Page 200 - Making Instruction Work

chap 15 3/11/97 5:08 PM Page 186

186 making instruction work

If you follow the how-to-do-it steps described in this chap-
ter, you will find the job of drafting your instruction greatly
simplified.

NOTE: This procedure will in no way restrict your ability
to make your instruction interesting and motivating. On
the contrary, students always seem more interested in
instruction they perceive as being relevant to their needs
or desires. So don’t be concerned that “lean” development
will take the heart out of the instruction. No matter how
tight you make your instruction, there will always be
some slack in it for transitions, extra examples, war sto-
ries, humor, and anecdotes. But with properly constructed
instruction, you will always know that no matter how
much or how little you embellish, the instruction will do
what it is supposed to do.

To make your instruction work, make sure you teach things
not yet known, provide the instruction needed to get students
ready to practice the objective, provide practice and feedback,
and then take steps to find out whether the student can per-
form as desired.

To Learn More: See Resource #16.