Teacher-Centered Instruction - 1

DIRECT INSTRUCTION, EXPOSITORY TEACHING, AND

MASTERY LEARNING
By Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.
Minnesota State University, Mankato
andrew.johnson@mnsu.edu
www.OPDT-Johnson.com

This is an excerpt from my book: Making Connections in Elementary and Middle School
Social Studies (2010), published by SAGE

Mini-Lectures Related to Teacher-Centered Instruction

Direct Instruction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpdoH2i6HxY

Expository Teaching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZix_EqXrdg

Mastery Learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRUp949On6s

This chapter focuses on three instructional models all of which can be said to be teacher-
centered. Here the teacher designs and is primarily responsible for transmitting knowledge
directly to the students in a very controlled, sequential manner fully in control of all parts of the
lesson (Borich, 2006; Kauchack & Eggen, 1998). Described below are three types of teacher-
centered instructional models: Direction Instruction, Expository Teaching, and Mastery
Learning.

DIRECT INSTRUCTION
Direct instruction is a very structured form of teaching where students receive
information directly from a teacher. Here the responsibility for students’ learning rests firmly on
the teacher. The teacher he sets the purpose for the lesson, explains exactly what the students are
to learn, and evaluates learning based on students’ ability to replicate or regurgitate
predetermined knowledge or skills.
Direct Instruction Components
There are a variety of forms of direct instruction each of which includes some or all of
the following eight components described here:
1. Clearly defined objective. A clearly defined objective is a statement that describes
exactly what you want students to learn. As described in Chapter 3, objectives can be stated in

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 2

behavioral terms (a behavioral objective) or in cognitive terms (a cognitive objective). A clearly

stated objective defines the learning experience and provides focus for your lesson. You are not
simply designing an interesting experience or creating a fun activity; instead you are planning a
purposeful learning experience to teach a specific body of knowledge or set of skills.

EXAMPLE - BEHAVIORAL AND COGNITIVE OBJECTIVES

A behavioral objective would look something like this:

• Students will be able to identify and describe how the early Chippewa in
Minnesota got their food by writing a 3-paragraph essay that describes the
process.

• Students will demonstrate their learning by successfully describing how early

Chippewa in Minnesota got their food in a 2-minute small group speech.

A cognitive objective would look something like this:

• Students will learn about how early Chippewa in Minnesota got their food.

2. Orientation. Orientation occurs during the initial part of direct instruction. Here the
teacher tells students exactly what the lesson objective is and gives an overview or preview of
what is to come. This provides learners with the big picture so that they are able to contextualize
the information to come. Seeing the structure of what is to be learned (the big picture) helps
students process and encode new information. In contrast, simply presenting discrete bits of
information without a sense of context can be confusing especially to those students with a
limited knowledge base.
Orientation might also involve connecting new knowledge to old knowledge in order to
enhance students’ ability to understand and encode this new knowledge. To make this
connection a teacher may do a brief review of previously learned or relevant information.
Another connecting technique is the KWL chart (see EXAMPL below). Orientation should be
kept fairly brief (from one to three minutes in duration).

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 3

EXAMPLE - A KWL CHART

As part of her unit on Minnesota-based Native Americans, Ms. Jamison was teaching a lesson
on how the Chippewa Indians got their food in the days before white settlers. Before starting
nd
her lesson in her 2 grade classroom, Ms. Jamison puts a KWL chart on the board (see
below.). She asks students what they know about how about early Native American tribes’
food. Specifically, what they ate and how they got it. Their responses are listed in the first
column. She then asks students what they want to learn about this topic in the upcoming
lesson. These responses are listed in the middle column. At the end of the lesson, she asks
students to list things they have learned about this topic and check to see if anything in the
“know” column needs to be corrected. As students become familiar with this technique they
can eventually do their own KWL charts in small groups or individually learning logs or journals.
KWL chart.
Know Want Learn

The KWL chart is also an effective pre-reading activity to use when reading expository text
(informational text such as textbooks). The first two columns are filled in before reading.
Students are then asked to list three to five things in the last column after completing the
assigned reading. It is also a form of advanced organizer (see below).

