Format |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Individualized Instruction |
“Mastery model” accommodates variation in learning pace; works well where mastery of specified material is desired. |
Large groups (200+) are a managerial challenge. |
Person is active participant throughout learning process. |
Procrastination is problem for persons without high motivation. |
Effective in cognitive domain. |
Doesn’t routinize peer interaction; therefore probably less effective for attitude change. |
Person gets immediate feedback, help on individual basis. |
Unit structure de-emphasizes interrelatedness of subject matter unless extreme care is taken in designing materials. |
Allows easy application of variety of instructional media. |
|
Format |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Tutorial
|
Allows instructor to be responsive to each participant. |
Inefficient, takes much time. |
Learner interacts and participates. |
|
Tutoring one’s peers results in greater learning for the tutor. |
|
Format |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Small Groups: Learner-Centered |
Highly effective for attitude change and high-level cognitive mastery, long-term retention |
Rate of transfer of specific content relatively slow and unreliable. |
Promotes much interaction with peers. |
Large class requires careful planning and management. |
Motivation comes from peers, not the instructor. |
Methodology requires a “trained” instructor or facilitator. |
Participants learn to collaborate to solve a problem. |
Difficult to evaluate the progress of an individual separately from the progress of the group. |
Format |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Small Groups: Seminars |
Easy to implement, good compromise with many of advantages of large groups, small groups, and individualized instruction. |
Not as cost-effective as small groups, individualized instruction, or lectures in situations for which these formats are best suited. |
Makes for congenial learner-learner interaction without need for facilitator trained in group activities. |
Groups must be small for effectiveness. |
Leader can make “lecturette,” and small size allows for questions by participants and tailoring of presentations to their reactions and needs. |
Requires motivated, interested participants for lively sessions. |
Learners are often active participants, making presentations on specific topics. |
|
Especially useful for workshops or groups meeting informally or infrequently. |
|
Format |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Large Group (Lecture/Discussion) |
Careful, lucid presentation of material. |
No better than a given instructor on a given day. Can’t accommodate individual differences well (so participant attention often wanders). |
Participants see professional mind at work. |
Learner is passive. |
Effectively conveys “low-level” information and skills. |
Conveys “high-level” information and skills poorly. |
Accepted format by educational community (teachers and students). |
Limited opportunity for questions (and one person’s questions often not of interest to others). |
Economical. |
Practice opportunities relatively limited; feedback often slow. |
Format |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Experiential |
Person gets bona fide taste of professional life, a chance to experience the responsibility and variety of pressures to which professional is vulnerable. |
A supervisor needed for each participant; time-consuming. |
Participants learn not every problem is solvable, that failure is a necessary companion to success in any scholarly endeavor. |
Participant is additional person dependent on support facilities of lab or department. |
Participant has opportunity for hands-on “learning by doing.” |
|
Learner has the opportunity to integrate and apply knowledge and skills |
|
Choose… |
When… |
Small group….
|
…it is important that experiences be shared and multiple viewpoints discussion explored. |
Lecture…
|
…it is necessary to provide new information quickly to a large group. |
Lecture…
|
…to illustrate how at least one person is able to wrestle with a large amount of information and integrate
and make sense out of it. |