Educational Psychology

Ayesha Majeed
COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus
Contents
Understanding student differences
 Learning styles
 Gender differences
 Gender Bias
UNDERSTANDING STUDENT
DIFFERENCES
 LEARNING STYLES
• Whether one conceives of intelligence as having one
major component or several, psychologists agree that it is
an ability.
• Typically, it is better to have more of an ability than less
of it. In recent years, psychologists have also studied how
students use their abilities, and this line of research has
led to the concept of a learning style.
• Unlike abilities, styles are value neutral—that is, all styles are adaptive
under the right circumstances.
• A learning style can be defined as a consistent preference over time and
subject matter for perceiving, thinking about, and organizing information
in a particular way.
• Some students, for example, prefer to think about the nature of a task,
collect relevant information, and formulate a detailed plan before taking
any action, whereas others prefer to run with the first idea they have and
see where it leads.
• Some students prefer to work on several aspects of a task simultaneously,
whereas others prefer to work on one aspect at a time in a logical sequence.
• Notice that styles are referred to as preferences. They are not fixed
modes of behavior that we are locked into. When the situation
warrants, we can, at least temporarily, adopt different styles,
although some people are better than others at switching styles.
• In the psychological literature on styles, a distinction is drawn
between cognitive styles and learning styles. Because learning
style is considered to be the more inclusive (overall or umbrella)
concept and because the implications for instruction are the same,
we will use the term learning style.
• Among the many learning style dimensions that have
been investigated, we will examine three. Two of
these (reflectivity-impulsivity and field dependence–
field independence) were formulated (work out) more
than 40 years ago and have a long history of research.
• The third (mental self-government) is more recent in
origin and contains some original elements but also
includes styles that have been the subject of much
research.
Learning styles are preferences for dealing with intellectual
tasks in a particular way
 1. Reflectivity and Impulsivity
• One of the first learning style dimensions to be investigated was reflectivity-
impulsivity. During the early 1960s, Jerome Kagan found that some students seem
to be characteristically impulsive, whereas others are characteristically reflective.
• Impulsive students are said to have a fast conceptual tempo. When faced with a task
for which there is no ready solution or a question for which the answer is uncertain,
the impulsive student responds more quickly than students who are more reflective.
• In problem solving situations, the impulsive student collects less information, does
so less systematically, and gives less thought to various solutions than do more
reflective students.
• Reflective students, in contrast, prefer to spend more time collecting
information (which means searching one’s memory as well as external
sources) and analyzing its relevance to the solution before offering a
response (Morgan, 1997).
• Kagan discovered that when tests of reading and inductive reasoning
were administered in the first and second grades, impulsive students
made more errors than reflective students did.
• He also found that impulsiveness is a general trait; it appears early in a
person’s life and is consistently revealed in a great variety of situations.
Inductive reasoning is a method of drawing conclusions by going from the specific to the
general. It’s usually contrasted with deductive reasoning, where you go from general
information to specific conclusions.
Impulsive students prefer quick action; reflective students prefer to collect and analyze
information before acting.
 2. Field Dependence and Field Independence
• Another very popular learning style dimension, known as field dependence–
field independence, was proposed by Herbert Witkin and refers to the extent
to which a person’s perception and thinking about a particular piece of
information are influenced by the surrounding context.
• For example, when some individuals are shown a set of simple geometric
figures and asked to locate each one (by outlining it with a pencil) within a
larger and more complex display of intersecting lines, those with a field-
dependent style take significantly longer to respond and identify fewer of the
figures than individuals with a field-independent style.
• The former are labeled field dependent because their perception is strongly
influenced by the prevailing (convince) field.
• The latter are called field independent because they are more successful in
isolating target information despite the fact that it is embedded (root) within a
larger and more complex context.
• When we talk about individuals who have a field-dependent style and compare
them with individuals who have a field-independent style, we do not mean to
imply that there are two distinctly (clear) different types of individuals.
• That is like saying that people are either tall or short. Just as people’s heights
range over a measured span, students can vary in the extent to which they are
field dependent or field independent.
• In school, the notes that field-dependent students take are more likely to
reflect the structure and sequence of ideas as presented by the teacher or
textbook author, whereas the notes of field-independent students are more
likely to reflect their own ideas about structure and sequence.
• When reading, field-independent students are more likely than field-
dependent students to analyze the structure of the story. The significance of
this difference in approach is clearly seen with materials and tasks that are
poorly structured.
• Field-independent students usually perform better in these situations
because of their willingness to create a more meaningful structure.

Field-independent students prefer their own structure; field-

dependent students prefer to work within existing structure
 3. Mental Self-Government Styles
• Robert Sternberg (1994), has proposed an interesting learning style theory that is roughly
modeled on the different functions and forms of civil government. Sternberg’s styles of
mental self-government theory has attracted considerable research.
• Although research to test the theory continues, it is viewed as a useful approach to
understanding learning styles in a variety of settings.
• In Sternberg’s theory, thirteen mental self-government styles fall into one of five categories:
functions, forms, levels, scope, and leaning.
• Within these categories, there are legislative, executive, and judicial functions; monarchic,
hierarchic, oligarchic, and anarchic forms; global and local levels; internal and external
scopes; and liberal and conservative leanings. Most individuals have a preference for one
style within each category.
• In Table 4.3 we briefly describe the main
characteristics of each style and suggest an
instructional activity consistent with it.
• If you are wondering how to identify these styles,
Sternberg offers a simple solution: Teachers can
simply note the type of instruction that various
students prefer and the test types on which they
perform best.
Legislative style prefers to create and plan; executive style
prefers to follow explicit rules; judicial style prefers to
evaluate and judge
 Assignment No:3 How
technology accommodates
learning styles?
GENDER DIFFERENCES AND
GENDER BIAS
• Students’ academic performance is strongly influenced by their
cognitive, social, and emotional characteristics. But there is
another major characteristic you may have ignored: gender.
• Although it may not be obvious, there are noticeable differences in
the achievement patterns of males and females and in how they
are taught.
• As Myra Sadker and David Sadker (1994) point out, “Sitting in
the same classroom, reading the same textbook, listening to the
same teacher, boys and girls receive very different educations”.
 Gender Differences in Cognition and Achievement
• A large body of research shows that there are reliable
gender differences in cognitive functioning and
achievement. On some tests, boys outscore girls, and on
other tests girls have the upper hand.
• Although these differences are statistically significant
(meaning they are probably not due to chance).
• Generally, research on gender differences has found that males tend to outscore
females on the following tests.
1. Visual-spatial ability. This category includes tests of spatial perception, mental
rotation, spatial visualization, and generation and maintenance of a spatial
image.
• A substantial body of research exists indicating that male superiority in visual-
spatial ability appears during the preschool years and persists throughout the life
span.
• More recent research suggests that the male advantage in spatial tasks is true only
for children from middle- and high-SES (socioeconomic status) groups. When
males and females from low-SES groups are compared, no difference exists.
Spatial reasoning is a category of reasoning skills that refers to the capacity to think about objects in
three dimensions and to draw conclusions about those objects from limited information. Someone
with good spatial abilities might also be good at thinking about how an object will look when
rotated. These skills are valuable in many real-world situations and can be improved with practice.
Spatial reasoning test
2. Mathematical reasoning. This difference, thought to be related to males’
superior visual-spatial skill, may have more to do with social influences on
academic and career choices than with cognitive abilities. When such
influences are taken into account, more recent analyses of gender
differences do not always show that males are superior to females.
3. College entrance. Tests such as the SAT Reasoning Test (which includes
mathematical reasoning) are designed to predict grade-point average after
the freshman year of college. The overall superiority of males in this
category may be related to differences in mathematical experiences, which
may give them increased opportunity to develop mathematical reasoning.

SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test): The SAT is a standardized test widely

used for college admissions in the United States.
• Research shows that females tend to outscore males on the following tests
1. Memory. This is a broad category that includes memory for words from word lists,
working memory (the number of pieces of information that one is aware of and that
are available for immediate use), name-face associations, first-last name
associations, memory for spatial locations, and episodic memory (memories for the
events in one’s own life). This difference appears to persist throughout the life span.
2. Language use. This is another broad category that encompasses tests of spelling,
reading comprehension, writing, onset of speech, and rate of vocabulary growth.
Gender differences in language use appear anywhere between one and five years of
age and grow larger over time.

Spatial memory is a cognitive process that enables a person to

remember different locations as well as spatial relations between
objects. This allows one to remember where an object is in
relation to another object. 
• Just as gender differences appear on tests of cognitive skills, the same
differences appear in academic performance. A 1999 study of
mathematics achievement among eighth graders in 38 countries
concluded that most of the participating countries, including the United
States, were making progress toward gender equity in mathematics
education, but the study found a few notable differences between the
genders.
• In most countries, the mathematics achievement differences between boys
and girls were statistically nonsignificant. Boys significantly outscored
girls in only four countries: Israel, the Czech Republic, Iran, and Tunisia.

Evidence that boys score higher on tests of visual-spatial

ability and math reasoning and that girls score higher on tests
of memory and language skills is being called into question
 Gender Bias
• If you asked your class a question and some students answered without waiting to be called on,
how do you think you would react? Do you think you would react differently to male students
than to female students? Do not be so sure that you would not.
• Studies have found that teachers are more willing to listen to and accept the spontaneous
answers of male students than female students. Female students are often reminded that they are
to raise their hands and be recognized by the teacher before answering.
• Boys also receive more extensive feedback than do girls, but they are punished more severely
than girls for the same infraction (non-compliance). These consistent differences in responses to
male and female students when there is no sound educational reason for them are the essence of
gender bias. Why do some teachers react differently to males and females? Probably because
they are operating from traditional gender-role stereotypes: they expect boys to be more
impulsive and unruly and girls to be more orderly and obedient

Gender bias: responding differently to male and female students

without having sound educational reasons for doing so
 How Gender Bias Affects Students
1. Course Selection. There are modest but noticeable differences in the percentage of high
school boys and girls who take math and science courses. In 1998, a larger percentage
of girls than boys took algebra II (63.7 versus 59.8 percent) and trigonometry (9.7
versus 8.2 percent). Although there was no difference in the percentages of boys and
girls who took geometry and precalculus, slightly more boys than girls took calculus
(11.2 versus 10.6 percent). The pattern for science courses was similar. A larger
percentage of girls than boys took biology (94.1 versus 91.4 percent), advanced
placement or honors biology (18 versus 14.5 percent), and chemistry (63.5 versus 57.1
percent), whereas more boys than girls took physics (31.7 versus 26.2 percent) and
engineering (7.1 versus 6.5 percent)

Gender bias can affect course selection, career choice,

and class participation of male and female students
2. Career Choice. As you may be aware because of numerous stories in the
media, relatively few girls choose careers in science or mathematics.
• Several factors are thought to influence the choice male and female students
make to pursue a career in science or engineering. One is familiarity with and
interest in the tools of science.
• In one study of middle school science classes in which instructors who were
committed to increasing girls’ active participation emphasized hands-on
experiences, gender differences were still noted. Boys spent more time than
girls manipulating the equipment, thereby forcing girls to participate in more
passive ways.
• A second factor is perceived self-efficacy (how confident one feels in being able
to meet the demands of a task). In the middle school science classes just
mentioned, even though end-of-year science grades were equal for girls and
boys, only girls showed a significant decrease in their perception of their science
ability over the school year.
• A 1996 survey found that although fourth-grade boys and girls were equally
confident about their math abilities, by twelfth grade only 47 percent of girls
were confident about their math skills, as compared with 59 percent of the boys.
• A third factor is the competence-related beliefs and expectations communicated
by parents and teachers. Girls who believe they have the ability to succeed in
male-dominated fields were encouraged to adopt these beliefs by parents and
teachers.
Academic success, encouragement, models
influence women to choose careers in science,
math
3. Class Participation. As we pointed out earlier, many children tend to
adopt the gender role that society portrays as the more appropriate and
acceptable. Through the influence of parenting practices, advertising,
peer norms, textbooks, and teaching practices, girls are reinforced for
being polite, helpful, obedient, nonassertive, quiet, and aware of and
responsive to the needs of others.
• Although views of girls’ academic abilities are changing, boys, to a
greater extent than girls, are reinforced for being assertive, independent,
aggressive, competitive, intellectually curious, and achievement oriented.

Women who choose a career in math or science are likely to be

those who do well in science classes, are encouraged to pursue math
or science careers by parents or teachers, and have respected models
available to emulate.
• The degree to which girls feel comfortable expressing
themselves and their views is known as “level of voice.”
• According to Carol Gilligan and others, adolescent girls
learn to suppress their true personalities and beliefs.
Instead of saying what they really think about a topic,
they say either that they have no opinion or what they
think others want to hear. Gilligan refers to this behavior
as loss of voice.

Loss of voice: students suppress true beliefs about

various topics in the presence of parents, teachers,
and classmates of opposite sex
Working Toward Gender Equity in the Classroom
• Although much of the literature on gender bias highlights
the classroom obstacles that make it difficult for girls to take
full advantage of their talents, gender equity is about
producing an educational experience that will be equally
meaningful for students of both genders.
• Several authors suggest the following techniques to benefit
both genders.
1. Use work arrangements and reward systems that will encourage all students to
value a thorough understanding of a subject or task and that emphasize group
success as well as individual accomplishment.
2. Emphasize concrete, hands-on science, math, and technology activities.
3. Incorporate math, science, and technology concepts into such other subjects as
music, history, art, and social studies.
4. Talk about the practical, everyday applications of math and science. Although
girls seem more interested in science when they understand how such
knowledge transfers to everyday life, so do many boys.
5. Emphasize materials that highlight the accomplishments and characteristics of
women and women’s groups.
Contents
Knowledge Construction and Critical Thinking
1. Knowledge Construction
 Promoting effective knowledge construction
 Promoting conceptual change
2. Critical Thinking
 Nature of higher level thinking
 Critical thinking
 Metacognition
KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTION
AND CRITICAL THINKING
 Common Knowledge Construction Model

• The Common Knowledge Construction Model, is a constructivist

model to facilitate learning. It is a very good structure for planning
and instruction as well as guiding educators (teachers) in their
reflection of student achievement and their professional
development.
• It provides a beneficial framework for teachers to reflect on their
teaching and their student's learning and for their students to assess
their learning progress.
Constructivism is based on the idea that people actively construct or make their own
knowledge, and that reality is determined by your experiences as a learner. Basically,
learners use their previous knowledge as a foundation and build on it with new things that
they learn. So everyone’s individual experiences make their learning unique to them.
 Processes of constructing knowledge 

1. Explore
2. Categorize
3. Construct
4. Negotiate
5. Translate
6. Extend
7. Reflect
8. Assess
 Exploring and Categorizing processes

1. Teacher continuously explore and categorize their understanding by questioning

and reflecting.
• What do I know about the information?
• What do learners know?
• What more do I need to know about the topic?
• What data do I need to collect about what students know about the topic?
• How does the information I know categorized within an accurate hierarchy of
knowledge.
• How does the information students know categorized within an accurate hierarchy
of knowledge.
2. Teacher continuously explore and categorize their instructional methods.
• How do I provide activities for students to explore their understanding of
particular ideas?
• How do I help learners fit their explorations into their categories of
understanding and information.
• Use instructional strategies such as:
• Choose a relevant engaging activity
• Use materials to explore ideas
• Provide a risk free environment
• Students communicate their understanding in multiple ways to other
students and their teacher.
3. Students continuously explore and categorize their understanding.
• Students explore what they know about an idea and explain that
understanding within what is happening related to an introductory
activity.
• Students explore what additional information might be helpful to
expand their understanding.
• What previous experiences might fit within the same categories of
this information or does a new category need to be created?
 Constructing and Negotiating

