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Design for Instruction and Lesson Plan

Introduction

It cannot be disputed that for the learning process to be successful, instructors need to ensure that it is directional. In this regard, students should be given clear directions with respect to the course content as the respective goals and objectives. This should be done at the beginning of the teaching process to eliminate confusion that undermines effective learning. Moreover, these need to be in line with the local, state and national goals to ensure that students are equipped with skills that would enable them to perform optimally in the work environment when they complete their studies. To attain this, the teacher also needs to be conversant with student capabilities in order to avoid incidences of frustration that compromise the process of learning. From a psychological point of view, students learn better when their capabilities are in line with the course content as well as instructional methods. This allows them to explore their potential optimally and hence makes the learning process more rewarding.

Statistical evidence indicates that globalization has diversified the learning environment and more than ever, instructors are being forced to employ varied instructional goals in order to meet their goals and objectives. In particular, globalization as encouraged the emergence and perpetuation of international students that are nurtured in different environments. To test the effectiveness of the learning process, teachers use formative as well as summative evaluation methods. It is against this background that this paper explores the concept of designing instruction and lesson plans. To enhance coherence, it begins by underscoring aspects of students’ contextual factors, diversity, academic needs and specific learning content graphically. Then, it proceeds to developing a lesson plan to address aspects of learning experiences and goals. Also, it presents the assessment methods that would be employed at the end of the lesson. Finally, it details the rationale for all the preceding factors.

Student Contextual Factors Diversity Academic Needs Specific Learning Content

The students have sufficient teachers as the ratio of student to teacher currently stands at 14:5.

Seemingly, the majority of students come from rich backgrounds.

For this reason, they have access to all facilities or amenities that they require for education

This is useful in easing the learning process because shortages often compromise the efforts of both the students and the teachers. Thus all students are comfortable and get the attention that they require to benefit optimally from the learning process The classroom has students form diverse racial background comprising of Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, and Asian/Pacific Islanders. Among these, Blacks comprise a higher percentage, followed by Whites, Hispanics then finally Asian/pacific Islanders. With regards to gender, males are 60% while females are 40%. With respect to age, the largest population is between the ages of fourteen and seventeen years old.

Notably, these are adolescents whose learning pace can be considered to be fast Usually, students need to receive these because they not only motivate them but they also enhance classroom productivity (Neary, 2000).

In particular, students should be informed about the purpose of the topics for them to understand what they are being taught about and its importance on their welfare.

They should be informed about the instructional methods that would be employed at different stages. This would prepare them psychologically to deal with he challenges with ease.

They need to be informed bout the learning strategies that would be employed in the classroom. These include both instructional methods and studying approaches.

Most importantly, they would be informed about their contribution to the learning process. In light of the institutional goals, they will be expected to grasp important research methods too. This is a chemistry class and students will be taught about various aspects of chemistry. To begin with, they would be taught about the various chemical elements that exist. Certainly, they are many and have district characteristics that differentiate them from each other. Then they will be taught about characteristics of the elements with respect to whether they are harmful or not. Notably, the chemical elements are used for different purposes and while some are harmful to humans as well as the environment, some are not. Furthermore, while some are poisonous, some are not and are even consumed by humans. Also, they would be taught about the effects of metals to the environment with particular focus on lead metal. Lead is a poisonous metal with diverse impacts on both the environment and man. Understanding this is vital because students would interact with it when they join the workforce.

Lesson Plan (80 Minutes: Day 1)

Assessments

Period Topic New Jersey Learning Goals Instruction Methods

Formative Summative

30 Mins Chemical elements and their forms of existence To ensure students understand and comprehend various elements and their forms of existence Lecturing to introduce students to the fundamentals, use of computer graphics to enhance understanding Students to answer questions on the chemical elements and compounds 30 Mins Characteristics of chemical elements To ensure that students differentiate the potential harm of the elements Group discussions to analyze the harm that the elements posses Group competition 20 Mins Grouping elements To ensure students are able to differentiate the harmful elements from the non harmful ones Lecturing to elaborate on the type of harm posed by the identified elements Students to answer questions in groups Lesson Plan (80 Minutes: Day 2)

30 Mins Effects of the metals to the environment To ensure students understand the effects of the metals on the environment Lecture and use of case studies Students to answer case study questions 20 Mins Lead Metal To ensure students are conversant with lead metal Use of samples Student to differentiate lead form other metals in groups 30 Mins Lead metal poisoning To ensure students comprehend the effects of lead poisoning as well as how it occurs Lecture to explain the process of lead poisoning Topical test to determine student understanding

The Essay

As aforementioned, instructors are responsible for ensuring that the methods or instructional strategies that they use enhance the process of learning. In essence, Sims (1992) indicates that they are required to use viable strategies that foster understanding of the course content. Use of effective instruction methods is also instrumental in motivating students and enabling them to enjoy learning. Chemistry is a scientific discipline that requires utmost attention during teaching. This is based on the recognition that inability to understand the basics prevents the students form understanding the entire course. Since the students have different capabilities, it was deemed important to use multiple instruction methods in order to address the requirements of each.

