue without overwhelming

Characteristics of Expert Teachers

Hattie, 2009

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• More apt to anticipate and plan for the challenges students will encounter when learning new tasks

• Higher ability to improvise when things are not going as expected

• Accurate in hypothesis generation about what is causing students success or failure

• Distinct passion

Characteristics of Expert Teachers (cont.)

Hattie, 2009

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Readings

Pre-Reading: • Chapter 18: Mnemonics as sport, art and instructional

tools• Chapter 19: Analyzing your students’ style of learning

Today’s work is further complimented by the following chapters:• Chapter 2: Is Knowledge an Obstacle to Teaching • Chapter 7: Teaching for automaticity in basic

academic skill• Chapter 9: Acquiring complex skills through social

modeling and explicit teaching• Chapter 12: Expertise in the Domain of Classroom

Teaching