1. Teacher continuously Construct and Negotiate their

understanding.
• Constructs meaning for what they know about the idea or topic
and negotiate how they know it and how they might better know
it.
• Constructs meaning of what students know about the idea or
topic and negotiate how they know it and how they might better
know it.
2. Teacher continuously Construct and Negotiate on their
instructional methods.
• Plans how to help students construct and negotiate meanings from
the information collected and categorized during exploration.
• Use instructional strategies such as:
• Problem solving activities
• Cooperative learning
• Classroom discussion
• Create visual and written representations
3. Students continuously Construct and Negotiate their
understanding.
• Students use previous ways of knowing or create new
ways of knowing that explains what is happening. By
asking questions such as:
• How do I communicated what is happening?
• How can I test the validity of my ideas?
• How do my ideas compare to others?
 Translating and Extending

1. Teachers continuously Translate and Extend their understanding by

questioning and reflecting.
• Compares student's ideas to the accepted understanding and decide if the
students' understandings are accurate and developmental appropriate. If
not, decide how to help students translate or extend their understanding to
make them more accurate or create a deeper understanding.
• Decide how to help students translate and extend their understanding and
information to connect to other ideas.
2. Teacher continuously Translate and Extend their instructional methods.
• Plans opportunities for students to translate and extend their understanding for
accuracy, deeper understanding, higher levels of understanding, and make
connections to other areas.
• Use instructional strategies such as:
• Make connections to real life
• Make connections to other subject areas
• Relate to technology
• Apply to problem solving situations
• Ask for more detail
• Ask. How can you use this?
3. Students continuously explore and categorize their
understanding.
• Students translate and extend new ideas and information to other
previous ideas to make the new information more useful.
• Relate their ideas to the ideas of experts in related fields.
• How can I use what I have learned in my life?
• Are there other ways of understanding what I understand?
• How might others use this information?
• Could this be used in other ways?
 Reflecting and Assessing

1. Teacher continuously reflect and assess on their understanding.

• Does this make sense?
• Is this what students are really understanding?
• Is their understanding accurate?
• Are they developmentally ready to understand more?
• Can I organize the different ways students understand into a
developmental hierarchy, from naive to expert understanding?
2. Teacher continuously reflect and assess their instructional methods.
• Is this going to help students learn?
• What is the least I can do to facilitate student's learning?
• Use instructional strategies such as:
• How can the information they learned be used?
• Plan activities where students have to use what they learned to solve
a problem.
• Use literature and media or make up a situation and ask students if
what they learned could be used to understand the situation and how.
3. Students continuously reflect and assess their
understanding.
• Is this making sense to me?
• How can I use what I am learning?
 Critical Thinking
• Critical thinking is a common course in college and university settings today.
Frequently taught as a way to “improve” thinking, the art of critical thinking involves
an approach to thinking, more importantly to learning that embraces (grabs) changing
how one thinks about thinking.
• Critical thinking incorporates how learners develop and apply thought  to understand
how thinking can be improved. Typically, a person is deemed a critical thinker to the
extent that he or she regularly improves their thinking in an intentional manner.
• The basic idea undergirding the study of critical thinking is simple--to determine
strengths and weaknesses in one’s thinking in order to maintain the strengths and
make improvements by targeting the weaknesses.
 Characteristics of a Critical Thinker
• Critical thinkers are those persons who can move beyond “typical” thinking models to
an advanced way of thinking. Critical thinkers produce both more ideas and improved
ideas than poor thinkers (Ruggiero, 2012).
• They become more adept in their thinking by using a variety of probing techniques
which enable them to discover new and often improved ideas.
• More specifically, critical thinkers tend to see the problem from many perspectives, to
consider many different investigative approaches, and to produce many ideas before
choosing a course of action.
• In addition, they are more willing to take intellectual risks, to be adventurous, to
consider unusual ideas, and to use their imaginations while analyzing problems and
issues.
 Critical thinkers typically (Ruggiero, 2012)
• Acknowledge personal limitations.
• See problems as exciting challenges.
• Have understanding as a goal.
• Use evidence to make judgments.
• Are interested in others’ ideas.
• Are skeptical (doubtful) of extreme views.
• Think before acting.
• Avoid emotionalism
• Keep an open mind
• Engage in active listening
 Chart of Problem Solvers
Effective Problem Solvers Ineffective Problem Solvers
Read a problem and decide how to attack Cannot determine where or how to begin.
it.
Bring their knowledge to bear on the Convince themselves they lack sufficient
problem. knowledge.
Solve a problem systematically: simplify, Jump in disorderly jumping from one part
define and break into parts to another as they justify their first
impressions instead of testing them.

Trust their reasoning and experience thus Tend to distrust their reasoning and lack
boosting their confidence. confidence in themselves.
Maintain a critical attitude throughout the Lack a critical attitude and take many
problem solving process. assumptions for granted.
 Higher Order Thinking
• Students lack the capacity to take knowledge acquired in one
setting and apply it appropriately in a different setting. Our
schools and colleges prepare students to be good citizens and
good factory workers.
• Students were expected to sit, listen and do exactly as they are
told. In some respect, this model served schools and colleges
graduates well since they learned to follow direction in ways that
would be valuable to their future employers.
• As economic and technological changes shape the occupational
outlook of today’s students, schools and colleges have begin to
embrace the need to instill (foster) higher order thinking (HOT) to
prepare the 21st century workforce.
• Learning is more important than teaching. Teaching effectiveness
depends not just on what the teacher does, but rather on what the
student does.
• Teaching involves listening as much as talking. It is important that
both teachers and students are involved in active thinking, but most
important is what goes on in the students mind.
• Teaching students how to maximize their thinking potential
is therefore not straight forward. Often in education, we
become so focused on ‘what’ students must learn that we
forget ‘how’ best to ensure they learn education in
classroom can fundamentally affect the nature of thinking
in which students engage in schools and colleges.
• It considers the way in which the students mind respond to
the learning environment created by teachers and peers.
 Basic concept of higher order thinking
• Thinking is a cognitive process. Higher Order Thinking (HOT)
includes critical, logical, reflective, metacognitive and creative
thinking.
• They are activated when individuals encounter unfamiliar
problems, uncertainties, questions or dilemmas.
• Overall, HOT means handling a situation that we have not
encountered before.
Metacognition refers to “thinking about thinking”, metacognition is the
knowledge you have of your own cognitive processes (your thinking). It is
your ability to control your thinking processes through various strategies,
such as organizing, monitoring, and adapting.
 Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Bloom’s Taxonomy is a system of hierarchical models
(arranged in a rank, with some elements at the bottom
and some at the top) used to categorize learning
objectives (purpose) into varying levels of complexity
(Bloom, 1956).
Taxonomy is a biological word because it is most commonly used to
indicate the classification of living things from kingdom to species. In
the same way, Bloom’s Taxonomy classifies learning objectives for
students, from recalling facts to producing new and original work.
• The original version of the taxonomy, the cognitive
domain, is the first and most common hierarchy of
learning objectives (Bloom, 1956).
• It focuses on the acquisition (the learning or developing of
a skill) and application of knowledge and is widely used
in the educational setting.
• Because it is hierarchical, the higher levels of the pyramid
are dependent on having achieved the skills of the lower
levels.
1. Knowledge: recalling information or knowledge is the
foundation of the pyramid and a precondition (requirement) for
all future levels. Example: Name three common types of meat.
2. Comprehension: understanding information. Example:
Summarize the defining characteristics of steak, pork (pig
meat), and chicken.
3. Application: using knowledge in a new but similar form.
Example: Does eating meat help improve longevity?
4. Analysis: taking knowledge apart and exploring relationships.
Example: Compare and contrast the different ways of serving meat
and compare health benefits.
5. Synthesis: using information to create something new. Example:
Convert an "unhealthy" recipe for meat into a "healthy" recipe by
replacing certain ingredients. Argue about the health benefits of
using the ingredients you chose as opposed to the original ones.
6. Evaluation: critically examining relevant and available information
to make judgments. Example: Which kinds of meat are best for
making a healthy meal and why?
Assignment No:4 What is
BLOOM'S TAXONOMY
(The Revised Taxonomy)?
 METACOGNITION
• The discussion up to this point has focused on a general explanation of
how people attend to, encode, store, and retrieve information.
• In a word, we have described some of the major aspects of thinking.
• During the past few decades, researchers have inquired into how much
knowledge individuals have about their own thought processes and what
significance this knowledge has for learning.
• The term that was coined (make) to refer to how much we know of our
own thought processes is metacognition. As we will see, metacognition
plays a very important role in learning.

