Running head: ASSIGNMENT 3 – LITERARY REVIEW AND ARTIFACT REFLECTION DOMAIN D 1!

Week 3 - Domain D Literary Review and Artifact Reflection

Scott Morton

National University

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for

TED 690−Capstone Course

Dr. Bard De Vore


Running head: ASSIGNMENT 3 – LITERARY REVIEW AND ARTIFACT REFLECTION DOMAIN D 2!

Abstract

In order to design the best learning activities for students, it is important to create actives of all

different styles in order to engage students of all different learning styles. If the lessons are al-

ways the same, students that have different preferred learning styles will be much less likely to

acquire the material being presented to them. Differentiation in lesson planning is one of the

most important things in my opinion to have a classroom full of active, engaged learners that are

working towards achieving the learning goals being created for them during each lesson.
Running head: ASSIGNMENT 3 – LITERARY REVIEW AND ARTIFACT REFLECTION DOMAIN D 3!

Literary Review: “Capturing the Complexity of Differentiated Instruction”

This journal covers the importance of differentiation instruction and how it makes the

learning experience better for each and every student in the classroom. While there may be some

students that benefit from always having the same type of instruction, overall students show bet-

ter results when a variety of instructional strategies and student activities are implemented over

the course of each individual lesson. With each class being made up of all different students, “the

key to successful differentiation is not the application of strategies, but the actual adaptation of

teaching to the thoroughly identified needs of all students” (Geel, et al., 2018). With that being

said, instructional design is something that needs to be constantly monitored and adapted based

on the students in the room at the time of the lesson. This is obviously more work for the teacher,

but it is in the best interest of the students and will help them to better grasp the concepts.

Designing instruction is a delicate process. “In order to make these deliberate and accu-

rate choices, two types of knowledge are considered essential: knowledge about the students and

subject-matter knowledge” (Geel, et al., 2018). It is important to understand what the students

know about the topics being discussed prior to the lesson starting, and also a general overview of

their preferred learning styles. This idea really emphasizes the importance of pre-assessment ac-

tives as well as a comprehensive understanding of each one of our students. These are both diffi-

cult things to accomplish, especially with large classes, but in order to be an effective teacher,

these are both extremely important.

Running head: ASSIGNMENT 3 – LITERARY REVIEW AND ARTIFACT REFLECTION DOMAIN D 4!

Rationale for Artifact Selection: Domain D

One of the artifacts I have selected for this domain include a lesson plan that has several

different instructional strategies. This particular lesson plan has students working alone while

reading and answering questions, working with a partner to formulate a debate strategy, and

working with other pairings during a debate. There is also some time for instruction as a whole

class and some discussion as a group. This lesson plan shows a lot of differentiation which is ex-

tremely important for ensuring that students are engaged, learning the material, and staying fo-

cused on achieving the learning goals that have been created for this lesson.

Another artifact I selected was some student work which came from a lesson which had

the students select a topic from a list and work with a small group and then present that topic to

the class. It was a unit on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in The United States, so rather

than having the students all read a bunch of material on many different individuals, each group

became the experts on one important figure of the Civil Rights Movement, and then created a

presentation to teach their classmates about their leader. This gives the students an opportunity to

learn from reading, create a presentation, and practice their presentation and speaking skills in

front of the class. Lessons like this give students the opportunity to improve upon many different

skills simultaneously, rather than just being limited to one skill.

Running head: ASSIGNMENT 3 – LITERARY REVIEW AND ARTIFACT REFLECTION DOMAIN D 5!

References

Costantino, Patricia M., De Lorenzo Marie N., & Tirrell-Corbin,Christy. (2009).

Developing a Professional Teaching Portfolio: A Guide for Success. Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson.

Geel, M. V., Keuning, T., Frèrejean, J., Dolmans, D., Merriënboer, J. V., & Visscher, A. J.

(2018). Capturing the complexity of differentiated instruction. School Effective

ness and School Improvement, 30(1), 51-67 doi 10.1080/09243453.2018.1539013