DIRECT

INSTRUCTION
-What is Direct
Instruction?
-Advantage and
disadvantages
 DIRECT INSTRUCTION
“Direct Instruction is the method that demonstrates the power of teachers working together to plan and critique a
series of lessons, sharing understanding of progression, articulating intentions and success criteria and attending to
the impact on student and teacher learning.”
D.W. Carnine, 2000
 DIRECT INSTRUCTION
• Central role is assigned to the teacher

• Classroom management is the key

• Effective when specific content and skills are primary goals

• Specific set of operations and procedures

• Provide multiple opportunities for feedback and practice

• Model is arranged in decreasing teacher control

CHARACTERISTICS OF DIRECT
INSTRUCTION
• Reviewing the previous day’s work
• Presenting new material in clear and
logical steps
• Providing guided practice
• Giving feedback with correctives
• Providing independent practice
• Review to consolidate learning
PLANNING LESSONS USING DI
1.Four Steps
- Identifying topics (concepts and
procedural skills)
2. Specifying objectives (Automaticity
and transfer)
3. Identifying prerequisite knowledge
4. Selecting problems and examples
Implementin
g lessons in
DI
 Phase 1- Introduction and
Review
•Students are drawn into the lesson
•Teacher attract student’s attention
•Teacher activates background
knowledge thorough review of
prerequisite knowledge or skills
 Phase 2- Presentation
• New content is presented and explained
• Teacher begins schema production by
explaining and illustrating the concept or
explaining and modelling the skill being
taught
• Teacher promotes involvement by
modeling, providing examples and
actively questioning students to guide
their understanding
Phase 3- Guided Practice
• Students practice the concept or skill under the
teacher’s guidance with high levels of interaction
• Teacher helps students develop perceptions of
competence
• Teacher ensures success
• Teacher monitors progress
• Role of teacher changes. Teacher moves from
information provider and modeler to COACH,
withdrawing instructional support as students
master skill
 Phase 4- Independent
Practice
• Students practice using the concept or skill
on their own
• Students develop automaticity
• Students develop the ability to transfer their
understanding to new contexts
• TWO STAGES
• (1) Students practice on their own under
teacher supervision and (2) students work on
their own homework assignment
Benefits and
Limitations
 Benefits
•Invaluable in special education
instructions
•Allows you to group students by
ability
•Allows complex knowledge to be
communicated
 Limitations
•Can get dry if effort isn’t placed
on presenting instruction
•Provides inappropriate use of
methods
•Limits students ability to use
critical thinking skills
Advantages and
Disadvantages
 Advantages
• The teacher has control of the timing of the lesson
• Students are physically easy to monitor
• The teacher has control over what will be learned
and who will learn
• The curriculum can be covered so the teacher can
say that he/ she taught the material
• Any information for which there is one right
answer can be taught efficiently and honestly by
using direct instruction
 Disadvantages
• It is based on old learning theories; simple tasks
before complex ones, only measurable learning is
worthwhile
• Students do not have a sense of the overall
purpose when it comes to the simple steps
• More difficult to access students’ prior knowledge
• Lower retention rate in problem solving
• Direct instruction works best in conjunction with
other teaching methods
 Some research indicates that
direct instruction works better
even in other countries for
teaching children, children with
disabilities or children learning to
speak more than one language
 Teacher and
Students’ Role
Teacher role
•Specifies Learning objectives
Procedural skills; automaticity;
transfer
•Explains and illustrates content
•Model Skills
Student Role
•Active in responding to teacher
questions
•Analyzing examples
•Practicing skills to mastery
 Visual aids used in Direct
Instruction
• Video tapes/ Clips
• Pictures
• Photos
• Power point
• Black/ White Boards
• Books
Direct Instruction
methods include:
• Demonstration
• Drills and Practices
• Listening, Viewing Lecture