No, although I’d like to. I’ve just been really inactive the past couple weeks. Settling in to the internship and making sure I’m actually learning what I’m supposed to be learning there is still taking most of my energy during the week, and then I found out my mom had cancer (she just had a little bit, they got it out completely, and the chances of it coming back are apparently ‘virtually nil’ with just five weeks of radiation… but still, totally killed my productivity for one weekend), and then lazing around with a cold the next weekend. Yeesh.
The most I’ve been doing is poking at a post tentatively titled “A dry introduction to the empirical evidence on DI’s effectiveness”, essentially a summary of “Research on Direct Instruction”, since I was feeling like maybe the best thing to do would be to take a step back and present a better explanation of why people should be interested in the theory before explaining the theory itself. (Yes? No? Maybe?)
MT was never supposed to be presented as evidence itself, but as an explanation for the initial inspiration for strategies for the “what we can do for DI / what DI can do for us” thing. Obviously, it would be way better to wait until many other things are explained before I tackle that one, but I might have to try a bit anyway just to keep the confusion down since it’s already out there...
Anyway, I’ll go ask Misha if he wants to work on the ‘top-level post on DI’ project now, and if he could use me for it.
The most I’ve been doing is poking at a post tentatively titled “A dry introduction to the empirical evidence on DI’s effectiveness”, essentially a summary of “Research on Direct Instruction”, since I was feeling like maybe the best thing to do would be to take a step back and present a better explanation of why people should be interested in the theory before explaining the theory itself. (Yes? No? Maybe?)
Personally, I’m eager to actually use DI more in my own learning, so I’m currently working through Theory of Instruction. But some better evidence than PFT would be nice, yes. Especially if it isn’t always about basic skills. (Because otherwise, no matter how good the technique, I won’t benefit from it.)
Interestingly enough, the study with the highest effect size in the meta-analysis (2.44) involved non-basic skills. Actually I think I’ll just type up the summary:
This study analyzes the use of the Earth Science videodisc program with elementary education majors who traditionally have had negative attitudes towards science teaching. One group received the DI program and the other group received the traditional approach [random assignment, of course] during a one-semester science course. The DI group had significantly higher posttest knowledge scores (91%) and higher confidence in their understanding of science knowledge and ability to teach science.
Cited as:
“Vitale, M. & Romance, N. (1992). Using videodisc instruction in an elementary science methods course: Remediating science knowledge deficiencies and facilitating science teaching. Journal of Research in Science teaching, 29, 915-928.”
Not that I’ve dug up the original paper myself yet.
But one of my favorites was a study that didn’t use random assignment, but actually compared the performance of two groups of high school students: AP kids (doing whatever they normally do to study), and kids with performance previously in the lower two quartiles (taught through a videodisc course on “Chemistry and energy”). Both groups then took the same test.
Results as a researcher reported informally outside the study: “The experimentals whumped the AP students on all topics related to what was covered by the videodiscs of our course.”
(This one wasn’t included in the meta-analysis, so I’ll have to try to dig up the reference later.)
My best wishes to your mom. I can sympathize with you a lot there.
If you want someone to read over material you have and give you critical feedback at any stage of the process, I am eager to help you. For example, if you have an outline or are planning on basing your writing on the previous post, I’d be happy to give you feedback on those. Also, if you need access to any papers, I have access to a university library account, so I can get you those. The same goes for Misha. Don’t be at all shy about asking me for help. You can either contact me through PM, email me (username at gmail), or make a discussion post.
I suspect the motivation for studying DI shouldn’t take more than a paragraph.
Hope your internship is starting off well. Who are you interning with/what are you doing?
Thank you for your offer of help with feedback (I’ll def take you up on that) and papers (there are some papers referenced in “Research on Direct Instruction” I might like to get my hands on), and the sympathy on my ma.
I’m interning at a DI school in Baltimore (City Springs). Currently working with the kindergarteners on the language program (I’m supposed to move on to also doing math and reading soon, and teach older kids as well).
The National Institute For Direct Instruction (NIFDI) placed me here. It usually takes a minimum of two years for someone to get really good at presentation, but they figure I should be able to do it in one.
They’re just setting up a program for talented DI teachers to learn design by becoming coauthors on new programs, and that’s obviously where I’m aiming to go next year right after the annual summer DI conference.
