Session 1

How are such principles realized in the classroom?

What issues and concerns are critical to instructional design?

There are many ways to put the principles of constructivism into action. The main message is that better learning will not come from better ways for the teacher to instruct but from giving the learner better opportunities to construct.

While planning classroom modules, think about these points:

Professors designing instruction need to emphasize the internal representations that are part of instruction and the active intellectual processing which must occur if learning is to take place.

We can help students learn to learn if we plan instruction so that students use one or more appropriate cognitive strategies to lean the material, that is, to actively, mentally, process that content.

There is a tension that must be considered when planning instruction. We need to develop curriculum materials that areŠ

• authentic but meaningful
• meaningful but rigorous
• rigorous but responsive
• responsive but coherent
• coherent but engaging
• engaging but effective
• effective but feasible

We must also work to attain diverse instructional targets. Four big categories of targets can be identified.

1. Sophisticated and deep understandings of key ideas. Key ideas and theories, thoughtfully and effectively used with knowledge. Being able to reason with and about geography.

2. Technical competence. The skills at the heart of geography.

3. Performance/production skills in real world contexts. The ability to question, plan, research, collaborate, present, display, discuss, lobby, listen

4. Mature habits of mind, attitude, judgment, and action. The ability to think like a geographer, perseverence, tolerance of ambiguity, openess to new ideas, devoted to quality and craftsmanship.