Analysis (cont.)
Though the results for how differentiating instruction in multiple ways affects overall retention of the content material were unclear between Artifacts 4 and 8, I did find some interesting results as to how repetition of the content material affects the retention of content material. In both Artifact 4: VSEPR Theory and Artifact 8: Classifying Reactions, the content material was taught in three different ways, and then I surveyed students on which way they liked best and why. In Artifact 4: VSEPR Theory, 3 out of 15 students said that they preferred the video, 4 out of 15 students chose the mini-lecture, and 8 out of 15 students chose the lab (Artifact 4.1). This was interesting, as the first method of instruction was a video, the second was the in-class lecture, and the third was the lab, which supports that the majority of students liked the activity that was taught last.
In Artifact 8: Classifying Reactions, 6 out of 29 students chose the lecture as their method of instruction of choice, 8 out of 29 people chose the extended homework, and 15 out of 29 people chose the in-class problems (Artifact 8.2). This was really interesting, as I gave the mini-lecture on the different kinds of chemical reactions first, assigned the extended homework second, and then had them do in-class problems third. This also supports that the majority of students preferred the form of instruction that came last.
In both artifacts, the majority of people chose the method of instruction that came last, which leads me to wonder about the nature of retention—do students retain material best after it has been repeated a couple of times? Halpern & Hakel (2003) found that the more frequently information is retrieved, the more retrievable it becomes. In other words, the more often a subject is repeated to the learner, the more easily the learner remembers it. This may have been why most students chose the latter activities as their favorites to learn the information. In the future, I will thus try to loop back to material as often as possible so that students hear the same concepts over and over again in different manners, so as to increase their level of retention of the content material.
However, this majority choice of the last method of differentiation may also have been because in both cases, this was the one that involved the interpersonal intelligence, and this particular class may have a tendency towards group work as the majority of them chose this activity both times. For future research, it would be interesting to teach the same three activities in different orders to determine whether the order that the content is delivered in matters or whether it’s the manner that the content material is delivered in.
In Artifact 8: Classifying Reactions, 6 out of 29 students chose the lecture as their method of instruction of choice, 8 out of 29 people chose the extended homework, and 15 out of 29 people chose the in-class problems (Artifact 8.2). This was really interesting, as I gave the mini-lecture on the different kinds of chemical reactions first, assigned the extended homework second, and then had them do in-class problems third. This also supports that the majority of students preferred the form of instruction that came last.
In both artifacts, the majority of people chose the method of instruction that came last, which leads me to wonder about the nature of retention—do students retain material best after it has been repeated a couple of times? Halpern & Hakel (2003) found that the more frequently information is retrieved, the more retrievable it becomes. In other words, the more often a subject is repeated to the learner, the more easily the learner remembers it. This may have been why most students chose the latter activities as their favorites to learn the information. In the future, I will thus try to loop back to material as often as possible so that students hear the same concepts over and over again in different manners, so as to increase their level of retention of the content material.
However, this majority choice of the last method of differentiation may also have been because in both cases, this was the one that involved the interpersonal intelligence, and this particular class may have a tendency towards group work as the majority of them chose this activity both times. For future research, it would be interesting to teach the same three activities in different orders to determine whether the order that the content is delivered in matters or whether it’s the manner that the content material is delivered in.