Metacognition: our own knowledge of how we

think
 The Nature and Importance of Metacognition
• The notion of metacognition was proposed by developmental psychologist John Flavell
(1976) to explain why children of different ages deal with learning tasks in different ways.
• For example, when seven-year-olds are taught how to remember pairs of nouns using both
a less effective technique (simply repeating the words) and a more effective technique
(imagining the members of each pair doing something together), most of these children
will use the less effective technique when given a new set of pairs to learn.
• Most ten-year-olds, however, will use the more effective method (Kail, 1990). The
explanation for this finding is that the seven-year-old has not had enough learning
experiences to recognize that some problem-solving methods are better than others. This
lack of metacognitive knowledge makes true strategic learning impossible for young
children.
• One way to grasp the essence (core) of metacognition is to
contrast it with cognition.
• The term cognition is used to describe the ways in which
information is processed— that is, the ways it is attended to,
recognized, encoded, stored in memory for various lengths of
time, retrieved from storage, and used for one purpose or another.
• Metacognition refers to our knowledge about those operations
and how they might best be used to achieve a learning goal.

Metacognition refers to the knowledge we have about how

we learn. It is a key component of our ability to regulate
our learning processes.
Metacognition is obviously a very broad concept. It covers everything an individual can
know that relates to how information is processed. To get a better grasp of this concept,
you may want to use the three-part classification scheme that Flavell (1987) proposed:
• Knowledge-of-person variables: for example, knowing that you are good at learning
verbal material but poor at learning mathematical material, or knowing that
information not rehearsed or encoded is quickly forgotten.
• Knowledge-of-task variables: for instance, knowing that passages with long sentences
and unfamiliar words are usually harder to understand than passages that are more
simply written.
• Knowledge-of-strategy variables: for example, knowing that one should skim (cream)
through a text passage before reading it to determine its length and difficulty level.
A passage is simply a portion or section of a written work, either fiction or
non-fiction. Some hold that a passage can be as short as a sentence, but most
consist of at least one paragraph and usually several. Passage is an extract from
a text, novel, story or even a paragraph.
Contents
Choosing Instructional Strategies
• Planning for instruction
• Instructional strategies
• Promoting elaboration of classroom
material
PRINCIPLES AND MODELS OF
INSTRUCTION
The process of instruction can be summarized in three essential phases, which are
outlined in Figure 13.1. As you see in the figure, the phases are interconnected and
cyclical. The process begins with planning.
 Planning for Instruction
Effective teachers carefully plan for classroom management, and it is equally
important for instruction. As they plan for instruction, expert teachers make a
series of sequential decisions:
1. Select topics that are important for students to learn.
2. Specify learning objectives related to the topics.
3. Prepare and organize learning activities to help students reach the learning
objectives.
4. Design assessments to measure the amount students have learned.
5. Ensure that instruction and assessments are aligned with the learning
objectives.
 1. Selecting Topics
• “What is important to learn?” is one of the first questions that teachers address when they
plan. They rely on textbooks, curriculum guides, and standards, such as the one Scott used,
to help answer this question.
• Their personal philosophies, students’ interests in the topic, and real-world applications are
other sources.
• Some teachers tacitly avoid making decisions about what is important to study by simply
teaching topics as they appear in their textbooks or curriculum guides.
• This can be a problem, however, because more content appears in textbooks than can be
learned in depth. Teachers’ knowledge of content, such as Scott’s understanding of physical
science, is particularly important in helping decide if a topic is important enough to teach.
 2. Preparing Learning Objectives
• After identifying a topic, teachers specify learning objectives,
what they want students to know or be able to do with respect to
the topic.
• Clear learning objectives are essential because they guide the rest
of teachers’ planning decisions.
• Without clear objectives, teachers don’t know how to design their
learning activities, and they can’t create accurate assessments.
• Learning objectives also guide teachers as they implement their
learning activities. Unsuccessful lessons are often the result of
teachers’ not being clear about their objectives.
• Having “clear” learning objectives doesn’t imply (mean) that
they must be written. It means that teachers are clear in their
thinking about the objectives.
• For example, Scott didn’t have the objectives for his lessons
written on paper. However, he was very clear about what he
wanted his students to understand, as you’ll see when he
implements his lesson.
Learning objective. A statement that specifies what
students should know or be able to do with respect to a
topic or course of study
 Objectives in the Cognitive Domain
• Scott wanted his students to understand the concept of
force, the relationships among forces, and how to apply
Bernoulli’s principle to real-world examples.
• These describe learning objectives in the cognitive domain,
the area of learning that focuses on knowledge and higher
cognitive processes such as applying and analyzing.

Cognitive domain. The area of learning that focuses on

memory and higher cognitive processes such as applying and
analyzing.
 3. Preparing and Organizing Learning Activities
• Once Scott had specified his learning objectives, he then prepared and organized
his learning activities. This process involves four steps:
1. Identify the components of the topic—the concepts, principles, and
relationships among them that students should understand.
2. Sequence the components.
3. Prepare examples that students can use to construct their knowledge of each
component.
4. Order the examples with the most concrete and obvious presented first.
Scott used task analysis to accomplish these steps.
 Task Analysis: A Planning Tool
• Task analysis is the process of breaking content into component parts and
sequencing the parts. While different forms of task analysis exist, a subject matter
analysis is most common in classrooms.
• During task analysis, the teacher first identifies the specific concepts and principles
included in the general topic, then sequences them in a way that will be most
understandable to students, and finally identifies examples to illustrate each.
• Scott knew that his students needed to understand the concept force and the
principle relating forces and movement in order to understand Bernoulli’s principle.
So, he sequenced these topics and prepared examples of each. He then planned to
teach force and movement on Monday and Bernoulli’s principle on Tuesday and
Wednesday.
Subject matter analysis defines the content that needs to be included in an instructional module/learning
environment. Part of subject matter analysis is searching for optimal perspectives and knowledge. Task
analysis. The process of breaking content into component parts and sequencing the parts.
 4. Planning for Assessment
• Because formal assessments, such as quizzes and tests, are given after
students complete a learning activity, you might assume that thinking
about assessment also occurs after learning activities are conducted.
• This isn’t true; effective teachers think about assessment as they plan.
Effective assessments answer the questions, “How can I determine if my
students have reached the learning objectives?” and “How can I use
assessment to facilitate learning?” Assessment decisions are essential
during planning because they help teachers align their instruction.
 5. Instructional Alignment
• Thinking about assessment during planning served an
additional function for Scott. It helped him answer the
question, “How do I know that my instruction and
assessments are logically connected to my objectives?”
• Instructional alignment is the match between learning
objectives, learning activities, and assessments, and it is
essential for promoting learning.