Lecturing as a form of instruction is the most basic mode of introducing students to new concepts. Since the course is at its initial stages, lecturing was important in informing the students about the basic concepts related to the elements. In addition, lectures were employed for explaining to the students the processes and implications of lead poisoning. In this regard, this method was used because the information that was being passed on was very comprehensive. Explanations were therefore required to ease understanding and enable the students to grasp the content. This could only be attained effectively through lecturing. Computer graphics were employed to help the students to understand the structure of the elements accordingly. Also, it is worth acknowledging that adolescents tend to loose attention so fast.

Use of computer graphics was important not only in delivering the course content but also in eliminating boredom that undermines effective understanding. The multiple methods of instructions were also employed to address the unique needs of both the fast and slow learners. The classroom is very diverse, comprising of students from different backgrounds and with varied capacities. Use of different methods of instruction was important in ensuring that just like the fast learners; slow learners also grasp the course content by the end of the lesson (s).

Then the use of groups during the learning experience was aimed at addressing the cultural considerations that undermine effective learning. Analysis of the contextual factors of the students indicated that the Black and White students learn better in a group environment. They prefer a social environment and tend to get on well with each other. It was therefore important to group them in order to optimize returns. Hispanic students on the other hand got along well with the Asians. Likewise, grouping them respectively enabled them to undertake group assignments effectively. Of great importance according to Morea (1972) is the fact that group assignment foster cooperation and encourage students to assist each other towards attaining their academic goals.

The choice of discussions and lectures was also informed by the economic background of the students. Since most of them had access to educational amenities, there was no need of providing them with too much information. Allowing them to search for more information about the topics was also useful in helping them to develop and sharpen their research skills. The formative form of assessment was used in this regard to enhance interaction between the students and the teacher and break any tension. Further, it enabled the teacher to understand how the students have understood the content and make interventions accordingly. According to Slethaug (2007), formal assessment is also important in generating additional knowledge through discussions and other forms of interactions. This information was useful for helping the teacher to make adjustments and ensure that that the lesson is fruitful.

The summative assessment on the other hand was used at the end of the topic to determine whether different goals had been attained. In this regard, the purpose of the topic was to address the state goals, institutional goals and academic goals of the students. The timing of the summative assessment was ideal as it was only after the topic that the teacher would be able to determine if the preceding goals had been met. Also, the summative assessment was aimed at addressing the shortcomings in the entire process. Certainly, this can be used to explain why it was administered at the end of the topic. Arguably, this would enable the instructor to draw credible and informed conclusions about the effectiveness of the program.

As identified earlier, computers were used at the initial stages of the topic. Computer generated graphics were employed for illustrating the structure of the elements. This was important for enhancing understanding especially for the slow learning students. Moreover, it was useful for addressing boredom that impacts negatively on the ability of the students to grasp the course content. Being a science based subjective, there were certainly misconceptions regarding the complexity of the topic. Sims (1992) ascertains that such misconceptions compromise effective understanding. Undoubtedly, technology played an imperative role in addressing the misconceptions and enhancing understanding of the course content by both the male and female students. Moreover, it exposed the students to technology improved their understanding regarding its usefulness sin the learning environment.

Conclusion

In sum, it is certain that the learning process is very complex and demanding. Effective learning requires that the instructor has a clear understanding of the diverse student needs. As it has come out form the study, globalization has led to increased diversification of the student fraternity. Currently, they are drawn from various races but have similar academic needs. In this context, the instructor would use multiple instruction methods such as lecturing, observation, discussions and computer graphics to pass on the course content and attain important goals and objectives. Since the students had sufficient amenities, there was no need of providing a lot of information. This encouraged the students to undertake research and sharpen their relative skills. Group work was employed to foster cooperation and enable students to undertake group assignments with ease. This decision was based on the recognition that students performed better when they worked in groups. Finally, assessments methods were useful for generating important information and enabling the instructor to meet vital goals and objectives.

References

Morea, C. (1972). Guidance, selection, and training: ideas and applications. New York: Routledge.

Neary, T. (2000). Teaching, assessing and evaluation for clinical competence: a practical guide for practitioners and teachers. New York:  Nelson Thornes.

Sims, J. (1992). Student outcomes assessment: a historical review and guide to program development. Melbourne:  Greenwood Publishing Group. 

Slethaug, G. (2007). Teaching abroad: International education and the cross-cultural classroom. Aberdeen: Hong Kong University Press.