Educational Psychology

Instruction & Planning

A. Instructional planning
Instructional planning: developing a
systematic, organised strategy for
planning lessons
(1) writing out lesson plans
(2) mandated by school
(3) instructional supervisors may refer to
such plans
(4) substitute teachers can follow plans
 B. Time frames and planning
(1) set instructional goals
(2) plan activities
(3) set priorities
(4) make time estimates
(5) create schedules
(6) be flexible
(7) different time frames
(8) blending of planning/time schedules into the
curriculum: planning depends very much on
what the curriculum is all about; e.g., in a
target oriented curriculum planning spins
around themes of study
C. Teacher-centered lesson planning

(1) creating behavioural objectives student's behaviour

 student’s behavior
 performance criteria

(2) task analysis: breaking a task for students into component

parts
• ---skills or concepts students need to have to learn the task
• skills or concepts students need to have to learn the task
(e.g., involvement of summation in multiplication problems)
 required materials
 components of task (e.g., reading comprehension:
being able to read aloud the individual words, able to
understand each word, check up new words in a
dictionary, understand the connections amongst the
paragraphs, able to arrive at the gist of the passage,
able to develop a text model)
C. Teacher-centered lesson planning

(3) instructional taxonomies

Knowledge

Comprehension

Cognitive Application

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation
C. Teacher-centered lesson planning

(3) instructional taxonomies

Receiving

Responding
Affective
Valuing

Organising
Valuing
Characterising
C. Teacher-centered lesson planning

(3) instructional taxonomies

reflex movements

basic fundamentals

psychomotor perceptual abilities

physical abilities

skilled movement

nondiscussive
 D. Direct Instruction

Direct instruction: structured, teacher-centered approach

characterised by teacher direction and control, high
teacher's expectation for students' progress,
maximizing students' time on academic tasks, and
efforts by teacher to keep affect to a minimum
(1) focus on academic activities

(2) non-academically oriented teacher-student interaction

deemphasised

(3) high teacher expectation

(4) maximising student learning time

(5) minimising negative affect

E. Teacher-centered
instructional strategies
(1) orienting
 establish a framework for the lesson
 orient students toward materials
 advance organiser
• (i) expository: provide students with new
knowledge that will orient them to the upcoming
lesson; provide an overall outline; discuss the
main themes and how they are related to the
study of certain topics
• (ii) comparative: introduce new material by
connecting it with what the students already know
E. Teacher-centered
instructional strategies

(2) lecturing, explaining, and

demonstrating

(3) questioning and discussing: important

to respond to individual students'
learning needs yet maintaining group
interest and attention; allowing students
to contribute yet maintaining the lesson
focus
E. Teacher-centered
instructional strategies
(4) mastery learning: learning one
concept or topic thoroughly before
moving onto a more difficult one
 specify the learning task
 break the course into learning units
 use of corrective feedback
 use of end-of-course or end-of-unit
tests
 effective in remedial reading
E. Teacher-centered
instructional strategies
(5) seatwork: all or majority of students
working independently at their seats
 "learning centres"

