Instructional Considerations
Written By
Magda Al Sebai
The curriculum of this program is organized into thematic sections which cover a wide variety of topics and styles of presentation. These topics correspond to the students’ academic requirements at the college of Computer sciences. The topics are also relevant to modern sciences and technologies.
The curriculum is based on skill development and communicative tasks. Students should be focusing on doing the language not knowing about the language. Each section consists of various units based on the same theme. Each section achieves certain objectives in helping the students to develop linguistically, academically and socially. Communicative tasks make the texts more accessible and prepare the students to be involved in learning activities by asking them to predict the vocabulary, exchange questions and answers and provide opportunities to speak and write their own ideas in correct grammatical language.
The variety of learning tasks could be tackled individually, but it is strongly recommended to emphasize the creation of a collective, cooperative, interactive and supportive learning environment. The curriculum also lays particular emphasis on developing receptive and expressive skills. Reading and listening, for example, are supported by speaking and writing. Study skills are also part of the regular curriculum. Students should be able to use dictionaries, technical magazines, Journal articles, and specialized web sites to gain more knowledge on the topics of the text books. Oral presentations, research and writing reports in English should be part of the students’ learning experience.
Gunter, Estes, and Schwab (2003) referred to instruction as the design that involves planning. This planning includes five steps: “set goals and develop a rationale for instruction; define objectives; construct a means of evaluation; create units of study that encompass the content of the course of study; and design lessons for instruction using a variety of instructional models “(p.20).
Basic language skills are necessary to the students who will join the first level of this program.
Alternative exercise should be relevant to the thematic units and should emphasize that practice is necessary and an integral part of the learning process. Therefore, the teaching materials are not, after all, meant to teach about the language, but to provide development of skills to use the language. Differentiated instructions are integrated in the daily design plans. Tomlinson (1999) defined Differentiation as "a way to get students to "wrestle with profound ideas, call on students to use what they learn in important ways, helps students organize and make sense of ideas and information, and aids students in connecting the classroom with the wider world"(p.2).
Increasing students’ intrinsic motivation is another crucial issue. A number of motivational models can be used to achieve this goal. Keller(1983), for example, defined instruction in connection with motivation. Keller’s (1983) ARCS Model, identifies four essential strategy components for motivating instruction. These components are as follows:
1. Attention strategies for arousing and sustaining curiosity and interest.
2. Relevance strategies that link to learners' needs, interests and motives.
3. Confidence strategies that help students develop a positive expectation for
successful achievement.
4. Satisfaction strategies that provide extrinsic and intrinsic reinforcement for effort.
It is important that students become accountable for their learning. Aligning the curriculum and instruction with assessment helps students to understand that assessment is an integral component of their learning. Expectation for learning should be placed at high but attainable levels. The main focus is on promoting active learning and using authentic assessment tools such as rubrics, feedback, and portfolios. Using learner-centered assessment requires extra investment of time and energy to prepare instructional plans that involve students in their own learning and become accountable for it (Huba & Freed, 2000).
References
Gunter, M. A., Estes, T. H., & Schwab, J. (2003). Instruction: A models approach (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Huba, M. E., & Freed, J. E. (2000). Learner-centered assessment on college campuses: Shifting the focus from
teaching to learning. New York: Allyn & Bacon.
Keller, J. M. (1983). Motivation design of instruction. In C.M. Reigeluth (ed.). Instructional design theories and models:
An overview of their current status. NJ: Erlbaum.
Tomlinson, C. (1999). The Differentiated classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. VA: Association for
Supervision & Curriculum Deve-ASCD.