1. What are the elements of effective instruction beyond a good lesson?

Elements of Instruction
Instruction is purposeful interaction to increase a learner’s knowledge or skills in a specific, pre-
determined fashion. Simply publishing a webpage with links to other pages or other digital
resources does not constitute instruction. Materials developed for web-based instruction must
follow established instructional design principles in order to be effective and viable means of
education. The following elements are adapted from Gagne’s nine universal steps of
instruction and should be included in the instructional design of learning materials. A description
of how these elements can be incorporated into Web-based courseware is below:

Motivate the Learner

The use of graphics, colour, animation, and sound are often used as external stimuli to gain
attention and motivate learners. These elements are easy to include in Web pages. Some
organizations give awards for aesthetically pleasing, technically innovative, and generally creative
pages, and these sites provide new developers with examples of what attracts and holds a user’s
attention. It should be noted, however, that simply adding colour and graphics doesn’t ensure
motivating pages — excess is often counterproductive. Use just enough to call attention to your
material and motivate your students to interact with it.

Explain What is to be Learned

In an online course it is essential to let the learners know exactly what they will be responsible for
at the end of the instruction. This helps them focus on relevant information and take responsibility
for their learning. The hypertext environment of the Web allows students to make individual
associations with learning materials while browsing, and each learner chooses to follow a
different set of links in a different order and thus make their own associations and connections
with the learning material. This is positive in that learners explore materials according to their
own thought patterns which enhances retention. However, as instructional designers, we cannot
allow our students’ attention (and learning) to be drawn away from our desired outcomes, thus it
is important to clearly state the objectives of each course module as well as what the learner is
expected to do.

Recall Previous Knowledge

With Web pages it is easy create links from your site to others. Multiple links allow learners with
diverse backgrounds and knowledge bases to review previously learned information before new
information is offered.  By identifying similarities and differences between existing knowledge
and the knowledge to-be-learned, students more quickly grasp relevant information.

Present the Material to be Learned

Text, Graphics, simulations, figures, pictures, sound, etc. can all be used in online course delivery
to present the learning material. Online instructors should use a variety of teaching strategies in
order to accommodate different learning styles. This Web offers a dynamic environment where
multiple presentation strategies are possible.

Provide Guidance for Learning

Providing guidance for learning helps students integrate new information into an already existing
knowledge base. The hypertext environment of the web allows for presentation to be easily
structured and for examples to be integrated into the presentation of the instructional materials.
With examples, students can relate the new information into a familiar context.

Active Involvement
Most educators would agree that for learning to take place, the learner must actively process and
make sense of available information. An active learner will integrate new knowledge more readily
than a passive learner. In order to encourage active involvement with the learning material, an
instructor must provide opportunities for performance or practice. The discussion element of an
online course can provide an excellent opportunity for students to become actively involved in
their learning by discussing issues and concepts relevant to the learning material. Group work and
projects provide more opportunities for learners to become actively involved with the course
material.

Provide Feedback
The online environment provides many opportunities for meaningful feedback for students. In
discussion forums, instructors can give feedback to students either individually or in groups.
Students can also view each other’s” work online and offer feedback to their peers. Online quizzes
can give students immediate feedback and links to related materials for further study. Learn
how feedback strategies can be integrated into the instructional design of online courses.

Testing
Assessment of student learning is essential to know whether learning has occurred and if
remediation is necessary. Online quizzes can be used to assess student learning, but they should
not be the only method by which students are evaluated. Because of the possibility of immediate
feedback, online quizzes are sometimes integrated into course design to offer students
opportunities for self-assessment and review. Other means of assessment are projects, written
assignments, case studies, and essay questions. Some instructors require students to take proctored
exams either on campus or at other locations. View Academic Honesty Issues for Online Teaching
and Learning for a discussion on how to minimize cheating online.

Providing Enrichment or Remediation

The final step in instruction should provide learners with either remediation (in areas where
comprehension is lacking), or enrichment (featuring associated information which extends or
applies their knowledge). In an online environment, this can be provided through links to
additional resources. In this way, learners can receive relevant, specific information to match their
abilities.

2. How are students grouped to accommodate achievement differences?

 Within-class ability grouping

Within-class achievement grouping involves organising students within their usual class for
specific activities or topics, such as literacy. Students with similar levels of current achievement
are grouped together, for example, on specific tables, but all students are taught by their usual
teacher and support staff, and they usually all follow the same curriculum.

The aim of this type of grouping is to match tasks, activities and support to students’ current
capabilities, so that all students have an appropriate level of challenge. 

Within-class grouping can involve the use of other approaches such as collaborative learning or
targeted strategies (see Reading comprehension strategies).

Although within-class grouping is sometimes described as ‘ability grouping’, we refer here to

‘achievement’ rather than ‘ability’, as schools generally use measures of current performance,
rather than measures of ability, to group students.

