RESEARCH PAPER TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in EDLE & CUIN
EDUC 5312: CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

Name: Nehal El Gohary Date: 4/14/2021

Instructional Project 3

Part 1. DISCOVERY LEARNING:

What is discovery learning?

Discovery Learning was introduced by Jerome Bruner, and is a method of Inquiry-Based Instruction. This
popular theory encourages learners to build on past experiences and knowledge, use their intuition,
imagination and creativity, and search for new information to discover facts, correlations and new truths.

Discovery learning is a technique of inquiry-based learning and is considered a constructivist based

approach to education. It is also referred to as problem-based learning, experiential learning and 21st centu
learning. It is supported by the work of learning theorists and psychologists Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner,
and Seymour Papert.

“Piaget’s research clearly mandates that the learning environment should be rich in physical experiences.
Involvement, he states, is the key to intellectual development, and for the elementary school child this
includes direct physical manipulation of objects.”

Discovery learning encompasses an instructional model and strategies that focus on active, hands-on learn
opportunities for students (Dewy, 1916/1977; Piaget, 1954/1973). Bicknell-Holmes and Hoffman (2000)
describe the three main attributes of discovery learning as:
1- Exploring and problem solving to create, integrate and generalize knowledge.
2- Student driven, interest-based activities in which the student determines the sequence and frequency.
3 Activities to encourage integration integration of new knowledge into the learner’s existing knowledge bas

How does this form of teaching compare to traditional, teacher-centered instruction?

Discovery learning is not like traditional classroom learning. It consists of three main attributes (Bicknell-
Holmes & Hoffman, 2000):
- Through exploration and problem solving students create, integrate, and generalize knowledge.
- Student driven, interest-based activities which the student determines the sequence and frequency.
- Activities to encourage integration of new knowledge into the learner’s existing knowledge base.

The five major differences between discovery learning and traditional learning are (Bonwell, 1998; Mosca
Howard 1997; Papert, 2000):

- Learning is active rather than passive.

- Learning is process-based rather than fact-based.
- Failure is important.
- Feedback is necessary.
- Understanding is deeper.

Traditional instruction, as the name implies, focuses on how the instructor teaches. ... Discovery learnin
on the other hand, promotes a student-based philosophy in which the instructor takes on the non-
traditional role of mentor or coach, leaving the students to discover solutions for themselves.
Retrieved from http://www.csun.edu/~ksc63842/Posistion_paper.pdf

A study conducted by Hake (1998) focused particularly on introductory physics and found similar results. It
known that conceptual understanding is vital to obtaining a working knowledge of Newtonian physics. The
findings of Hake’s study confirmed the suspicions of the pro discovery-learning contingent. Hake found tha
discovery learning “enhanced problem solving skills” (p. 70). Additionally, there was no connection betwee
perceived skill of the instructor and ability to implement successful traditional instruction. “Even the best
professors were unable to impart conceptual change” (p. 70) when using the traditional method. Hake’s data
demonstrated that enhancing conceptual understanding in an introductory physics class Discovery Learning
Traditional Instruction 6 using only traditional, lecture-based methods is bound to be less successful than
discovery learning. (Hake, 1998) In light of such data, one may question why traditional instruction was
implemented in the first place. However, traditional instruction should not be immediately discounted.
Traditional instruction still had its devote followers, and they would not back down from the debate. Mayer,
for one, refused to accept the acieration that discovery learning, in its purest, unrestricted form, could
realistically benefit students.

Opponents of constructivism claim that students are unable to construct their own knowledge without the
necessary background experiences. When students enter introductory science classes, they rarely have relev
and correct experiences with the topic. Thus, letting the students loose in the classroom will only result in an
increase in misconceptions. Often times teachers spend as much time, if not more, trying to clarify
misconceptions than they do teaching actual content. Students who lack the necessary background knowledg
will not only perpetuate their misconceptions, they will ground their conclusions in false pretense. Discover
learning could actually be a detriment to learning. Upon further investigation, Mayer introduced the univers
beneficial middle ground; guided inquiry.

What educational theories support the discovery learning model?

The Discovery Learning Model integrates the following 5 principles:

 Principle 1: Problem Solving.

Instructors should guide and motivate learners to seek for solutions by combining existing and
newly acquired information and simplifying knowledge. This way, learners are the driving force
behind learning, take an active role and establish broader applications for skills through activitie
that encourage risks, problem-solving and probing.

 Principle 2: Learner Management.

