The past few weeks have been filled with readings on
"context-based" instruction methods.
These instruction methods include:
Goal Based Scenarios, Anchored Instruction Environments, the (Software Technology
for Action and Reflection) STAR Legacy Model and (Multimedia Environments that
Support and Organize Texts) MOST multimedia environments.
Comparing and Contrasting the Methods
Each of these instructional models have a huge emphasis on
story-telling and the story is the driving factor to motivate students in
each. The way stories are used differs
with each model however. The MOST model
is a tool to teach reading and uses multimedia to help tell stories. Further, it has students retell stories,
often to puppets as a way to motivate students and teach more advanced reading skills
rather than simple decoding. Meanwhile,
GBS uses story as a way to set the learner up in a role-play scenario. Then, Anchored Instruction uses story to provide
the students with relevant data to problem solve. Finally, the STAR legacy model uses story to
show conflicting viewpoints which force the learner into deeper thinking.
There is also a huge focus with each of these forms of
learning to provide students with learning that is relevant to the future and
combines multiple skills. These are very
rigorous programs that require students to step out of their comfort zone and
think about problems in ways that are relevant to real life situations. There is also a huge emphasis on
"doing" with each of these models.
The "doing" in each of these models is mostly done in
acquiring the skills needed to carry out the overarching objective.
Assessment and feedback is another factor with each of these
that is both similar and different at the same time. Each of these programs gives multiple
opportunities for feedback and three (MOST being the odd one out) seek to give
students a "just in time" set of information that informs the student
before major decisions are required. The
STAR Legacy model goes as far as incorporating actual formal assessment in form
of tests and quizzes with their "Test Your Mettle" approach, which
was most likely due to Vanderbilt's experience with Anchored Instruction and
their feedback from teachers with the Jasper series. GBS provides most of its feedback in the form
of a coaching or matching your performance with a real world example. MOST model students would primarily receive
teacher feedback but there was a mention of possible community and family
involvement that would also inform the students as to their performance. It's also important to remember that MOST was
targeted at young children. While the
other models were for middle school age students or even adults.
Reactions
Goal Based Scenarios
I believe GBS to be an excellent way to teach and I really
feel like education is moving in this
direction. Schank's
assertion that experience is the best teacher is spot on and I've often found
myself wishing for apprenticeship situations for students as
soon as middle school so that students could build an understanding of why
school is relevant. The primary benefit
I see to this method lies in showing students that school is relevant and with
the ever increasing dropout rate this is
a much needed answer. This method also
takes into account how people learn, reason and remember so it works with our
natural learning styles rather than against.
The problem I see with this method is "scope" and
development. I think it would be
difficult for a lone teacher to oversee the development of a solid GBS
program. There are so many possible
solutions or consequences it really requires a team of experts and usually
teachers are a far cry from being an expert even in their major field.
There are a number of new tools that might help make this
work. First, there's
research/bookmarking tools like Delicious and Diigo to help catalog case
studies. Second, Vimeo could be used to
deliver the Cover Story. Further, Moodle
or other CMS software could help to catalog and track progress. Finally, collaboration tools could enable
teacher to plan such units with help of other teachers and even allow contact
with experts in a field.
Would I use this in class?
Absolutely if these scenarios were provided by a third party. I think the occasional GBS in my class might
happen but the amount of work would prohibit its regular use, not to mention my
lack of expertise across domains. Maybe
this is where professional learning communities can help in the future.
Anchored Instruction and STAR Legacy Model
I chose to cover these two together because I really feel
STAR Legacy to be the successor to Anchored Instruction. From my readings, I felt like the STAR Legacy
model refined everything that went right with Anchored and took it a step
further. The benefits to Anchored
Instruction and STAR both are they're group oriented, cross curricular,
provides real world examples, works like PBL and they each help students
develop a deep understanding of the source material.
The primary barrier I see to use in these models lies in the
amount of planning involved initially. Both
of these require a "problem" to be solved that isn't simple and can
have multiple solutions. The problems in
the Jasper series required a 14step process to fully overcome and STAR has a
spiral of deeper learning where you constantly spiral deeper into topics. This planning clearly pays off in increased
motivation from students and the type of learning experienced but it is a lot
to ask of an individual teacher.
I think the materials mentioned in both these models would
be an awesome addition to my classroom and I would readily use them. I think I could use the Jasper series to help
teach science although it was primarily a math focused lesson. The biggest problem I see with my current
students lies in how to orient them to the group assignments. My students are very social which helps them
get along well with one another but keeping them on task is a problem. The nature of these two models is one where
my students might drift off task if left too much to their own devices.
I can see many new tools helping promote these models. For instance, I could see Prezi or other presentation
software helping students record their "legacy" projects. YouTube would be an excellent way to store
and playback video so that students could easily review clips. Bookmarking tools could also be of use here
to help students in their research.
MOST Environments
The MOST model is the one that I think might be the most
needed of all these models. I have
noticed over the years that many students are very good at decoding but they
have no comprehension skills. This problem
follows students the rest of their careers because it is often hard for
teachers to identify the "weak" readers when decoding isn't the
problem and then to help gain the necessary skills once identified. This isn't just in at-risk schools
either. Teaching with the MOST model
would help ensure students are able to comprehend what they read in addition to
being able to call the words.
The primary barrier I see to the MOST model is time. In order to spread the MOST model across to
more students it would require many more helpers in the classroom. Teachers could not do this alone in a classroom
and today in education teacher assistants are often being cut from
budgets. I think the barrier here would
be solved by adding personnel.
As for using the MOST model in my class, I could see a way
to implement it although I'm a middle school teacher. This might be a good way to teach
history. Students could learn historical
factual stories and through retelling of the stories obtain a deeper
understanding of the material. The tools
I think would be most useful here are things like Storybird or even a simple
video recorder like the FLIP cam. I
would recommend other movie making programs like Windows Moviemaker or iMovie
but I fear the primary audience of young students might find these difficult to
master.
Conclusion
Goal Based Solutions, Anchored Instruction, STAR Legacy
Model and MOST Environments are all constructivist theory based models. Each have an emphasis on using stories to
provide context for the information being taught. The goal in each of these models is for
students to be able to apply their learning to real life situations and
therefore each of these models have a focus on "doing" activities to
acquire knowledge rather than lecture.
These models emphasize rigor, meaning that each of these methods will
force students to use acquire and apply numerous skills to demonstrate their
mastery of material. The differences
mostly have to do with the structure of lessons, the way story telling is used,
and the way feedback is given.