3. Well-organized, sequentially planned lessons. The next component of direct

instruction is a lesson plan that is well-structured and designed to make optimal use of
instructional time. Effective planning enhances learning and reduces classroom management
issues (Freiberg & Driscoll, 1992). Lesson plans of any kind should contain the following: (a)
sequence of events, (b) the specific information given to students, (c) possible discussion
questions, and (d) activities used to manipulate in input or information. However, having a well-
organized lesson plan does not mean that you cannot deviate. It just means that a plan has been
developed before the learning experience began.
4. Input. The input is the specific information that you want students to know. If you
are teaching a skill (procedural knowledge) this would include a description of the skill, how to
use it, and the specific steps. If you are teaching a concept (declarative knowledge), this would
include the defining attributes and other background information that students need to know. In
each situation, the input for a direct instruction lesson should be well-organized with a logical
structure to enhance students’ assimilation and encoding of information (Rosenshine 1988). This
again, points to the importance of planning.
5. Guided practice. When teaching a concept guided practice involves having students
categorize the concept or manipulate the new information under the guidance or observation of
the teacher. The goal is for them to use, apply, or try out new content as the teacher monitors in
order to assess learning (formative assessment). Small group activities can be effective here
because they enable the teacher to see many students simultaneous and to hear their thought
processes as they discuss ideas with others. When teaching a skill guided practice involves the
teacher taking the whole class through each step the skill together.

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 4

EXAMPLE - Guided Practice

Guided practice for teaching a concept: Mr. Burns. Mr. Burns was teaching the concept of a
th
progressives and conservatives in regards to political views in his 7 grade civics class. He started
by giving the defining attributes of a progressive point of view. He presented both examples and
non-examples. He then gave defining attributes of a conservative point of view with examples and
non-examples. For guided practice, students were given a piece of legislation or an idea as part of
an in-class activity. In small group they had to decide if it more accurately reflected a progressive
or conservative view. At the end, students moved to large group and reported their conclusion with
two defining attributes that supported their group’s decision.
nd
Guided practice for teaching a skill: Ms Woodson. Ms. Woodson was teaching her 2 grade
students how to create a table to display information (one of the NCSS Essential Skills for Social
Studies). After identifying the steps and showing her class how to do this (modeling), she had the
whole class create a table together. Students were given thinking paper (scratch paper).
Information was put on the front board related to population and the cities in Minnesota. Along with
Ms. Woodson, each student put this information in table form. Ms. Woodson thought out loud
(cognitive modeling) so that students got a sense of what were to do are at each step and why.

6. Questions/Probing. Here, questions or other types of probing mechanism are used as

a form of formative assessment (as learning is forming). The goal is to check students’ level of
understanding.
7. Independent practice. Independent practice is the application of what students
already know or can do. It is used to reinforce the concept or skill taught. Here you want to
extend to apply the new knowledge or skill in some way. This is not the place to challenge
students; rather, this is the place for them to apply.

EXAMPLE – Independent Practice

Independent practice for teaching a concept: Mr. Burns. After the guided practice activity used
to help students learn about progressives and conservatives (above), Mr. Burns designed an
independent activity to reinforce what students had learned. Each student was given a work sheet
that contained descriptions of five different political proposals. The bottom of this worksheet
included two lists containing the defining attributes for each political view. Students were asked to
identify each proposal as progressive or conservative along with the defining attributes that
contributed to their decision.

Independent practice for teaching a skill: Ms Woodson. After the guided practice activity used
to help students learn how to create tables to display information (above), Ms. Woodson designed
an independent activity to reinforce what students had learned. Previously, students had conducted
five simple surveys at their school where they asked students to identify favorite desserts, movie,
TV shows, pets, and playground games. Ms. Woodson put the totals for each survey on a sheet of
paper and moved students into five small groups. In each, students worked to create a poster that
included a table that effectively displays this information.

8. Revisit, review, and reapply. Learning occurs over time. As learners encounter
concepts and skills in a variety of situations and settings, learning becomes more complete. For
example, if this is your first encounter with the concept of direction instruction, your
understanding is somewhat shallow and disjointed. As this concept is revisited in other contexts,
and as you are asked to use or reapply these things in other settings, your understanding will
continue to grow.

