Page 247 - Making Instruction Work

chap 19 3/11/97 5:15 PM Page 233

getting ready 233

Instructors who tell students to do something one way and
then do it (model) another will find their students becoming
inattentive to their words. Instructors who demonstrate apa-
thy or indifference to what they are teaching will soon find
their students doing the same. Instructors who model enthu-
siasm for their subject and for learning, however, will often
find these characteristics rubbing off onto their students.
Few truths have been as well established by research as the
fact that most of what we learn during our lives is learned by
imitation. We see things done and we try to do likewise. We
read about how things are done, our instructors show and tell
how they are done, and we try to do likewise. To paraphrase
Dr. Albert Bandura, if we learned mainly by trial and error,
world population would be a lot smaller than it is; a lot fewer
of us would survive adolescence.
Because modeling is such a powerful instructor, it is imper-
ative to instructional success that you do as you want others to
do, that you act as you want your students to act, lest you acci-
dentally reduce their interest in the subject you are teaching.
Here is a summary of the main modeling principles and an
example to illustrate how each might be applied:
1. Observers learn by watching and imitating others; they
tend to behave as they have seen others behave.

Application example: If you want students to follow cer-
tain safety precautions, then you follow them—especial-
ly when you are in their presence.

2. Observers will be more likely to imitate a model who has
prestige in the observers’ eyes.

Application example: Have desired performance
demonstrated by someone your students respect: a man-
ager, local hero, football player, rock star. If you have