Instructional alignment. The match between learning

objectives, learning activities, and assessments.
 Implementing Instruction: Essential Teaching Skills

• Scott demonstrated a number of essential teaching skills, basic abilities that all
teachers, including those in their first year of teaching, should possess to
maximize student learning.
• Effective teachers demonstrate essential teaching skills regardless of the content
area, grade level, or specific teaching strategy, and these skills reflect teachers’
general pedagogical (educational) knowledge.
• Derived from a long line of research, essential teaching skills are outlined in
Figure 13.6 and discussed in the sections that follow. We describe them
separately for the sake of clarity, but they are interdependent; none is as effective
alone as in combination with the others.
Essential teaching skills. Basic abilities that all
teachers, including those in their first year of teaching,
should possess to maximize student learning.
 1. Attitudes
• Admittedly, attitudes are not skills, but positive teacher attitudes are fundamental
to effective teaching. Teacher characteristics such as personal teaching efficacy,
modeling and enthusiasm, caring, and high expectations increase learner
motivation.
• They also lead to increased student achievement, which makes sense, because
motivation and learning are so strongly linked.
• Scott displayed several positive attitudes during his instruction. He was energetic
and enthusiastic, he demonstrated the respect for students that indicates caring,
and his questioning suggested that he expected all students to participate and
learn. These are attitudes we hope to see in all teachers.
 2. Organization
• The need for organization demonstrates the interdependence of classroom
management and effective teaching. Classroom organization included starting
instruction on time, having materials ready, and developing classroom routines.
These components help prevent management problems, and they also maximize
instructional time, which correlates with student learning.
• Scott was well organized. He began his lesson as soon as the bell finished
ringing, he had sheets of paper, balls, and funnels ready to be handed out, and he
made the transition from his review to the learning activity quickly and smoothly.
This organization was the result of clear thinking and decision making as he
planned his lesson.
 3. Communication
• The link between effective communication, student
achievement, and student satisfaction with instruction is
well documented. Four aspects of effective communication
are important for learning and motivation:
1. Precise language
2. Connected discourse
3. Transition signals
4. Emphasis
1. Precise language omits vague (unclear) terms (e.g., perhaps, maybe, might, and so on, and
usually) from explanations and responses to students’ questions. For example, if you ask,
“What do high-efficacy teachers do that promotes learning?” and your instructor responds,
“Usually, they use their time somewhat better and so on, ”you’re left with a sense of
uncertainty about the idea. In contrast, if the instructor responds, “They believe they can
increase learning, and one of their characteristics is the effective use of time,” you’re
given a clear picture, and this clarity leads to increased achievement.
2. Connected discourse (discussion) refers to instruction that is thematic (confined) and leads
to a point. If the point of the lesson isn’t clear, if it is sequenced inappropriately, or if
incidental information is interjected (add) without indicating how it relates to the topic,
classroom discourse becomes disconnected or scrambled (disorder or disorganized).
Expert teachers keep their lessons on track and minimize time spent on matters unrelated
to the topic.
Precise language. Teacher talk that omits vague terms from
explanations and responses to students’ questions.
Connected discourse. Instruction that is thematic and leads
to a point
3. Transition signals are verbal statements indicating that one idea is ending and
another is beginning. For example, an American government teacher might
signal a transition by saying, “We’ve been talking about the Senate, which is
one house of Congress. Now we’ll turn to the House of Representatives.”
Because not all students are cognitively at the same place, a transition signal
alerts them that the lesson is making a conceptual shift—moving to a new topic
— and allows them to prepare for it.
4. Emphasis consists of verbal and vocal cues that alert students to important
information in a lesson. For example, Scott used a form of vocal emphasis,
raising his voice when he said, “Keep those ideas in mind,” as he moved from
his review to the lesson itself. When teachers say, “Now remember, everyone,
this is very important” or “Listen carefully now,” they’re using verbal emphasis.
Transition signals. Verbal statements indicating that one
idea is ending and another is beginning. Emphasis. Verbal
and vocal cues that alert students to important information
in a lesson.
 4. Focus: Attracting and Maintaining Attention
• Scott provided introductory focus for his students by beginning his lesson with his
demonstrations. They attracted students’ attention and also provided a context for
the rest of the lesson.
• Scott’s demonstrations and drawings also acted as a form of sensory focus, which is
created by stimuli that teachers use to maintain attention during learning activities.
These stimuli can include concrete objects, pictures, models, materials displayed on
the overhead, or even information written on the chalkboard.
• Examples and other representations of content are an effective way to provide
sensory focus. Building lessons around high-quality examples both provides the
information students need to construct their knowledge and also helps maintain
attention.
Sensory focus. The result of stimuli that teachers use
to maintain attention during learning activities.
 5. Feedback
• Feedback is information learners receive about the accuracy or
appropriateness of their verbal responses and written work, and the
importance of feedback is consistently confirmed by research.
• Feedback allows learners to assess the accuracy of their prior knowledge,
gives them information about the validity of their knowledge
constructions, and helps them elaborate on existing understanding.
• It is also important for motivation because it provides students with
information about their increasing competence and helps satisfy their need
to understand how they’re progressing.
• The purpose of feedback is to narrow the gap between
existing understanding and the learning objective.
Effective feedback has four characteristics:
1. It is immediate or given soon after a learner response.
2. It is specific.
3. It provides corrective information for the learner.
4. It has a positive emotional tone.

Feedback. Information learners receive about

the accuracy or appropriateness of their verbal
responses and written work.
 6. Questioning
• One of the most replicated findings in research on teaching suggests that
the most effective teachers actively instruct their students.
• Questioning is the most widely applicable and effective tool teachers have
for promoting this interaction. Skilled questioning is very sophisticated,
but with practice, effort, and experience, teachers can and do become
expert at it.
• To avoid overloading their own working memories, teachers need to
practice questioning strategies to the point of automaticity, which leaves
working memory space available to monitor students’ thinking and assess
learning progress.
The characteristics of effective questioning are
outlined in Figure 13.7 and discussed in the
sections that follow.
1. Questioning frequency refers to the number of questions a teacher asks
during a learning activity, and you saw this illustrated in Scott’s work where
he developed his entire lesson with questioning. Questioning increases
student involvement, which raises achievement, and greater involvement
also increases a learner’s sense of control and autonomy, which are essential
for intrinsic motivation. Effective teachers ask many more questions than do
less effective teachers, and their questions remain focused on their learning
objectives.
2. Equitable Distribution Who usually is called on in classrooms? Most
commonly, they are high achievers or students who are assertive. Equitable
distribution is the process of calling on all the students in a class as equally
as possible (Kerman, 1979).
Questioning frequency. The number of questions a
teacher asks during a learning activity. Equitable
distribution. The process of calling on all the students in
a class as equally as possible.
3. Prompting In attempting to equitably distribute your
questions, you might wonder: What do I do when the
student I call on doesn’t answer or answers incorrectly?
• One answer is prompting, an additional question or
statement teachers use to elicit an appropriate student
response after a student fails to answer correctly.
• Its value to both learning and motivation is well
documented.
Prompting. An additional question or
statement teachers use to elicit an
appropriate student response after a student
fails to answer correctly.
4. Wait-Time For questions to be effective, teachers need to give students time to
think. After asking a question, effective teachers wait a few seconds before
selecting an individual to answer.
• These few seconds alert all students that they may be called on. After calling on a
student, teachers then wait a few more seconds to give the student time to think.
• This period of silence, both before and after calling on a student, is called wait-time,
and in most classrooms, it is too short, often less than 1 second.
• A more descriptive label for wait-time might be “think-time,” because waiting gives
all students—both the one called on and others in the class—time to think.
Increasing wait time, ideally to about 3 to 5 seconds, communicates that all students
are expected to answer, results in longer and better answers, and contributes to a
positive classroom climate.
Wait-time. The period of silence that
occurs both before and after calling on
a student
 7. Review and Closure
• Review is a summary that helps students link what they
have already learned to what will follow in the next
learning activity.
• It can occur at any point in a lesson, although it is most
common at the beginning and end.
• Beginning reviews help students activate the prior
knowledge needed to understand the content of the current
lesson. Review. A summary that helps students
link what they have already learned to
what will follow in the next learning
activity
• Closure is a form of review occurring at the end of a lesson. The
purpose of closure is to help students organize what they’ve learned
into a meaningful schema; it pulls the different aspects of the topic
together and signals the end of a lesson.
• When students are involved in higher-level learning, an effective
form of closure is to have them identify additional examples of a
concept, or apply a principle, generalization, or rule to a new
situation.
• When teaching problem solving, summarizing the thinking involved
in solving the problem can be another effective form of closure.

