Page 160 - Making Instruction Work

chap 13 3/11/97 5:06 PM Page 146

146 making instruction work

4. Now answer the question, “Why aren’t they ready to
practice this objective now, at the time they begin work
on the module?”

Imagine that a student has read the objective of the module and
understands the importance of learning what the module has to
teach.Why would that student not then be ready to practice that
objective right then and there? That’s the question to answer.To
make it easier, break the question into smaller ones:
a. Do you believe they aren’t ready to practice because they
don’t yet know how to do what they need to do? If so,
what do they need to know how to do?

b. Do you believe they aren’t ready to practice because
there are one or more common errors they are likely to
make in their present state of readiness? Which common
errors?

c. Are they not yet ready to practice because they haven’t
yet been taught how to avoid certain dangerous situa-
tions? Which situations?

d. Are they not ready to practice because they don’t yet
know how to tell when their practice performance is OK
or not?
The answers to these questions will tell you what content to
include. Of course, if there is some “standard” content that
isn’t needed for answering these questions, leave it out. If you
happen to leave something out that should be in, you’ll find
that out when you test the module. (Note: The reverse is not
true. If you put something in that should be left out, testing
may not expose it. So it’s always better to start “lean” and add
content and activities where necessary.) So there’s little need to
worry about making your instruction too skimpy.