 use of worksheets

 monitor students' behaviour and

comprehension
E. Teacher-centered
instructional strategies
(6) homework
 Asian students spend more time on
homework than American students
 Asian students have a more positive attitude
toward homework than American students
 Asian parents are far more likely to help their
children with homework than American
parents
 Cooper and colleagues (1998): effect of
homework trivial or negative negatively
correlated with students' attitudes in lower
primary grades, but positively correlated with
achievement in upper primary grades
E. Teacher-centered
instructional strategies
(6) homework
 depending on the types of homework: at
primary grades homework should foster a
love for learning and a sense of
responsibility
 homework becomes beneficial in middle
school
 more effective for math, reading, and
language than science and social studies
 one or two hours of homework per night
seems to be optimal
F. Learner-centered principles
• (1) nature of learning: most effective when learning is an
intentional process of meaning construction
• (2) goals of learning: meaningful and coherent
representations of knowledge; learning should be goal
oriented
• (3) knowledge construction: new information should be linked
to existing knowledge in meaningful ways
• (4) strategic thinking: use of a variety of strategies to achieve
learning and performance goals; transfer of learning to new
situations
• (5) thinking about thinking: selecting and monitoring mental
operations facilitate creative and critical thinking
• (6) context of learning: such as culture, technology, and
instructional practices
• (7) motivational and emotional influences on learning:
learning motivation affected by emotions, beliefs, interests,
goals, and habits of thinking
F. Learner-centered principles
• (8) intrinsic motivation to learning: stimulated by tasks of optimal
novelty and difficulty, tasks that are relevant to personal
interests, and when learners are provided personal choice and
control
• (9) effects of motivation on effort
• (10) developmental influences on learning: different
opportunities and constraints for learning at different stages;
learning most effective when these are all taken into account
• (11) social influences on learning: interactions, communications
with others
• (12) individual differences in learning
• (13) learning and diversity: most effective when learners'
differences in cultural, linguistic, and social backgrounds are
taken into account
• (14) standards and assessments: setting appropriately high and
challenging standards and assessing the learner and the
learning process are integral parts of the learning process
G. Learner-centered
instructional strategies

• (1) problem-based learning

• real-life problem solving
• problems to be solved thru small group
discussion
• (2) essential questions: questions that
reflect the heart of the curriculum; the
most important things that you believe
your students should explore and learn
• these questions should perplex student
G. Learner-centered
instructional strategies
(3) discovery learning: students
construct an understanding on
their own
 stimulating activities
 students' natural curiosity
 teacher answers student-generated
questions
 especially effective in science classes
 guided discovery learning
H. Integrating the curriculum
Integrating the curriculum: connecting and integrating information
across different or within same subject areas; ideas are all
linked rather than being isolated islands of material
(1) connected model: within; content connected topic to topic;
concept to concept; one year's work to the next; relate ideas
explicitly; e.g., relates the concept of fractions to decimals,
then money and grades, etc.
(2) nested model: within; teacher targets multiple skills; a social
skill, a thinking skill, and a content-specific skill; e.g., learning
illusion in perception: seeking consensus (social), exploring
and hypothesising possible reasons (thinking), then
knowledge in sensation and perception (content-specific)
(3) sequenced model: between; topics or units are rearranged and
sequenced to coincide with one another; e.g., English
literature and history classes on the same historical periods
(4) shared model: between; shared planning and teaching take
place in two disciplines in which overlapping concepts or
ideas emerge as organising elements; e.g., data collection,
charting, and graphing as shared concepts
H. Integrating the curriculum
(con’t)
(5) webbed model: between; a fertile theme is
webbed to curriculum contents; subjects use
the theme to sift out appropriate concepts,
topics and ideas; e.g., change in ideology: how
does it impact on literary works and music
compositions?
(6) threaded model: between; threads thinking
skills, social skills, multiple intelligences and
study skills thru the disciplines; e.g., thread the
idea of "prediction" thru reading, math, social
science, and science
(7) integrated: between; match subjects for
overlaps in topics and concepts with some team
teaching; e.g., patterning models in math,
science, social studies, fine arts, language
arts.....
 An Exemplar Preschool
Curriculum from New Zealand
 “'The term "curriculum" is used in this document to
describe the sum total of the
experiences, activities, and events, whether direct or indirect,
which occur within an environment designed to
foster children's learning and development”

Early Childhood Curriculum (1996)

Ministry of Education, New Zealand
A. Principles

(1) Empowerment:
- the curriculum empowers the child to learn and grow

(2) Holistic development:

- the curriculum reflects the holistic way children learn and grow

(3) Family and community:

