Author
Charles
Reigeluth (Indiana University)
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Goals & Preconditions
- The primary
goal of this theory is to help select and sequence content
in a way that will optimize attainment of learning goals. It is intended
for medium to complex kinds of cognitive and psychomotor learning,
but does not currently deal with content that is primarily in the
affective domain.
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Values
- Elaboration
Theory (ET) values a sequence of instruction that is as holistic as
possible, to foster meaning-making and motivation
- It allows learners
to make many scope and sequence decisions on their own during the
learning process
- It is an approach
that facilitates rapid protolyping in the instructional development
process
- It integrates
viable approaches to scope and sequence into a coherent design theory.
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Methods
1) Conceptual
elaboration sequence
- Use this approach
when the goals call for learning many related concepts.
- Teach broader,
more inclusive concepts before the narrower, more detailed concepts
that elaborate upon them.
- Use either
a topical or a spiral approach to this conceptual elaboration.
- Teach "supporting"
content (principles, procedures, information, higher-order thinking
skills, attitudes, etc.) together with the concepts to which they
are most closely related.
- Group concepts
and their supporting content into "learning episodes" that
aren 't so large as to make review and synthesis difficult but aren't
so small as to break up the flow of.the learning process.
- Give students
some choi~ as to which concepts to elaborate upon first/n ext.
2) Theoretical
elaboration sequence
- Use this approach
when the goals callfor learning many related principles.
- Teach broader
more inclusive principles before the narrowe, more detailed ones that
elaborate upon them.
- Use either a
topical or a spiral approach to this theoretical elaboration.
- Teach "supporting"
content (concepts, procedures, information, higher-order thinking
skills, attitudes, etc.) together with the principles to which they
are most closely related.
- Group principles
and their supporting content into "learning episodes."
- Give students
some choice as to which principles to elaborate upon first/next.
3) Simplifying
conditions sequence
- Use this approach
when the goals callfor learning a task of at least moderate complexity.
- Teach a simpler
version of a task (that is still fairly representative of all versions)
before teaching progressively more complex versions.
- Use either a
topical or a spiral approach to this simplifying conditions sequence.
- For procedural
tasks focus on teaching steps; for heuristic tasks focus on teaching
principles; and for combination tasks teach both steps and principies--in
accordance with the way experts think about the task.
- Teach "supporting"
content together with the steps and/or principles to which they are
most closely related.
- Group steps/principles
and their supporting content into "learning episodes."
- Give students
some choice as to which versions of the task to learn next.
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Major Contributions
- ET provides
detailed guidance for designing holistic sequences for several kinds
of course content. It also provides guidance for scope and sequence
decisions for heuristic tasks, including heuristic task analysis methods
Additional Resources
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