MODULE VII

Assessing an Instructional Plan

Introduction

Instructional assessment (IA) is a form of curriculum-based assessment (CBA) that is

designed to assess the instructional needs of individual students to create the conditions necessary

to optimize and maintain learning (Rosenfield, 1987). The purpose of IA is to (a) ensure a match

between what the student knows and needs and what the teacher teaches, (b) provide corrective

feedback, and (c) monitor progress (Gravois & Gickling, 2002). Instructional assessment is a set

of procedures that samples skills from the student’s current curriculum to determine instructional

needs. Instructional assessment is a process of data collection rather than an assessment instrument.

Characteristics of Effective Instructional Explanations

Learning can be challenging for a variety of reasons. Students constantly face conceptual,

social, emotional, and mental obstacles that can’t be overcome with all-purpose solutions.

Just as every student is unique, so is every learning situation. Tutors exist to help students

work through the conceptual problems that plague them the most; mentors and counselors support

students in the more personal and sensitive parts of their lives; and teachers provide instruction in

whatever way they believe will be best understood by their students.

Even though current educational trends favor non-directive instruction, where students

arrive at conclusions with minimal guidance from instructors, cognitive psychologists have started

prescribing a different approach.

Effective instructional explanations should:

1. Be Adaptive
 Every student comes to a classroom with his or her own reserve of prior knowledge on the

subject at hand. Psychologists call this level of knowledge a student’s “proximal zone of

development.”

It is important for you, as an instructor, to target this zone, and not bore or overwhelm your

students, because providing too little or too much explanation can actually prevent them from

learning. If you present them with too little explanation, your students may experience cognitive

overload because they aren’t familiar enough with the concept at hand; if you present them with

too much information, they may suffer from the “expertise reversal effect,” where they

overanalyze a concept they already understand but don’t recognize because they think they’ve

missed something. When teachers planned their instruction around the student’s prior knowledge,

students gained a deeper understanding of the subject and developed fewer false beliefs about

newly presented concepts.

From a cognitive perspective, this kind of instruction works because it neither overwhelms

the student with new knowledge nor limits his or her cognitive resources with redundant

information (expertise reversal effect). It falls right within her zone of proximal development.

2. Focus on Concepts and Principles

One argument for the non-directive approach to instruction is that students develop lasting

problem-solving skills that aid them in future situations rather than learning to solve only the

problem in front of them.

Consider this example: if a student brings an essay to you for editing, and you find a line

that is confusing or unclear, you should not say, “This is unclear” but instead, “What do you mean

by this?” in order to help your student arrive at her own answer. This way, she will not only
understand why the sentence in that particular essay is unclear, but why sentences like it in future

essays might be unclear and how to avoid writing them.

In the same way, instead of lecturing on the difference between communism and socialism,

you can stand back and let students create projects or presentations on the topic, forcing them to

learn on their own. Independent learning allows students to apply their own unique learning style

(visual, verbal, auditory, etc.) and equips them with lasting research and presentation skills.

But this reflects no shortcoming of direct instruction. Direct instruction can equip students

with those same problem-solving, researching, and analyzing skills if educators focus on concepts

and principles. While many direct methods involve dishing out fact after fact, which can

overwhelm any student’s cognitive functions, the most effective direct methods are the ones that

guide students through new principles and concepts which help categorize those facts.

If a student has ten new facts to memorize about the French Revolution, the best mental

glue you can provide is some sort of organizing schema that facilitates the coordination of self-

generated information. The idea is that students will be able to absorb more material per lesson

(and retain that material) if they have a mental crutch, so to speak.

3. Take into Account the Student’s Ongoing Cognitive Activities

As an educator, take note of patterns in your student’s learning process in order to

customize your teaching as much as possible.

Is your student a visual learner? An auditory learner? A verbal learner? Does the student

outperform others on tests but remain silent throughout class? Does the student have a knack for

remembering names and dates but struggle with concepts? Do your student’s eyes glaze over when

you lecture on World War II in the past tense but light up when you lecture on it in the present
tense? How often does your student raise her hand when you quiz the class on their multiplication

tables versus their division tables?

Consider how and what your student enjoys learning, which concepts she’s mastered and

which concepts she hasn’t, and where her strengths and weaknesses lie. And, again, consider what

knowledge your student brings to the classroom before you design your lesson.

Equally as important, consider what the student has been learning in her other classes. Can

you make it easier for her to grasp the French Revolution by cross-referencing A Tale of Two

Cities, which she just read for a literature course? Better yet, can you help your entire class analyze

March by Geraldine Brooks by asking the History instructor to cover the Civil War in the same

week? These are great ways to provide customized, organizing schemata for your students’

ongoing cognitive activities.

In “Why Instructional Explanations Often Do Not Work: A Framework for Understanding

Effectiveness of Instructional Explanations,” Wittwer and Rinkl acknowledge that, “from a

cognitive-load perspective, it can be argued that self-explanatory activities might be very taxing

on the limited working-memory capacity and, therefore, put fairly high demands on the learner.”

In other words, providing direct, individualized instruction helps make the most of a

student’s cognitive resources.

4. Striking a Balance

Yes, this is an argument for direct instruction, but not for treating students like sponges.

There is a limit to how directive instruction should be, even when it is customized. Most truly

effective teaching methods strike a balance between directive and non-directive intervention.

Neither approach is better than the other; both are valuable for their own reasons.
 As an educator, you should always challenge your students to think for themselves. Mental

effort is what keeps us all sharp and capable. But when thinking becomes challenging on a more

internal, psychological level, don’t be afraid to step in. The first step is to raise awareness: By

acknowledging the high demands learning places on cognition, you can frame your instruction in

a way that prevents cognitive overload and allows your students to reach their full potential.