Creating Learning Experiences: The Role of Instructional Theory and Research

Teachers make no more important decisions than those that create learning

experiences for students. Those decisions shape the learning strategies, social interaction, and

content that will be brought to the students.

Bruce Joyce and Emily Calhoun discuss the models of teaching that teachers can draw from as

they create learning environments. The authors organize the models, discuss their uses, examine

the research that has tested the models, and provide scenarios that illustrate how such models can

be used in real classrooms.

Some models are designed to accomplish specific objectives, such as teaching students to form

and attain concepts; some have generic applications that adapt to a range of learning styles and

curriculum areas. School faculties can use the models to reshape a school's curriculum and

instructional program, while the study of a single model can help teachers become reflective

action researchers in their classrooms.