Page 155 - Making Instruction Work

chap 13 3/11/97 5:06 PM Page 141

content derivation 141

enough to fill the periods. (“Hmm. I’ll include the first three
chapters . . . leave out the fourth one . . . but be sure to include
Chapter 7. That’s my favorite topic . . . and besides, that topic
has always been included in this course . . .”)

Instruction Fills a Gap

Now instruction is designed to fill a need; rather than being
designed to fill time, instruction is designed to accomplish
important outcomes. This change in approach has changed
the definition of a lesson:

Then: A lesson consisted of whatever amount of instruc-
tion filled a fixed time period. Thus, one student
may need ten minutes to accomplish one objective,
and another may require two hours, but what they
got was a fixed time period. During a traditional
lesson period, then, a student might master one or
two objectives or only part of an objective. Time
was fixed, and performance levels achieved were
variable.

Now: A lesson consists of all the instruction and practice
required to accomplish an objective. Thus, a lesson
consumes whatever time it takes to reach mastery
of an objective. To avoid confusion, this kind of les-
son is called a “module” and includes all the stuff
(instruction, demonstrations, practice) needed to
promote mastery.

Selecting Content

Knowing that there is more to know than time to teach it—
or interest in learning it—we are led to the conclusion that
some content must be selected in, and some selected out; that