Model-centered instruction: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:29, 27 July 2007

Revision as of 19:34, 3 September 2007

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{{Wikify|date=December 2006}}

{{Orphan|date=November 2006}}

'''Model-centered instruction''' is a general theory of [[instructional design]] developed by Andrew S. Gibbons.<ref>Gibbons, A. S., Model-Centered Instruction. ''Journal of Structural Learning and Intelligent Systems''. 14: 511-540, (1)2001.</ref> This theory can be used to design individual and group instruction for all kinds of learning in any type of learning environment. In addition, this theory may be used to design instruction with a wide variety of technologies and media delivery systems.

==Theory Summary==

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According to the theory of model-centered instruction, there are three types of models: (a) a natural or manufactured cause-effect '''system''', (b) an '''environment''' in which one or more systems operate, or (c) an '''expert performance'''—a set of purposeful, goal-driven actions that causes changes within systems and environments. These three types of models—system, environment, and expert performance--form a comprehensive framework for the representation and communication of subject-matter information in any ___domain.

When learners interact with complex objects or models, they sometimes need assistance in discovering and processing information. Instructional designers can guide learners by introducing problems to be solved in a sequence that may be partially or fully determined by the learner. Gibbons defines a '''problem''' as “a request for information about an incompletely known model. A problem is a request for the learner…to supply one or more of the model’s behaviors, elements, or interrelations that are missing”. <ref>Gibbons, A. S., Model-Centered Instruction. ''Journal of Structural Learning and Intelligent Systems''. 14: 511-540, (1)2001.</ref> Problems act as filters or masks that focus learner attention on specific information about the objects or models. Problems also trigger learning processes used in the construction of mental models. As problems are solved in sequence, learners process more information and construct more comprehensive and useful mental models.

== Principles of Model-Centered Instruction ==

Gibbons has defined seven principles that summarize the general design prescriptions of model-centered instruction. <ref>Gibbons, A. S., Model-Centered Instruction. ''Journal of Structural Learning and Intelligent Systems''. 14: 511-540, (1)2001.</ref> These principles are related to the overall instructional purposes, subject-matter content, and instructional strategies of model-centered instruction. Key ideas related to designing, selecting, and sequencing problems can also be found in these principles. In addition, these principles provide guidance in how to provide supportive information, physical materials, tools, and personalized assistance to the learner. These principles, as defined by Gibbons, are listed below.

1. '''Experience''': Learners should be given maximum opportunity to interact for learning purposes with one or more systems or models of systems of three types: environment, system, and/or expert performance. The terms model and simulation are not synonymous; models can be expressed in a variety of computer-based and non-computer-based forms.

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==References==

<references/>

(1) Gibbons, A. S., Model-Centered Instruction. ''Journal of Structural Learning and Intelligent Systems''. 14: 511-540, 2001.

[[Category:Educational philosophy]]

[[Category:Pedagogy]]