Lecture 7 - Instructional Strategies for Procedures and Principles Learning

Procedure is a sequence of operations and requires intellectual skill for its execution. It is the knowing of how to do something, and not the knowing of what something is.

Instructional Elements for Procedure Learning
1) Learners must know when to use procedure and the steps to perform
2) Learners must see a demonstration or example of the execution of the procedure
3) Learners must practise the procedure themselves for application of knowledge and feedback

It is said that the two toughest instructional events for teaching procedures are practice and feedback. I am not sure if these two are the toughest, but they are definitely the crux of effective learning. During the learning process where learners are taught what the procedure is about, it is just a one-way transfer of information. We are not sure if learners have really digested the information. In the practice of these procedures, we can definitely tell whether the learners understood the execution. Feedback supports this process by ensuring a two-way interaction between learners and instructors.

Perhaps the biggest difficulty lies in the overseeing of the practice/attempt of every student, and ensuring that these students receive appropriate and personal feedback. Since the intructor cannot possible observe the entire practice process of his/her students, it should suffice to just judge the end product (result of procedure operation) and provide feedback on what possible went wrong during the process. Internet, as an e-learning medium, aids this process because it allows a more dynamic and convenient way of communicating. There is also easy and accessible reference to model answers on the part of the learners.

Principles are relational rules among concepts.

Instructional Elements for Principle Learning
1) Learners must know statement of principle and when principle applies
2) Learners must know the factors (variables, relations, context) that constitute an appropriate situation in which the principle can be applied
3) Learners will see illustrations and explanations which demonstrate the application of principle
4) Learners then practice and obtain feedback