 Instructors should allow participants to work either alone or with others, and learn at their own
pace. This flexibility makes learning the exact opposite of a static sequencing of lessons and
activities, relieves learners from unnecessary stress, and makes them feel they own learning.
 Principle 3: Integrating and Connecting.
Instructors should teach learners how to combine prior knowledge with new, and encourage the
to connect to the real world. Familiar scenarios become the basis of new information, encouragi
learners to extend what they know and invent something new.
 Principle 4: Information Analysis and Interpretation.
Discovery learning is process-oriented and not content-oriented, and is based on the assumptio
that learning is not a mere set of facts. Learners in fact learn to analyze and interpret the acquire
information, rather than memorize the correct answer.
 Principle 5: Failure and Feedback.
Learning doesn’t only occur when we find the right answers. It also occurs through failure.
Discovery learning does not focus on finding the right end result, but the new things we discove
the process. And it’s the instructor’s responsibility to provide feedback, since without it learning
incomplete.

The Discovery Learning Model Techniques

The discovery learning educational sessions should be well-designed, highly experiential and interactive.
Instructors should use stories, games, visual aids and other attention-grabbing techniques that will build
curiosity and interest, and lead learners in new ways of thinking, acting and reflecting.
The techniques utilized in Discovery Learning can vary, but the goal is always the same, and that is the
learners to reach the end result on their own. By exploring and manipulating situations, struggling with
questions and controversies, or by performing experiments, learners are more likely to remember concepts
and newly acquired knowledge.

What is the most important thing you discovered about discovery learning?

One of the most important things that I discovered about discovery teaching is that it can be applie
to teaching mathematics. In Berbman’s words “….the discovery method develops interest in
mathematics, and power in mathematical thinking. Because of the students’ independence of rote
rules and routines, it also develops a versatility in applying mathematics” (1, pp. 38-39).
Most math teachers ask the students to stay in their seats during explanation. However, with
discovery teaching, the teacher acts as a conductor by directing the learning activities for students
that they can discover for themselves the desired mathematical goals. It is not an easy technique,
but at the same time, it is something attainable.

Part 2. ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS:

Chapter 2- Teaching Diverse Students

1. Teaching all students. Remember that a teacher’s job is to teach all students and assume an
attitude that all students can learn. Research techniques and strategies that can be used to
accomplish this task. Sources of information include the library, the Internet, current journals, and
recent books.

Children know how to learn in more ways than we know how to teach them.
—Ronald Edmonds (1991)

Good instruction is good instruction, regardless of students' racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds.
a large extent, good teaching—teaching that is engaging, relevant, multicultural, and appealing to various
modalities and learning styles—works well with all children.
Despite much progress during the past few decades, racism and prejudice are still ugly realities in all life
sectors in the United States, including education. Today, racism may be less overt and virulent than in the
past, but its effects can still significantly harm minority students. Subtle, insidious forms of racism may be
even more harmful to young people than more blatant forms.
Prejudice against the poor, of whatever race or ethnicity, is another force that works against disadvantaged
students' academic achievement. For example, some teachers of poor students don't let them take materia
home out of fear that the materials will never be returned. Yet these same students tend to be proud to hav
the responsibility for taking materials home and are generally exceedingly careful to return them.
Teachers must avoid discriminating, consciously or unconsciously, against students because of their racial
ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds. Such discrimination can be as blatant as imposing harsher disciplin
on minority students or as subtle as lowering expectations for poor children because they have "difficult" ho
lives. Teachers must be aware that they see students' behavior through the lens of their own culture. They
must carefully examine their attitudes and behaviors to ensure they are not imposing a double standard. M
important, they must believe sincerely and entirely that all children can learn.
Educators must hold equally high expectations for affluent white students and poor and minority students—
despite the disparity in students' backgrounds. Under the right conditions, low-income and minority student
can learn just as well as any other children. One necessary condition, of course, is that the teacher hold
expectations of high performance for all students.
Both high and low expectations can create self-fulfilling prophecies. Students must believe that they can
achieve before they will risk trying, and young people are astute at sensing whether their teachers believe
they can succeed. By the same token, teachers must truly believe their students can achieve before they w
put forth their best effort to teach them. The teacher's beliefs must be translated into instructional practices
students are to benefit: actions speak louder than attitudes.
Teachers must also be sensitive to the subtle ways in which low expectations can be conveyed. According
researcher Sandra Graham of the University of California–Los Angeles, when a teacher expresses sympat
over failure, students typically infer that the teacher thinks they are incapable of succeeding, not that they
simply may not have tried hard enough. Similarly, when a teacher gives students lavish praise for completin
a simple task or offers help before being asked for it, students infer that the teacher thinks they are stupid.
In other words, holding high expectations is not simply a matter of cheerleading; it requires insight into how
students may interpret a teacher's words and behaviors.
Teachers must also resist the temptation to attribute student failure to lack of ability ("I've taught this conce
and they didn't understand it; they must not be smart enough"). Failure to learn can stem from many other
causes, such as inadequate prior knowledge, insufficient effort or motivation, lack of the right learning
strategy, or inappropriate teaching. The bottom line is this: if students are not learning, the teacher needs to
change the approach to teaching them.
Teachers are not the only ones who need to examine their expectations for students, however. Administrat
who decide what courses their schools offer should ask themselves whether they are providing too few
challenging courses. And counselors must consider whether they are steering students into undemanding
courses because the students are poor, minority, or female. The expectation that all students can achieve a
high levels, under the right circumstances, should be the guiding principle of every school.

