Page 13 - Making Instruction Work

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What It’s All About

T he world of instruction has changed from the days when
instruction followed the lecture-in-the-morning-lab-in-the-
afternoon approach and the only tools in the instructor’s tool
kit were the lecture, the lab, and on-the-job training (OJT). It
has changed from the days when instructors were selected
because they were good at their specialty, whether or not they
knew anything about communicating that specialty to others.
It has changed from the days when instructors were allowed to
teach as much about a subject as time would allow, regardless
of the relevance of the content to the need of the individual
student. It has changed from the days when those who “winged
it” in the classroom were held in awe.
Now, there is a craft of instruction rich in procedures and
techniques for assuring that students develop important skills,
and for sending them away with a desire to apply what they
have learned and an eagerness to learn more.
This book is about that craft. It isn’t about all the bits and
pieces of the craft. It’s only about those pieces that will ensure
that (a) instruction is the correct solution to a problem, (b) the
objectives of the instruction are derived from demonstrated
needs, (c) the substance of the instruction is adjusted to what
each student needs, and (d) instructional practices contribute
to, rather than detract from, student eagerness to learn more.
It’s about how to make instruction work as well as possible