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 5

EXAMPLE – Revisit, review, and reapply

Revisit, review, and reapply a concept: Mr. Burns. Mr. Burns created a poster that had the list of
defining attributes for the two political perspectives. During the semester, he would periodically
refer to policies or perspectives found in current events. He would ask students to identify each as
progressive or conservative with supporting defining attributes.

Revisit, review, and reapply a skill: Ms. Woodson. During the rest of the school year, Ms.
Woodson continually looked for opportunities to have students create tables to display information.
For example, during reading class she had students count the number of adjectives, nouns, and
verbs contain in a short story. Students created tables to display this information.

Time in a Bottle
One goal of direct instruction is to use time efficiently and effectively. There are four
types of time related to teaching and learning (see Figure 5.1):
Allotted time. Allotted time is the time allotted to teach a specific subject. If social
studies class when from 1:00 to 2:05 the allotted time would be 65 minutes.
Instructional time. Instructional time is the time you are actually engaged in instruction.
This is the allotted time minus the transition time and time getting settled and organized to teach.
Time-on-task. The time on task (TOT) is the time students are actively engaged in
relevant learning tasks. Rather than sitting passively, students are doing something. They are
actively engaged in discussion, small group activities, practice, note-taking or something else.
However, students may be struggling with tasks that are too difficult for them or too easy.
Academic learning time. Academic learning time (ALT) is the time students are
successfully engaged in tasks that are relevant to the purpose of the lesson. ALT is different for
each student. It may be hard to get this information on an audiotape, however, instead, record
the time when differentiated strategies are used, such as tiered activities, agendas, literature
circles, group investigations, cooperative learning activities, or learning contracts (Tomlinson,
1995).
Through its tightly scripted design, various direct instructional models try to increase
learning by increasing TOT and ALT.

Figure 5.1. Levels of time.

academic learning time academic learning time

time-on-task

instructional time
time-on-task
allotted time
instructional time

allotted time

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 6

Using Direct Instruction to Teach Concepts

Much of your teaching life will involve teaching concepts. A concept is a unit of thought
that organizes ideas or experiences. It is the mental abstraction of a category. For example, the
following are concepts commonly found in social studies: freedom, change, empathy,
interdependence, fair, religion, immigrant, region, government, justice, democracy, wants and
needs, economic system, virtues, values, country, state, map, values, or environment.
Items within a concept share a set of essential characteristics or defining attributes.
Defining attributes are the features that make the thing a concept. For example, the defining
attributes of a country are (a) it has recognized boundaries or boarders, (b) it has a government
that runs the country and provides certain public services such as education and police, (c) it has
some sort of economy or system of money, and (d) it has sovereignty or makes decisions from
within the country.
Concept learning is being able to recognize valid examples of the concept. That is,
students can discriminate between valid and non-valid examples. To teach concepts using direct
instruction use the following steps:
1. Present a definition of the concept. Your definition should use words and concepts
with which students are familiar. In other words, use “kid language” instead of dictionary
language.

EXAMPLE: Defining a concept.

One rule of defining a concept is that you cannot use the word or a form of the
word in the definition.

Bad example: Freedom is the ability to be free.

Better example: Freedom is when you are able to make choices about what you
want to say or do

2. Present defining attributes of the concepts. Tell students that in order for it to be the
concept it must have all of the defining attributes. Concepts maps, sometimes called semantic
maps, can be used here. These are any type of visual representation of a concept that shows the
relationship among ordinate and subordinate parts. Concept maps can be used during the
teaching or as post-lesson activities.