- the wider world of family and community is an integral part of
the curriculum

(4) Relationships:
- children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships
with people, places, and things
B. Strands
(1) Well-being: the health and well-being of the child are protected and nurtured
goal 1:
children experience an environment
where their health is promoted
goal 2:
children experience an environment
where their emotional well-being is
nurtured
goal 3:
children experience an environment
where they are kept safe from harm
learning outcome
example:
positive attitudes towards
eating, sleeping, and toileting
example:
trust that their emotional
needs will be responded to
example:
respect for rules about
harming others and the
environment and an
understanding of the reasons
for such rules
learning experience
example:
young children are assisted
in ways that do not
engender shame or
embarrassment
example:
adults help young children
to understand and accept
necessary limits, without
anxiety or fear
example:
rules about harming others
and the environment are
natural topics of
conversation and
negotiation with adults, so
that children become aware
of them
(2) Belonging: children and their families feel a sense of belonging
learning outcome learning experience
goal 1: example: example:
connecting links with the family knowledge about the role of the finding out places of
and the wider world are wider world of work, such as importance in the community
affirmed and extended the hospital, the supermarket,
or the fire service

goal 2: example: example:

experiencing an environment an ability to take on different to take opportunities for fixing,
where they know that they have roles in different contexts cleaning, gardening, and caring
a place for the environment and the
people in it

goal 3: example: example:

experiencing an environment enjoyment of interest in a talking about events that are
where they feel comfortable moderate degree of change out of the ordinary, such as
with the routines, customs, and trips, and being comfortable
regular events with them

goal 4: example: example:

experiencing an environment ability to disagree and state a opportunities to discuss own
where they know the limits and conflicting opinion assertively feelings and feelings of others
boundaries of acceptable and appropriately
behaviour
(3) Contribution: opportunities for learning are equitable and each child's
contribution is valued
goal 1:
experiencing an environment
where there are equitable
opportunities for learning
irrespective of gender, ability,
age, ethnicity, or background
goal 2:
experiencing an environment
where they are affirmed as
individuals
goal 3:
experiencing an environment
where they are encouraged to
learn with and alongside
others
learning outcome
example:
respect of children who are
different from themselves and
ease of interaction with them
example:
awareness of their own
strengths, and confidence that
these are recognised and
valued
example:
appreciation of the ways in
which they can make
contributions to groups and to
group well-being
learning experience
example:
children see negative prejudice
and attitudes being challenged
by adults
example:
children's strengths and
interests are extended by
sensitive interventions and
encouragement
example:
routines such as sharing and
turn taking that foster children's
understanding about rules and
social strategies
(4) Communication: languages and symbols or their own and other
cultures are promoted and protected

learning outcome learning experience

goal 1: example: example:
developing nonverbal expressing emotions in activities emphasising watching
communication skills for a appropriate nonverbal ways and imitating
range of purposes

goal 2: example: example:

developing verbal ability to listen attentively and children are able to have private
communication skills for a respond appropriately to speakers conversations together
range of purposes

goal 3: example: example:

experiencing the stories experience with creating stories developing concepts about print,
and symbols of their own and symbols that spoken words can be written
and other cultures down and read back, that stories
can allow one to enter new worlds
goal 4: example: example:
developing different ways confidence to sing songs opportunities for group activities
to be creative and in art and music
expressive
(5) Exploration: learning through active exploration of the environment
learning outcome learning experience
goal 1: example: example:
their play is valued the knowledge that playing with ideas children are encouraged to talk about
as meaningful and materials, with no objectives in their play and to develop reflective
learning mind, can be an enjoyable, creative, skills
and valid approach to learning

goal 2: example: example:

gaining confidence confidence with moving in space, practising the skills of eating and
in and control of moving to rhythm, and playing near dressing and helping others to do so
their bodies and with others

goal 3: example: example:

learning strategies confidence to choose and experiment encouraged to give reasons for their
for exploration, with materials, to play around with choices and argue logically
thinking, and ideas, and to explore actively with all
reasoning the senses

goal 4: example: example:

making sense of recognition and enjoyment of use 2-dimensional materials to create
the natural and "nonsense" explanations 3-dimensional constructions, such as
social world making a model from a picture
End of Lecture