Closure. A form of review occurring at

the end of a lesson
 Models of Instruction
• Models of instruction are prescriptive approaches to
teaching designed to help students acquire a deep
understanding of specific forms of knowledge.
• They are grounded in learning theory, supported by
research, and they include sequential steps designed
to help students reach specified learning objectives.
• Research indicates that no single instructional model is most
effective for all students or for helping students reach all
learning objectives.
• In this section we examine four of the more widely used
models:
1. Direct instruction
2. Lecture discussion
3. Guided discovery
4. Cooperative learning
Models of instruction. Prescriptive approaches to
teaching designed to help students acquire a deep
understanding of specific forms of knowledge.
 1. Direct Instruction
• Direct instruction is an instructional model designed to teach well
defined knowledge and skills needed for later learning.
• Examples of these skills include young students’ using basic
operations to solve math problems, students’ using grammar and
punctuation in writing, and chemistry students’ balancing
equations.
• Direct instruction is useful when skills include specific steps, and it
is particularly effective in working with low achievers and students
with exceptionalities.
Direct instruction. An instructional model
designed to teach well-defined knowledge and
skills needed for later learning.
 2. Lecture Discussion
• Lecture-discussion is an instructional model designed to help students
acquire organized bodies of knowledge. Organized bodies of knowledge
are topics that connect facts, concepts, and principles, and make the
relationships among them explicit.
• For example, students are acquiring organized bodies of knowledge when
they engage in the following: examine relationships among plot,
character, and symbolism in a novel.
• Lecture-discussions are modifications of traditional lectures, lecturing is
the most common teaching method.
Lecture-discussion. An instructional model designed to help students
acquire organized bodies of knowledge. Organized bodies of
knowledge. Topics that connect facts, concepts, and principles, and
make the relationships among them explicit.
• The Lecture Discussion model is a great way to break the
boring mold of passive learning.
• In this model, students are active learners as they discuss
and think critically about large bodies of knowledge.  
• However, students are still ensured correct information,
since the teacher lectures before each discussion question.
• The model takes the focus away from the teacher and
places it with the students.
 3. Guided Discovery
• Guided discovery is a model of instruction that involves
teachers’ scaffolding students’ constructions of concepts
and the relationships among them.
• When using the model, a teacher identifies learning
objectives, arranges information so that patterns can be
found, and guides students to the objectives.
• Guided discovery is sometimes misunderstood, leaving
teachers with the belief that students should be essentially
on their own to “discover” the ideas being taught.
• This isn’t true. Guided discovery (and other forms of
learner-centered instruction, e.g., inquiry and problem-
based learning) is highly scaffolded, and the teacher plays
an essential role in guiding the students’ learning progress.
Learner-centered instruction empowers learners to participate actively in the learning
process. Unlike more traditional teacher-centered approaches which focus on the
instructor, this model places the learner at the center of the learning process. The role of
the instructor goes beyond transmitting knowledge, as they take on the responsibility of
facilitating active learning experiences for the learners.
• Unstructured discovery consists of learning activities in
which students receive limited scaffolding.
• Research indicates that giving students minimal guidance
during learning activities often leaves students frustrated,
allows them to form misconceptions, and wastes time.
• As a result, unstructured discovery is rarely seen in
today’s classrooms, except in student projects and
investigations.
• When using guided discovery, teachers spend less
time explaining and more time asking questions, so
students have more opportunities to share thinking
and place their developing understanding into words.
• Also, because guided discovery promotes high levels
of student involvement, it also tends to increase
students’ intrinsic interest in the topics they study.
Guided discovery. A model of instruction that
involves teachers’ scaffolding students’
construction of concepts and the relationships
among them.
 4. Cooperative Learning
• Cooperative learning is a set of instructional models in
which students work in mixed-ability groups to reach
specific learning and social interaction objectives.
• Cooperative learning is grounded in Vygotsky’s (1978,
1986) work, with its emphasis on social interaction as a
mechanism for promoting cognitive development.
• Research suggests that groups of learners co-construct more
powerful understanding than individuals do alone.
• Cooperative learning can also increase motivation. When
implemented effectively, it involves all students, which can be
difficult in large groups.
• Less confident students may have few chances to participate in
whole-class discussions, so they often drift off.