Figure 5.2. Concept map.

ferry hydroplane
ship submarine
water
boat hovercraft

Transportation
space shuttle
subway
helicopter bicycle
air land
car
blimp
airplane bus motorcycle
glider train
balloon

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 7

3. Present positive examples of the concept. Most beginning teachers err in providing
too few examples. Students should be given many examples of the concept to be learned.
(Think of three as the minimum number of examples you must provide.) With each example,
emphasize the defining attributes (tell why the concept is the concept). An attribute chart can be
used here (see Figure 5.3). This is a table that has examples and non-examples concepts on the
vertical axis and the defining attributes along the horizontal axis on top.
4. Present negative examples of the concept. Students should be given some examples
of things that are similar to but are not the concept. Use the defining attributes to describe why
each example is not the concept. (Remember that all the defining attributes must be present for it
to be the concept.)
5. Use guided practice to identify concepts. Present both positive and negative
examples to students. Ask students to identify each and tell why it is or is not the concept and
provide feedback related to their responses. This acts as a type of formative assessment
(assessment while learning is still forming), that tells you if you need to re-teach any part of the
concept lesson.

Figure 5.3. Attribute Charts.

Concept: a need vs. a want

Can’t live without it Helps us stay alive Makes our life more We touch it every
enjoyable or better day
TV x
food x x x x
computer x
clothes x x x x
comb x x
school x
transportation x x x x

Concept: a virtue
Personal Nurtures or Can’t see it Causes us to
character trait helps others act
compassion x x x x
democracy x
capitalism x x
honesty x x x x
anger x x x
fortitude
rules x x
peacefulness x x x x
competitive x x x

6. Use independent practice to reinforce concept learning. Independent practice is

any activity that gets students using the concept. This sometimes takes the form of seatwork or
homework. Here students practice what they have already learned related to concepts. The

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 8

purpose of homework, seatwork, and other types of independent practice is to reinforce skills and
concepts already taught. Independent practice can be done individually or in small groups.
Using Direct Instruction to Teach Skills
To teach skills using direct instruction approach use the elements of effective skills
instruction (Johnson, 1999; Pressley, Harris, & Marks, 1992). These are described in detail in
Chapter 7.
EXPOSITORY TEACHING
Expository teaching, another form of direction instruction, has as its goal meaningful
verbal learning (Ausubel, 1960). Meaningful learning is when new information connects with
learners’ existing knowledge. The opposite of meaningful learning is rote learning, which is
learning without meaning (Ausubel, 1977). This occurs when new information does not connect
with any of learners’ existing knowledge.
Advance Organizers
Expository teaching is based on the assumption that well presented verbal input (lecture)
can be an effective form of teaching resulting in meaningful learning if the material presented is
organized and connected to things the learner already knows (Good & Brophy, 1995). One way
to help organize and connect new information is through the use of an advance organizer. An
advance organizer is any visual, verbal, or written material that depicts the material to be learned
at higher levels of abstraction. Presented at the very beginning of a lesson, it provides a very
general sense of the overall structure of the concept or material to be learned. According to
Ausubel (1977), the advance organizer has three main purposes:
• Highlight key points. Advance organizers can be used to direct students’ attention to
the important parts of the upcoming input. This gives students the big picture of what is to come
enabling them to put new facts and concepts in a meaningful context.
• Activate relevant knowledge. Advance organizers can also be used to remind students
of the relevant knowledge they already have. This enables them to make the connections
between the known and the new.
• Show relationships. Finally, advance organizes can be used to show the relationship
between important points described in the upcoming input. Put another way, you can create
structure to show the learner the superordinate, ordinate, and subordinate relationship between
key concepts.
Advance organizers take a variety of forms including: an outline; a quick verbal overview
that identifies the main points to be learned; a picture or graphic that shows the concept’s
ordinate, superordinate, and subordinate parts; concrete models; analogies; a discussion of the
main themes or ideas; KWL chart (see above); a set of defining attributes or higher order rules;
or a short abstract or summary of material to be learned or read. To be effective, advance
organizers must organize. That is, learners should be able to clearly see the structure of the
material to be learned. Figure 5.4 shows examples of two types of advanced organizers.

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 9

Figure 5.4. Advanced organizers used to show relationships.