Furthermore, Public Law 94-142 (PL 94-142) and its successors require that an individual education
plan (IEP) be written for every student with special needs. These IEPs describe the student’s abilities,
educational and socioemotional needs, developmental level, and academic/behavioral expectations. They
also identify required instructional modifications and accommodations (Rothstein, Rothstein, & Johnson
2010). Teachers use this information to practice differentiated instruction, or customize their instruction
delivery to address the needs of all students.
Teachers differentiate instruction by modifying the instructional delivery and assignments. For exam
they create outlines, concept maps, and other visual aids for students who have difficulty processing comp
concepts. Teachers record step-by-step instructions for students who are struggling in science labs, while
using a traditional lab approach with general education students.
In language arts classes, teachers use recorded books, leveled readers, or optical readers to share quality
literature with challenged readers. During the writing process, students who have motor difficulties record th
stories or have scribes. Primary grade children are encouraged to express themselves through multiple si
systems (pictures, numbers, letters, and pseudo-writing). Emergent and beginning writers create
language experience stories with the teacher. In math class, struggling students use hands-on manipulative
to demonstrate mathematical concepts; they can also write math problems, one digit per square, on graph
paper. Other examples of lesson modifications include modified worksheets, individualized instruction
specialized software, modified assignments, peer tutors, study guides, oral or hands-on exams, and
assistive technology. Some school districts help teachers create differentiated assignments by developin
classroom modification plans for school use.

2. Intelligence profile. Evaluate your own intelligence profile according to Gardner. In what frame
of mind (intelligence areas) do you come out strongest?

I have taken an online test to check my multiple intelligences percentages and scores.
Here are my results:
So, based on those results, I got 100% in Logical/Mathematical Intelligence. So, I am typically methodical a
think in logical or linear order. I may be adept at solving math problems in my head and I am drawn to logic
puzzles and games.
I got 94% in Intrapersonal Intelligence. So, I am good at being aware of my own emotional states, feelings,
and motivations. I tend to enjoy self-reflection and analysis, including daydreaming, exploring relationships
with others, and assessing their personal strengths.
And I got 91% in Visual/Spatial Intelligence. This refers to my ability to perceive, analyze, and
understand visual information in the world around them. Essentially, I can picture concepts with my mind's
eye. People with this learning style tend to think visually and often prefer learning the same way. They are
good at seeing the "big picture," but they sometimes overlook the details.

Part 3. REFERENCES:

Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_learning

Invention Land Institute. (2018, April 23). Discovery Learning Method

https://inventionlandinstitute.com/discovery-learning-method

Pappas, C. (2014, October 8). 3 Minutes to read. elearning Industry

https://elearningindustry.com/discovery-learning-model#:~:text=Discovery%20Learning%20was%20introduced%20by,facts%2C
%20correlations%20and%20new%20truths.

Boeckmann, H. (1971, October). The Discovery Approach Strategy for Mathematics Teachers.  
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1949-8594.1971.tb09833.x
Paper presented at the annual CASTM Convention, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November, 1969.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1949-8594.1971.tb09833.x

Robert W. (2008). Educating Everybody's Children: Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners,
Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition. Virginia, USA.
Chapter 1. Educating Everybody's Children: We Know What Works—And What Doesn't.

Multiple Intelligence test is retrieved from:

https://alis.alberta.ca/careerinsite/know-yourself/multiple-intelligences-quiz/