Cooperative learning. A set of instructional

models in which students work in mixed-ability
groups to reach specific learning and social
interaction objectives.
Contents
Promoting learning through students
interactions
• Benefits of student interaction
• Promoting elaboration through student
interaction
• Creating a community of learners
PROMOTING LEARNING
THROUGH STUDENTS
INTERACTIONS
 Interaction
• Interaction is considered as an integral part in the learning process and
it is important for both students and teachers as it make learning more
effective as well as productive as Evans (2020) said "Interaction is
what is making this learning visible and, therefore, effective".
• Interaction in the learning process is divided into three main types and
these types are: among the students interaction, students-teachers
interaction, content-students interaction.
• The first type is among students interaction is the interaction that happens
between the students who take a course. This interaction can be between
individuals, groups, whole class students.
• This type of interaction focuses on how students communicate with each
other and how this communication is effective.
• The learning environment that allows students to communicate and interact
with each other is considered an affective environment as it helps them to
construct their knowledge and it promotes collaborative and cooperative
work so they share their knowledge with each other, help each other to
overcome learning difficulties, and help each other in understanding the
materials.
• The second type is students and teachers interaction. Students-teacher interaction
in the classroom plays a crucial part in the learning process as it makes learning
affective.
• Krause, Bochner and Duchesne (2006) defined interaction between students and
teachers as a shared acceptance, understanding, intimacy, trust, affection, and so
on.
• A good and positive relationship between students and teachers promotes the
academic success in students. Actually, the students who have a good relationship
with their teachers perform much better than the students who did not.
• Teachers-students interaction creates a good atmosphere and good relationships
in the classroom and contributes to the learning effectiveness.
• The last type is the interaction between the student and the content of the
course. This type of interaction is equally important to the other types as
Moore (1989) said that this type of interaction is a defining aspect in the
leaning process.
• Varisada (2000) stated that "student- content interaction is fundamental
type of interaction that the whole education is based on".
• The success of the education process and learning depends profoundly on
the positive students-content interaction.
• Students who do not have a positive interaction with the content and the
course material do not success in their education because students and
content are essential elements in the learning process
 Classroom Interaction
• Interaction between teacher and students and students and students are needed
in the classroom activities taking communicative approach. It will maintain
communication to happen in the classroom.
• It will help the teaching and learning process run smoothly. When the teacher
and students, and students and students’ interactions happen, the instruction
will reach the target. The gap between teacher and students in the classroom
will disappear.
• So, the teaching and learning process will be balanced between the teacher and
the students. Not only the teacher who will be active in communication but the
students will also participate in the teaching and learning process.
• Ellis (1990) stated that interaction is meaning-focused and
carried out to facilitate the exchange of information and
prevent communication breakdowns.
• Moreover, Brown (2015) stated that interaction is the basis
of L2 learning, through which learners are engaged both in
enhancing their own communicative abilities and in
socially, constructing their identities through collaboration
and negotiation.
L2 learning: A second language (L2) is
any language learned after the first
language or mother tongue (L1)
• Teaching is interactive act, whereas interaction is the communication
among teacher and students which run continuously as responsive acts.
Tickoo (2009) stated that in classroom interaction and classroom
activities, a productive class hour can be described as follows:
1. The teacher interacts with the whole class.
2. The teacher interacts with a group, a pair or an individual pupil.
3. Pupils interact with each other: in groups, in pairs, as individuals or as a
class.
4. Pupils work with materials or aids and attempt the task once again
individually, in groups and so on.
• Interaction is the center of communication. Among learners,
learner and teacher, teacher and learner need to cooperate and
interact.
• In short, communication is derived from interaction since in
communication there must be interaction between people who
have something to share (Rivers, 1987)
• At least five factors should take in to account in making
classroom interaction interactive.
1. Reduce the central position of the teacher
2. Appreciate the uniqueness of individuals
3. Provide chances for students to express themselves in
meaningful ways
4. Give opportunities for students to negotiate meaning with
each other and the teacher
5. Give students choices as to what they want to say, to
whom they want to say it, and how they want to say it
STRATEGIES OF PROMOTING
CLASSROOM INTERACTION
• Jia (2013) found that there are five strategies of promoting classroom
interaction. They are as follows:
A. Improving Questioning Strategies: The attention of the teacher to the
learners can activate the teacher-learner interaction. The teacher
should ask the question that can be answered by the learners then the
teacher adapt his questions to the levels or abilities of the learners.
B. Attending to Learners’ Subject Level: The activities should offer
different subject level to different learners. The used material reflects
the unique needs of those learners at the level they have reached.
C. Implementing Cooperative Learning: Working
cooperatively can helps development of learner’s
social skills. Cooperative learning means that every
member of the group is included and differences
among group member are resolved by the group
members.
D. Building Positive Teacher-Learner Rapport (relation):
Mutual respect between teacher and learners is essential part
of education. The dynamic qualities of classroom learning
need the responsible from both of teacher and learner.
E. Reducing Classroom Anxiety: The teacher helps the
learners to boost their self-esteem and self-confidence and
create comfortable and non-threating environment.
Contents
Classroom Management
• Authoritarian, permissive and
authoritative approaches
• Preventing problems in classroom
management
• Techniques for dealing with behavioral
problems
AUTHORITARIAN, PERMISSIVE,
AND AUTHORITATIVE
APPROACHES TO CLASSROOM
MANAGEMENT
• On age-level characteristics that Diana Baumrind (1971, 1991)
found that parents tend to exhibit one of four styles in managing the
behavior of their children: authoritarian, permissive, authoritative,
or rejecting-neglecting.
• The first three of these styles have been applied to a teacher’s
actions in the classroom.
• We will quickly review Baumrind’s categories and then take a brief
look at how teachers’ approaches to management can be
characterized by these styles, too.
• Authoritarian parents establish rules for their children’s behavior
and expect them to be blindly obeyed. Explanations of the reason
a particular rule is necessary are almost never given. Instead,
rewards and punishments are given for following or not
following rules.
• Permissive parents represent the other extreme. They impose few
controls. They allow their children to make many basic decisions
(such as what to eat, what to wear, when to go to bed) and
provide advice or assistance only when asked.
• Authoritative parents provide rules but discuss the reasons
for them, teach their children how to meet them, and reward
children for exhibiting self-control.
• Authoritative parents also cede (hand over) more
responsibility for self-governance to their children as the
children demonstrate increased self-regulation skills.
• This style, more so than the other two, leads to children’s
internalizing the parents’ norms and maintaining intrinsic
motivation for following them in the future.
• You can probably see the parallel between Baumrind’s work and
classroom management. Teachers who adopt an authoritarian style
are likely to have student compliance rather than autonomy as their
main goal (“Do what I say because I say so”) and make heavy use
of rewards and punishments to produce that compliance.
• Teachers who adopt a permissive style are likely to rely heavily on
students’ identifying with and respecting them as their main
approach to classroom management (“Do what I say because you
like me and respect my judgment”).
• Teachers who adopt an authoritative style are likely to want their students
to learn to eventually regulate their own behavior.
• By explaining the rationale for classroom rules and adjusting those rules
as students demonstrate the ability to govern themselves appropriately,
authoritative teachers hope to convince students that adopting the
teacher’s norms for classroom behavior as their own will lead to the
achievement of valued academic goals (“Do what I say because doing so
will help you learn more”).
• The students of authoritative teachers better understand the need for
classroom rules and tend to operate within them most of the time.

Authoritative approach to classroom management

superior to permissive and authoritarian
approaches
PREVENTING PROBLEMS:
TECHNIQUES OF
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
• Kounin supervised a series of observational and
experimental studies of student reactions to
techniques of teacher control.
• In analyzing the results of these various studies, he
came to the conclusion that the following classroom
management techniques appear to be most effective.
 Techniques
1. Show your students that you are “with it.” Kounin coined the term
withitness to emphasize that teachers who prove to their students that
they know what is going on in a classroom usually have fewer behavior
problems than teachers who appear to be unaware of incipient (initial)
disruptions.
• An expert at classroom management will nip (bite) trouble in the bud by
commenting on potentially disruptive behavior before it gains momentum.
An ineffective teacher may not notice such behavior until it begins to
spread and then perhaps hopes that it will simply go away.
• At first glance Kounin’s suggestion that you show that you are with it
might seem to be in conflict with operant conditioning’s prediction that
nonreinforced behavior will disappear.
• If the teacher’s reaction is the only source of reinforcement in a
classroom, ignoring behavior may cause it to disappear. In many cases,
however, a misbehaving student gets reinforced by the reactions of
classmates.
• Therefore, ignoring behavior is much less likely to lead to extinction
(disappearance) of a response in a classroom than in controlled
experimental situations.

Teachers who show they are “with it” head off

discipline problems
2. Learn to cope with overlapping situations. When he analyzed videotapes of
actual classroom interactions, Kounin found that some teachers seemed to
have one-track minds. They were inclined (ready) to deal with only one
thing at a time, and this way of proceeding caused frequent interruptions in
classroom routine.
• One primary grade teacher whom Kounin observed, for example, was
working with a reading group when she noticed two boys on the other side of
the room poking each other. She abruptly got up, walked over to the boys,
berated them at length, and then returned to the reading group. By the time
she returned, however, the children in the reading group had become bored
and listless and were tempted to engage in mischief (misbehavior) of their
own.
• Kounin concluded that withitness and skill in handling
overlapping activities seemed to be related. An expert
classroom manager who is talking to children in a reading
group, for example, might notice two boys at the far side of
the room who are beginning to scuffle (fight) with each other.
• Such a teacher might in midsentence tell the boys to stop and
make the point so adroitly (expertly) that the attention of the
children in the reading group does not waver.

Being able to handle overlapping activities

helps maintain classroom control
3. Strive to maintain smoothness and momentum in class activities.
This point is related to the previous one. Kounin found that some
teachers caused problems for themselves by constantly
interrupting activities without thinking about what they were
doing.
• Some teachers whose activities were recorded on videotape failed
to maintain the thrust of a lesson because they seemed unaware of
the rhythm of student behavior (that is, they did not take into
account the degree of student inattention and restlessness but
instead moved ahead in an almost mechanical way).
• Others flip-flopped from one activity to another. Still others would
interrupt one activity (for example, a reading lesson) to comment on an
unrelated aspect of classroom functioning (“Someone left a lunch bag
on the floor”).
• There were also some who wasted time dwelling (place) on a trivial
(simple) incident (making a big fuss because a boy lost his pencil).
• And a few teachers delivered individual, instead of group, instruction
(“All right, Charlie, you go to the board. Fine. Now, Rebecca, you go
to the board”). All of these types of teacher behavior tended to
interfere with the flow of learning activities.

Teachers who continually interrupt activities

have discipline problems
4. Try to keep the whole class involved, even when you are dealing with
individual students. Kounin found that some well-meaning teachers
had fallen into a pattern of calling on students in a predictable order
and in such a way that the rest of the class served as a passive
audience.
• Unless you stop to think about what you are doing during group
recitation periods, you might easily fall into the same trap.
• If you do, the “audience” is almost certain to become bored and may
be tempted (have an urge to do something) to engage in troublemaking
activities just to keep occupied.

