Summary of Principles of Direct Instruction

Citation: Huitt, W. (1996). Summary of principles of direct instruction. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date], from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/instruct/dirprn.html

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Summary of direct instruction:

  1. More teacher-directed instruction (> 50%) and less seatwork (< 50%).
  2. Active presentation of information (could be by teacher, computer, another student).
    1. Gain students' attention
    2. Providing motivational clues
    3. Use advance organizers
    4. Expose essential content
    5. Pretesting/prompting of relevant knowledge
  3. Clear organization of presentation.
    1. component relationships
    2. sequential relationships
    3. relevance relationships
    4. transitional relationships
  4. Step-by-step progression from subtopic to subtopic (based on task analysis).
  5. Use many examples, visual prompts, and demonstrations (to mediate between concrete and abstract concepts).
  6. Constant assessment of student understanding (before, during and after the lesson).
  7. Alter pace of instruction based on assessment of student understanding (you're teaching students, not content).
  8. Effective use of time and maintaining students' attention (appropriate use of classroom management techniques).

Specific models:

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