Developing Effective Instructional

Modules for Flexible Learning

Greg Tabios Pawilen
University of the Philippines Los Banos
 Trajectories in Education (Instruction)
Basic Education Undergraduate Graduate

From… To…

Content-based Teaching Outcomes-based Teaching

Teacher-centered Instruction Learner-centered Instruction

Class Lectures Research-based Teaching

Traditional Classroom Instruction Flexible Learning

Focusing on LEARNING…

LEARNERS

REAL-LIFE
• The focus of an instructional module is
on the LEARNER and on the LEARNING
PROCESS!

• Instructional Technology is just a tool

to achieve the goals of instruction
 PHILOSOPHY

CURRICULUM

Instructional Instructional
Learners
Modules Media

(Instructional COACH)

CONTEXT
 Curriculum Instruction

Instructional
Effective
Design
instructional design
begins with a
clearly articulated Instructional
curriculum.

Procedure

Instructional
Media
 Learning
Competencies

Instructional
Modules

Needs &
Demands
 Instructional Module
• It is an instructional material which possesses
the qualities that will make the individual an
independent learner, self-pacing and
progressing at his own rate, finally giving him/
her the feeling of self-satisfaction

• Students are encouraged to work on various

activities that are interesting and challenging
to maintain focus and attention, thereby
encouraging independent study.
Nardo, 2017
 Difference between Textbooks and Modules

Textbook Module

Content-Oriented Process-Oriented

Needs the Guidance of the Instructor It could be self-instructional

Cognitivist Constructivist

Topic-based Competency-based

Functions as Reference Guide Functions as a Course Guide

Limited Activities More Activities

 Constructivist
• An instructional module should:

• include activities that promote active

learning

• consider the background knowledge

and prior-experiences of the learners

• include pre-assessment activities

• utilized activities that are mentally

engaging and interesting
• provides activities for practice and
feedback

• use questions that are thought-

provoking

• use activities for differentiated learning

• provide examples, explanations, and

illustrations that are relevant to the
contexts of the learners
 Behaviorist
• The module should have:

• pre-assessment activities for each lesson

• motivation activities

• provision for criterion-referenced assessment

• activities sequenced for mastery learning

• informative feedbacks to reinforce learning

Ertmer & Newby (2013)
 Cognitivist
• The module should:

• Emphasize on the active involvement of the learner in the

learning process

• Use of hierarchical analyses to identify and illustrate prerequisite

relationships

• Emphasize on structuring, organizing, and sequencing

information to facilitate optimal processing [use of cognitive
strategies such as outlining, summaries, synthesizers, advance
organizers, etc.

• Allow and encourage students to make connections with

previously learned material [recall of prerequisite skills; use of
relevant examples, analogies]

Ertmer & Newby (2013)

Step 1: Analyzing Course Contents

• Examine the course description

• Examine the course learning outcomes

• Examine prerequisites
 Step 2: Analyze Learner
Characteristics
• Cultural background

• Academic background

• Socio-economic background

• Learning Styles

• Learning Needs
 Step 3: Social Regard for
Learning

• Gender fair
• Culturally appropriate
• Diverse/differentiated
Step 4: Select the Module Title

• The title should reflect the title,

nature, description, and scope of the
course
Step 5: Select Lesson Titles

• The lesson titles should be based on the

course learning competencies
Step 6: Identifying Lesson Objectives

• Objectives are detailed descriptions of

what students will be able to do when
they complete a unit of instruction. (Dick
and Carey,1990)

• Objectives are the foundation upon

which you can build lessons and
assessments (Mager, 1984)
Step 7: Organizing Instruction

Learning Instructional
Outcomes Procedure
Instructional Procedure
• Motivation
• Presentation of Objectives
• Recalling Prerequisites
• Information and Examples
• Practice and Feedback
• Summary
Dick & Reiser (1996)
 !
TEACHERS AS
INSTRUCTIONAL COACH

Anticipatory Set Performance Task! Performance Task!

(Critical Thinking) (Collaboration,
Communication,
Creativity & Innovation)
L
E
A
R Read Reflect Respond
N
E
R

Pawilen, G. T. (2019)

Self-regulated Learning Environment

• According to Borich (2014), five key behaviors
contributing to effective teaching which should be
revisited when teaching online:

• Lesson clarity

• Instructional variety

• Task orientation

• Student engagement

• Opportunities for success,

• Generally, the following laws could be considered
for planning a technology-enhanced lesson (Huang,
Liu, Tlili, Yang, & Wang, 2020 ):

• On Access to Digital Learning Resources

(related to learning resources). The resources
should satisfy the following basic conditions:

• Contents are of moderate difficulty and in an

appropriate scale, so that cognitive “overload”
will not occur

• Structure of the contents is simple and clear,

which will reduce the cognitive load of learners

• Content is well designed to avoid visual strain;

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Asynchronous S
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TC

Synchronous
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Step 8: Selecting Instructional Media

Learning Instructional
Outcomes Media
• Strauss and Frost (1999) identified key factors that should
influence media selection:

• Institutional resource constraints

• Course content appropriateness

• Learner characteristics

• Teacher attitudes and skill levels

• Course learning objectives,

• The learning relationships

• Learning location,

• Time (synchronous versus asynchronous)

• Media richness level.

 Instructional Modules
• Title!

• Preface!

• Table of Contents!

• Unit Title!

• Unit Introduction

• Competencies

• Lesson Title !

• Objectives

I. Introduction

II. Motivation

III. Presentation of Objectives

IV. Recalling Prerequisites

V. Information and Examples

VI. Practice and Feedback

VII.Summary

• Unit Summary!

• Unit Assessment!

• References
Thank you very much!!
God bless you…