Acts of Teaching 8: Cooperative Learning, Discovery Learning, Constructivism, and Direct

Instruction

Cooperative learning: Teaching learners to like and Care for One Another
Cooperative learning (formerly called student-team learning) is a word that describes instructional
procedures that involves learner to work together in small groups and rewarded for their accomplishments
The purpose of cooperative learning is to encourage learners to work together for both the individual
good and for the common/general good.
Characteristic of Cooperative Learning:
The way the groups or teams are made up
The kinds of tasks they do
The group's' rules of behavior
Their motivation and reward systems.
Discovery learning: Figuring Things Out for Yourself
Discovery or inquiry learning is a learning that involves students to find out or figure out something for
themselves.
Purposes and Characteristics of Discovery Learning
Teacher want learners to know how to think and find things out for themselves
Teacher wants learners to see for themselves how knowledge is obtained
Teachers want learners to use their higher-order thinking skills
Good Discovery Learning
Preparation: Decide specifically what students should know.
Delivery: How essential it is to obtain and maintain students' attention.
Closure: Learners need to draw conclusions.
Constructivist Teaching and learning: Problem Solving under Teacher Guidance
Constructivism is a way of teaching and learning that intends to improve and maximize student
understanding. Like discovery learning, it is situated within meaningful learning in the cognitive school
of thought.
Purposes and Characteristics of Constructivism:
Active Learning
Communities of learners
Authentic and situated
Bridging
Good Constructivist Teaching and Learning
Preparation: by identifying a relevant challenge for your learners - something that they should understand.
Delivery: Given the above CLD plan, its implementation in the lesson plan is fairly straightforward.
Closure: Extent to which learners have constructed improved, more thoughtful understandings.
Direct Instruction: Teaching in the Most Efficient and Effective Way
Direct Instruction (DI) is a one of the variations of teacher presentations which is teacher-dominated and
directed.
The purpose of direct instruction is to help students learn basic knowledge such as reading, mathematics,
and so forth, in the most efficient, straightforward way. The key characteristics of this way of teaching are
teachers dominance, task oriented, positive expectations, student cooperation and accountability,
nonnegative affect, and established structure.