Differentiation can be overwhelming for teachers. One point often missed, that can ease the burden on teachers, is that the best of it requires student participation. If a student will play a role in the process it will not only relieve the instructor but will end up being more to the point of serving the individual.
Involving a student more deeply in their learning can look like this:
Instruction:
Individualize by Interests
At the beginning of the course ask students to identify a possible future career for themselves. Throughout the course, present instruction through the lenses of those careers. Bundling similar careers together and forming learning groups around each expedites the preparation and implementation. These groups can work in parallel on the same basic concept.
Individualize by Learning Style
The same approach can be taken with learning styles. A teacher may use a multitude of approaches to presenting information. But she may also break up students into groups based upon their learning style. Involving students in determining their learning style and then allowing them to choose which group to join for a particular time enhances their engagement and responsibility taking. Offering three choices seems sufficient to make an appropriate match and not be too demanding for an instructor to prepare for. These might be divided into these broad categories: kinesthetic, visual and linguistic. Of course, to diminish the future teacher labor cost one should always preserve and archive the support materials and lesson plan so that they may be used again.
Assessment of Performance:
A quiz which has hard and easy questions. The student choose which to respond to.The easy question aims to confirm understanding of the foundational concept. It may be low order. The more difficult one allows students to challenge themselves with the concept if they believe they are ready. It should be higher order, require multiple steps or synthesis of new material and previously learned material. Example:
1. EASY List the three major types of intermolecular force.
HARD Identify an example of an intermolecular force evident in a macromolecule (lipid, nucleic acid, protein) of biologic importance. How does the force affect structure and/or function of the macromolecule?
Assessment by Interest
If instruction has been tied to interests, assessment can readily also be linked to interests. This works particularly well with projects but one section of questions on a test could present students with a choice of questions to respond to based upon their interests. This might include describing an application of a learned concept to a particular career.
Assessment by Learning/Performing Style
In the same way projects and test questions can be open to attack from a range of means of expression. A test question might offer the option of writing a short essay or drawing a detailed, labeled illustration. A student might make an oral presentation or write a critique.
Workshop Stations Tied to Test Questions. Students look over missed test questions. They highlight the questions that they still don’t understand or are not confident in solving. The teacher sets up learning stations for each of the questions on the test. At these stations a self-paced activity provides an opportunity to re-learn a concept. Ideally, the activity should attack the concept from a new angle—one that was not offered earlier.
Reflection:
When self-assessment is taught and implemented students are given responsibility for their own learning. The role of the teacher is to select appropriate prompts that will press the students to productive work. A general or final prompt in a session might be something like:
What do I need to do next to keep making progress (toward a specific goal)?
or
What do I need to do in the next 24 hours in order to be ready for class tomorrow?
Asking students to reflect before choosing a remediation activity is critical to their successful use of time and the opportunity to learn.
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