Outline
I. SPORTS
1. Team Sports
a. softball
b. basketball
c. football
d. soccer
2. Individual Sports
a. golf
b. track
c. wresting
d. boxing

Semantic Map

sports individual
team sports
sports boxing

soccer
softball golf
wrestling
football

track
basketball

ball contact
sports sports

Steps of Expository Teaching

The steps of expository teaching using an advance organizer are as follows.
1. Show advance organizer. Start the lesson with an advance organizer that previews
the general principles to be learned. Briefly describe the learning objectives and alert students to
important key concepts.
2. Present input. Present the information students must know. When teaching a
concept, this is where the defining attributes are clearly established. The new material should be
presented in small, organized steps and logically sequenced. Signaling techniques should be
used to call learners’ attention to new information as it relates to the advanced organizer.
Student questions should be elicited at each step in order to promote active learning and to
ensure mastery.
3. Present examples and non-examples. After establishing the defining attributes,
present students with examples. Compare exams to the advance organizer to note the
similarities. Next, present non-examples. Ask students to point out the differences between the
examples and non-examples and to identify defining attributes not present in the non-example.
4. Review. Finish the lesson by reviewing the main points, again referencing the
advance organizer.

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 10

5. Extend and apply. Finally, design an activity or assignment that requires students to
describe the newly learned material in their own words or asks them to apply or extend the
information in new contexts.

MASTERY LEARNING
Mastery learning is based on the notion that given enough time and attention, most
students can master any learning objective (Woolfolk, 2007). Here, small learning objectives
are arranged in sequential order. Students must master one objective before proceeding on to the
next (Santrock, 2008). Although there are variations, mastery learning involves most or all of
the following steps:
• Given unit of study or performance standard, identify a goal or major learning outcome.
• Break the unit into small learning units with individual learning objectives for each.
• Specify a level of mastery for each learning objective (usually 80-90% on some sort of
test).
• Before teaching each small learning unit, inform students of the specific learning
objective and the criteria for meeting that objective (standard or level of mastery).
• Teach the small learning unit using direct instruction.
• Test for mastery.
• Include corrective feedback for students who fail to achieve mastery.
• Provide remediation for those who fail to achieve mastery. Remediation might include
supplemental materials (books, audio tapes, videos, or computer programs); peer tutoring;
tutoring by aids, paraprofessionals or parents; small group instruction, or other forms of re-
teaching.
• Students who achieve mastery progress to the next small learning unit. In some mastery
learning models, these students might also engage in enrichment activities or other parallel
exploratory activities until the majority of students are ready to progress on to the next small
learning unit.
• At the end of the unit, administer an end test is given to determine if students have
mastered the material at acceptable levels.
Other Forms
In some forms of Mastery Learning, students work individually without teacher
instruction. Here their instructional input is delivered on a computer screen, video or audio tape,
or in written form. Students then complete an assignment or take an individual test to determine
mastery. The teacher simply records scores on individual tests and assigns specific forms of
remediation or enrichment to unsuccessful students.
An Analysis of Mastery Learning
Mastery Learning is a standardized form of direct instruction (the same input is delivered
to all students). It is teacher-centered in that the teacher identifies the learning objectives,
delivers all the information, and directs all the actions. In Mastery Learning a specific
curriculum is identified along with specific scope and sequence of skills. As such, it defines
exactly what students are to learn, how they are to learn it, in what order they must do so. It is
structured and formulaic and in this way, it can limit learning. (If you define what must be, you
eliminate what might be.) While Mastery Learning can be effective in learning low level skills
and simple concepts, it is not effective in developing higher levels of learning and thinking.

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Teacher-Centered Instruction - 11

TOOLS IN THE TOOL BOX

Direct Instruction, Expository Teaching, and Mastery Learning are all necessary tools for
successful teachers. However, like any tool, their effectiveness is dependent on how it is used.
An incorrect use of any of these instructional models would be to any one as the only tool for
teaching and learning or to try to use them exactly as presented here. Each instructional strategy
should be adopted to fit a particular purpose and adapted to meet the needs of particular students.
Thus said, one of the limitations of teacher-centered instructional models is that they do
not account for the variability in students’ knowledge, ability, interests, and learning styles.
They tend to create only one type of learning experience and thus, impede other types of
learning. They also define the learning experience fairly tightly and thus, limit learning only to
that which is defined.

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.