Description
Differentiated instruction is a teaching method that requires instructors to change their teaching styles and educational materials to meet the diverse needs of learners within a classroom. It generally involves grouping learners into several sub-groups in the classroom based on ability, skill set, or learning preferences.
Advantages
- This strategy allows the instructor to more effectively address the diverse needs of learners in a large class.
- Differentiated instruction ensures that learning is personalized and that all students learn up to their potential.
Disadvantages
- Teachers sometimes utilize differentiation as a reason to water down the content. Differentiated instruction must be used in conjunction with high expectations to ensure all learners are working to their maximum potential.
Implementation
- Separate learners into three ability groups: Advanced, Middle, and Lower. The advanced learners can be given project-based learning tasks to complete while the instructor teaches the middle and lower groups the same concept but on a lower level of Bloom’s taxonomy.
- Provide learners with a range of tasks that address the same goal. Learners can select between different tasks depending on their learning preferences.