Anyway, thing about the internship is that they’ve never had an unpaid foreign intern floating around before, so I end up as the third teacher in the room (the usual set-up at City Springs is a two teacher team. One of them is technically just a ‘paraprofessional’, but their instructional responsibilities are the same at a DI charter school). So I have to make sure I’m actually working on the things I need to be working on rather than getting side-tracked into some not really DI-relevant task.
Are you and misha working on a top level DI post?
No, although I’d like to. I’ve just been really inactive the past couple weeks. Settling in to the internship and making sure I’m actually learning what I’m supposed to be learning there is still taking most of my energy during the week, and then I found out my mom had cancer (she just had a little bit, they got it out completely, and the chances of it coming back are apparently ‘virtually nil’ with just five weeks of radiation… but still, totally killed my productivity for one weekend), and then lazing around with a cold the next weekend. Yeesh.
The most I’ve been doing is poking at a post tentatively titled “A dry introduction to the empirical evidence on DI’s effectiveness”, essentially a summary of “Research on Direct Instruction”, since I was feeling like maybe the best thing to do would be to take a step back and present a better explanation of why people should be interested in the theory before explaining the theory itself. (Yes? No? Maybe?)
MT was never supposed to be presented as evidence itself, but as an explanation for the initial inspiration for strategies for the “what we can do for DI / what DI can do for us” thing. Obviously, it would be way better to wait until many other things are explained before I tackle that one, but I might have to try a bit anyway just to keep the confusion down since it’s already out there...
Anyway, I’ll go ask Misha if he wants to work on the ‘top-level post on DI’ project now, and if he could use me for it.
Personally, I’m eager to actually use DI more in my own learning, so I’m currently working through Theory of Instruction. But some better evidence than PFT would be nice, yes. Especially if it isn’t always about basic skills. (Because otherwise, no matter how good the technique, I won’t benefit from it.)
Interestingly enough, the study with the highest effect size in the meta-analysis (2.44) involved non-basic skills. Actually I think I’ll just type up the summary:
Cited as:
Not that I’ve dug up the original paper myself yet.
But one of my favorites was a study that didn’t use random assignment, but actually compared the performance of two groups of high school students: AP kids (doing whatever they normally do to study), and kids with performance previously in the lower two quartiles (taught through a videodisc course on “Chemistry and energy”). Both groups then took the same test.
Results as a researcher reported informally outside the study: “The experimentals whumped the AP students on all topics related to what was covered by the videodiscs of our course.”
(This one wasn’t included in the meta-analysis, so I’ll have to try to dig up the reference later.)
My best wishes to your mom. I can sympathize with you a lot there.
If you want someone to read over material you have and give you critical feedback at any stage of the process, I am eager to help you. For example, if you have an outline or are planning on basing your writing on the previous post, I’d be happy to give you feedback on those. Also, if you need access to any papers, I have access to a university library account, so I can get you those. The same goes for Misha. Don’t be at all shy about asking me for help. You can either contact me through PM, email me (username at gmail), or make a discussion post.
I suspect the motivation for studying DI shouldn’t take more than a paragraph.
Hope your internship is starting off well. Who are you interning with/what are you doing?
Thank you for your offer of help with feedback (I’ll def take you up on that) and papers (there are some papers referenced in “Research on Direct Instruction” I might like to get my hands on), and the sympathy on my ma.
I’m interning at a DI school in Baltimore (City Springs). Currently working with the kindergarteners on the language program (I’m supposed to move on to also doing math and reading soon, and teach older kids as well).
The National Institute For Direct Instruction (NIFDI) placed me here. It usually takes a minimum of two years for someone to get really good at presentation, but they figure I should be able to do it in one.
They’re just setting up a program for talented DI teachers to learn design by becoming coauthors on new programs, and that’s obviously where I’m aiming to go next year right after the annual summer DI conference.
Anyway, thing about the internship is that they’ve never had an unpaid foreign intern floating around before, so I end up as the third teacher in the room (the usual set-up at City Springs is a two teacher team. One of them is technically just a ‘paraprofessional’, but their instructional responsibilities are the same at a DI charter school). So I have to make sure I’m actually working on the things I need to be working on rather than getting side-tracked into some not really DI-relevant task.
I look forward to seeing your drafts.
Good luck with your DI internship!