- Facilitating complex thinking
Direct instruction programs share one of the challenges of other mastery learning approaches: because they hold
all students to the same high standard of achievement, they must deal with differences in how long students require
to reach the standard. But direct instruction has an additional challenge, in that they often rely on small-group
interaction more heavily than other mastery learning programs, and use self-guiding materials less. This difference
has the benefit that direct instruction works especially well with younger students (especially kindergarten through
third grade), who may have limited skills at working alone for extended periods. The challenge is that reliance on
small-group interaction can make it impractical to use direct instruction with an entire class or for an entire school
day. In spite of these limits, however, research has found direct instruction to be very effective in teaching basic
skills such as early reading and arithmetic (Adams & Engelmann, 1996).
Madeline Hunter’s effective teaching model
A number of direct instruction strategies have been combined by Madeline Hunter into a single, relatively
comprehensive approach that she calls mastery teaching (not to be confused with the related term mastery
learning) or the effective teaching model (M. Hunter, 1982; R. Hunter, 2004). Important features of the model
are summarized in Table 25. As you can see, the features span all phases of contact with students—before, during,
and after lessons.
Table 25: Madeline Hunter's “Effective Teaching Model”
Prepare students to learn.- Make good use of time at the beginning of a lesson or activity, when attention is best
- Direct students' attention to what lies ahead in a lesson—for example, by offering “advance organizers”
- Explain lesson objectives explicitly
Present information clearly and explicitly. - Set a basic structure to the lesson and stay with it throughout
- Use familiar terms and examples
- Be concise
Check for understanding and give guided practice. - Ask questions that everyone responds to—for example, “Raise your hand if you think the answer is X”
- Invite choral responses—for example, “Is this a correct answer or not?”
- Sample individuals' understanding—for example, “Barry, what's your example of X?”
Provide for independent practice. - Work through the first few exercises or problems together
- Keep independent practice periods brief and intersperse with discussions that offer feedback
Source: R. Hunter, 2004