For evidence on the impact of grouping students by achievement into different classes, see the
‘Setting or streaming’ Toolkit entry. Other types of achievement grouping, such as grouping by
achievement across year groups, and teaching high attaining students with older year groups, are
not covered in the Toolkit as they are less commonly used.
How effective is it?

The evidence on within-class achievement grouping indicates that it is likely to be beneficial for
all learners, providing an average benefit of three months’ additional progress. However, there
appears to be less benefit for lower attaining students than others.
Within-class achievement grouping may also have an impact on wider outcomes such as
confidence. Some studies from the broader evidence base conclude that grouping students on the
basis of achievement may have longer term negative effects on the attitudes and engagement of
low attaining students, for example, by discouraging the belief that their achievement can be
improved through effort.

Overall, existing research reporting on the practice of within-class achievement groupings in

Australia and New Zealand are sparse and inconclusive, despite its noted prevalence in
mathematics classrooms. While benefits to both teaching practice and student learning are
purported for the use of within-class achievement groupings as a pedagogical approach, it is
important not to disregard its potential impacts on student self-esteem and educational equality,
particularly for students in lower performing groups.

What should I consider?

How will I decide which subjects or activities are grouped by current level of achievement and
which are not?

How will I ensure that all students receive high quality teaching when different groups are doing
different tasks or require different teaching strategies?

How will I minimise the risk of allocating students to the wrong group? Have I assessed whether
my grouping criteria could disadvantage certain students? For younger children, have I taken their
relative age within the year group into account?

How flexible are my grouping arrangements? Students progress at different rates so regular
monitoring and assessment is important to minimise misallocation and ensure challenge for all
students.

How will I monitor the impact of grouping on students’ engagement and attitudes to learning,
particularly for lower attaining students?

Students learn best in them or do they? In my classroom, I started noticing something… When I’d
say get into groups of four, they immediately gravitated toward the same peers. They were either
their best friends, or depending on the project, the “smartest” one. So what other ways can we
group students without losing our sanity? Here are eight different ideas on I group my students
differently each time. Hopefully, there is one idea can use by other teachers or educator.

1.)  Random
Group students randomly by pulling sticks or using an app to pick. I frequently use this in the
classroom when I want groups of equal size and want students to branch out a little bit beyond
their peers. Sometimes they get lucky and end up with their best friend anyway. What can you do?

2.)  Homogeneous
Group students based on similar academic achievement levels. For instance, the same reading
level or math scores. Though some educators frown on this, it is still beneficial. I think the only
time it’s NOT beneficial is when you repeatedly do it every time you group students. I use this
when I’m creating groups for math (to meet with me) or for literature circles (all reading the same
text and level).

3.)  Heterogeneous
Group students based on differences. For instance, I try to look through my class list and decide
who are my leaders. Then I sort them out each “leading” their own group (they don’t know this, of
course, I privately do this. I would never sort them out in front of the class. Flashback to being
picked last in kickball.)  I continue to do this so it’s a balance of students who are independent and
dependent. I also take note who butts heads and who works well together.
4.)   Interest
Group students based on their similar interests. Students are typically more motivated when they
share common interests in a topic. I remember one year letting some boys of mine independently
study (as an enrichment activity) Egypt because they had an interest. It was one of the best
presentations ever.

5.) Learning Style

Group students based on their multiple intelligences. If they are linguistic, put them with other
linguistic learners. If they are kinaesthetic, take an aspirin and then put them together. Like learn
from like.

6.)  Knowledge of a Topic

I know this one sounds a lot like learning based on interests. To some degree it is- but sometimes
we have a lot of knowledge and understanding of something without really having an interest.
Students with likeness in knowledge can share information with one another which confirms their
understanding and builds self-confidence.

7.)  Skill or Strategy

When you are grouping students similar to their skill or strategy, you can fill in any gaps or enrich
students who need it most. (Yes, it really is similar to the second one.)
And finally…

8.)  Student Choice

Let the students group themselves. We have all heard that choice leads to success. But maybe
have a few rules… You need to have someone new in your group this time, or something.

REFERENCES

Chou, Y.-C. (2002). An exploratory study of language learning strategies and the relationship of
these strategies to motivation and language proficiency among EFL Taiwanese technological
and vocational college students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Iowa, Iowa
City, USA.

Crookes, G. & Schmidt, R. W. (1989). Motivation: Reopening the research agenda. University of
Hawaii Working Papers in ESL, 8, 217-256.

Crookes, G. & Schmidt, R. W. (1991). Motivation: Reopen the research agenda. Language
Learning, 41, 469-512.

Dickinson, L. (1995). Autonomy and motivation: A literature review. System, 23, 165-174.

Dornyei, Z. (1990). Conceptualizing motivation in foreign-language learning. Language

Learning, 40, 45-78.