Keeping entire class involved and alert

minimizes misbehavior
5. Introduce variety and be enthusiastic, particularly with younger students. After
viewing videotapes of different teachers, Kounin and his associates concluded
that some teachers seemed to fall into a deadly routine much more readily than
others. They followed the same procedure day after day and responded with the
same, almost reflexive (involuntary or automatic) comments.
• At the other end of the scale were teachers who introduced variety, responded
with enthusiasm and interest, and moved quickly to new activities when they
sensed that students either had mastered or were satiated by a particular lesson.
• It seems logical to assume that students will be less inclined to sleep, daydream,
or engage in disruptive activities if they are exposed to an enthusiastic teacher
who varies the pace and type of classroom activities.
6. Be aware of the ripple effect. When criticizing student behavior, be clear
and firm, focus on behavior rather than on personalities, and try to avoid
angry outbursts.
• If you take into account the suggestions just made, you may be able to
reduce the amount of student misbehavior in your classes. Even so, some
behavior problems are certain to occur.
• When you deal with these, you can benefit from Kounin’s research on the
ripple effect. On the basis of observations, questionnaires, and
experimental evidence, he concluded that “innocent” students in a class are
more likely to be positively impressed by the way the teacher handles a
misbehavior.
Identify misbehavers; firmly specify constructive
behavior. Ripple effect: group response to a
reprimand (scold) directed at an individual
TECHNIQUES FOR DEALING
WITH BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
• If you follow the procedures just discussed, you should be able to
establish a well-managed classroom. Even if you do everything possible
to prevent problems from developing, however, you are still likely to have
to deal with the relatively minor disruptions of an individual student or
two.
• This section contains some practical suggestions for keeping individual
students more task-oriented. More broad-based interventions that attempt
to reduce the frequency of more serious problems, such as physical and
verbal violence between students, and that involve entire classrooms or
the entire school, are discussed in a later section.
 Influence Techniques
• In Mental Hygiene in Teaching (1959), Fritz Redl and William Wattenberg
describe a list of behavior management interventions called influence techniques.
This list was modified by James Walker, Thomas Shea, and Anne Bauer in
Behavior Management: A Practical Approach for Educators (2007).
• The value of these techniques is that they appeal to self-control and imply trust
and confidence on the part of the teacher. However, they may become ineffective
if they are used too often, and that is why we describe so many different
techniques.
• The larger your repertoire (collection) is, the less frequently you will have to
repeat your various gambits and ploys.
 1. Planned Ignoring
• You might be able to extinguish (blow out) inappropriate attention-
seeking behaviors by merely ignoring them. Such behaviors include
finger snapping, body movements, book dropping, hand waving,
and whistling.
• If you plan to use the planned-ignoring technique, make sure the
student is aware that he is engaging in the inappropriate behavior.
This technique should not be used if the behavior in question is
interfering with other students’ efforts.
• Example: Carl has recently gotten into the habit of tapping his
pencil on his desk as he works on an assignment as a way to engage
you in a conversation that is unrelated to the work. The next several
times Carl does this, do not look at him or comment on his
behavior.
• Signals: In some cases, a subtle (narrow) signal can put an end to
budding misbehavior. The signal, if successful, will stimulate the
student to control herself. (Note, however, that this technique
should not be used too often and that it is effective only in the early
stages of misbehavior.)
• Examples:
1. Clear your throat.
2. Stare at the offender.
3. Stop what you are saying in midsentence and stare.
4. Shake your head (to indicate no).
5. Say, “Someone is making it hard for the rest of us to
concentrate” (or the equivalent).
 2. Proximity and Touch Control
• Place yourself close to the misbehaving student. This
makes a signal a bit more apparent.
• Examples
1. Walk over and stand near the student.
2. With an elementary grade student, it sometimes helps
if you place a gentle hand on a shoulder or arm.
 3. Interest Boosting
• If the student seems to be losing interest in a lesson or assignment, pay
some additional attention to the student and the student’s work.
• Example
• Ask the student a question, preferably related to what is being
discussed. (Questions such as, “Ariel, are you paying attention?” or
“Don’t you agree, Ariel?” Genuine questions are preferable.)
• Go over and examine some work the student is doing. It often helps if
you point out something good about it and urge continued effort.
 4. Humor
• Humor is an excellent all-around influence technique, especially in
tense situations. However, remember that it should be good-humored
humor—gentle and benign rather than derisive. Avoid irony and
sarcasm (taunt).
• Example: “Shawn, for goodness sake, let that poor pencil sharpener
alone. I heard it groan (make a deep inarticulate sound in response to
pain or despair) when you used it just now.” Perhaps you have heard
someone say, “We’re not laughing at you; we’re laughing with you.”
 5. Helping over Hurdles
• Some misbehavior undoubtedly occurs because students do not
understand what they are to do or lack the ability to carry out an
assignment.
• Examples
1. Try to make sure your students know what they are supposed to do.
2. Arrange for students to have something to do at appropriate levels of
difficulty.
3. Have a variety of activities available.
 6. Program Restructuring
• At the beginning of this book, we noted that teaching is an
art because lessons do not always proceed as planned and
must occasionally be changed in midstream.
• The essence of this program restructuring technique is to
recognize when a lesson or activity is going poorly and to
try something else.
• Examples
1. “Well, class, I can see that many of you are bored with this discussion
of the pros and cons of congressional (relating to a formal meeting)
term limits. Let’s turn it into a class debate instead, with the winning
team getting 50 points toward its final grade.”
2. “I had hoped to complete this math unit before the Christmas break,
but I can see that most of you are too excited to give it your best
effort. Since today is the last day before the break, I’ll postpone the
lesson until school resumes in January. Let’s do an art project
instead.”
 7. Antiseptic Bouncing
• Sometimes a student will get carried away by restlessness,
uncontrollable giggling, or the like. If you feel that this is non-
malicious (e.g. probing the security of systems without damaging
any data) behavior and due simply to lack of self-control, ask the
student to leave the room.
• (You may have recognized that antiseptic bouncing is virtually
identical to the time-out procedure described by behavior
modification enthusiasts.)
• Examples
1. “Nancy, please go down to the principal’s office and
sit on that bench outside the door until you feel you
have yourself under control.”
2. Some high schools have “quiet rooms”: supervised
study halls that take extra students any time during a
period, no questions asked.
 8. Physical Restraint
• Students who lose control of themselves to the point of endangering other
members of the class may have to be physically restrained (controlled).
Such restraint should be protective, not punitive; that is, don’t shake or hit.
• This technique is most effective with younger children; such control is
usually not appropriate at the secondary level.
• Example: If a boy completely loses his temper and starts to hit another
child, lead him gently but firmly away from the other students, or sit him in
a chair, and keep a restraining hand on his shoulder.
 9. Direct Appeals
• When appropriate, point out the connection between conduct and
its consequences. This technique is most effective if done concisely
(summary) and infrequently.
• Examples: “We have a rule that there is to be no running in the
halls. Scott forgot the rule, and now he’s down in the nurse’s office
having his bloody nose taken care of. It’s too bad Mr. Harris opened
his door just as Scott went by. If Scott had been walking, he would
have been able to stop in time.”
 10. Criticism and Encouragement
• On those occasions when it is necessary to criticize a particular
student, do so in private if possible. When public criticism is the
only possibility, do your best to avoid humiliating the student.
• Public humiliation may cause the child to resent (grudge) you or to
hate school, to counterattack, or to withdraw. Because of the ripple
effect, it may also have a negative impact on innocent students
(although nonhumiliating public criticism has the advantage of
setting an example for other students).
• One way to minimize the negative after-effects of criticism is
to tack on some encouragement in the form of a suggestion as
to how the backsliding (weaken) can be replaced by more
positive behavior.
• Examples: If a student doesn’t take subtle hints (such as
stares), you might say, “LeVar, you’re disturbing the class. We
all need to concentrate on this.” It sometimes adds punch if
you make this remark while you are writing on the board or
helping some other student.
Give criticism privately; then offer
encouragement