As I read the Merrill piece I remembered things that I had been taught to do when preparing lesson plans in mathematics. The similarity between my lesson planning instruction and Merrill’s Five Principles of Instruction is uncanny. To prepare a lesson I was taught to demonstrate the lesson, have the students apply the lesson, then give them a task to perform and relate the entire lesson to a real world situation. The prior knowledge principle is always incorporated in lesson planning. It is interesting how closely related my lesson planning instructions and Merrill’s principles of instruction are.
Going into my 11th year of teaching I see myself as a behaviorist in some respect because I am focusing on my students ‘outward behavior’ in class as I deliver instruction. I know by their ‘blank stare’ that they are not getting the lesson and I will adapt the lesson accordingly. In my planning stages of instruction I am a pragmatic eclectic. I will use any type of lesson from any philosophy as long as it works. If it does not work I don’t use it again. I like the cognitive perspective but I believe that the cognitive approach is more aligned with curriculum design than classroom delivery of that curriculum. And I am a classroom teacher.
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Sounds like some obvious connections to the reading were raised for you. I'm curious then to hear that as a behaviorist (in some respects), do you think Merrill's 5 Principles apply only (or best) to behaviorist models of instruction?
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