Direct

Instruction Model

Is about

A model that uses demonstration and explanation as well as student practice and feedback to help students have a good
understanding of knowledge and set of skills for learning later on in life.

Theory and Planning

Theory
Cognitive learning theory
Planning
Identify topics: The teacher
must choose a topic that
focuses on a procedural skill,
in other words, a skill that has
specific steps that can be
shown through examples and
learned through practice.
Specify Learning Objectives:
Choose a procedural skill that
reflects one of the course aims
Select Examples and
Problems: the teacher should
select examples that draw on
previously mastered material
to build the new material on
top of and then assign
problems that send the
students back to what they
know how to do.

So What??

Implementing
Introduction and Review:
Check in to make sure the
students have the necessary
knowledge base to move on to
learning the new skill.
Presentation: The teacher
must have a clear, relatable,
and easy to follow
explanation/ examples of the
new skill, no knowledge can be
assumed and subsequently
breezed over and the teacher
must look for and encourage
student questions/
participation to keep tabs on
the understanding
Guided Practice: The students
mostly doing the work on their
own, with additional
explanation and support from
the teacher if needed, the
teacher needs to ask questions
and establish if enough (80-
90%) of the class is successful
and ready for independent
practice
Independent Practice:

Assessment and
Motivation

Assessment:
The t eacher knows exactly what to
assess since t he class has been spent
learning a specific skill or how t o solve a
specific type of problem. When c reating
the assessment problems though it is
important t o make sure t he wording and
subjects of the problem are different
enough that t he students have t o apply
what they have learned, not just repeat
what they have learned. This can be
done by switching a k ey word like
together to total and the objects of
a problem from balloons t o chairs or
people. Higher level t eachers may want
to tweak t he c oncept a little bit, like a
physics t eacher doing problems in class
to find the density may ask an
assessment question looking f or mass or
volume.
Motivation:
The t eacher s hould design t heir
examples and teaching strategies in such
a way as to allow their students to be
successful a nd t herefore build
confidence, which motivates t hem to
continue because t heyre s ucceeding.
On t he flipside of that coin, the t eacher
needs a n element of c hallenge as well s o
that the students continue t o succeed at
new things, not get bored doing the
things they already know how to do.
Teachers would also do well to
incorporate real life, relevant to t he
students, concrete examples.

Riley Jennings
1-20-16
EDC 311

Modifications
The DI model is great for all
ages, b ecause all a ges b enefit
from concrete examples when
trying to learn something new.
The language and complexity of
topics does n eed to b e taken
into consideration based on the
ages b eing addressed, o lder
students n eed to know why
and how gravity acts while
younger students may just
need to know that it does a ct
and the value of the force of
gravity.
The DI model is a lso great for
culturally and linguistically
diverse students b ecause they
can see concrete examples and
associate them with things they
know and understand
comfortably. Whenever
possible, the DI model is great
for incorporating t echnology
into the teaching p lan b ecause
different tutorial programs and
other t echnology can provide
instant feedback to a ll
students, whereas the t eacher
cannot always do so.

This is a great model to use for concepts that can be directly exemplified and students that need visual demonstrations would do
well with this model.