Differentiated Instruction for Science Years 7 & 8

1.0 Aim

The aim of the Guidelines on Differentiated Instruction for Science Years 7 & 8 is to
give professional suggestions to practicing science teachers on the extent of the
syllabus taught. It is envisaged that this endeavour will improve the quality of
teaching and learning in schools by addressing the needs of every individual learner
in the mixed ability classroom.

2.0 Objectives

The Guidelines on Differentiated Instruction for Science Years 7 & 8 will allow
teachers to practise the philosophy of differentiated instruction. Through the
implementation of differentiated instruction, teachers should be able to:

• plan lessons that meet the needs of academically, linguistically and culturally
diverse learners;
• teach efficiently in the ways that students best learn; and
• treat students fairly and justly as well as creating equal opportunities for every
student to be successful, in other words equity.

In order to effectively meet the demands of diverse learners in a mixed ability

classroom, teachers must focus on equity.

3.0 Differentiated Instruction

3.1 Introduction

Teachers need to carry out differentiated instruction for the following reasons:

• Every student has different learning styles and is thus different from one
another;
• Every student is at different readiness level; and
• Every student wants to succeed.

Thus, differentiated instruction is “responsive“ teaching rather than “one-size-fits-all”

teaching.

A rationale for differentiated instruction comes from, research and educational

common sense. Many, if not most classrooms have students representing both
genders, different cultures, students who do not speak English as a first language
and generally have students with a range of exceptionalities and markedly different
experiential backgrounds. These students almost certainly will work at differing
readiness levels, have varying interests and learn in a variety of ways.

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 Based on theory and research (Ellis and Worthington, 1994; McAdamis, 2001;
Bender, W.N. 2002), classrooms using differentiated instruction can meet the needs
of most students. When implementing differentiated instruction, teachers need to be
flexible in their approach to teaching and adjusting the presentation of information to
learners rather than expecting students to modify themselves for the curriculum.
Classroom teaching is a blend of whole-class, group and individual instruction

3.2 What is Differentiated Instruction?

A fuller definition of differentiated instruction is that a teacher proactively plans

varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and / or
how they can express what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that
each student will learn as much as he or she can as efficiently as possible.
(Tomlinson, 2003, p.151)

In other words, differentiation can show us how to teach the same standards to a
range of learners by employing a variety of teaching and learning modes.
(Tomlinson, 2000, pp. 8-9)

Differentiated instruction is a teaching theory based on the premise that instructional

approaches should vary and be adapted to meet the needs of a mixed ability
classroom.

The intent of differentiating instruction is to maximise each student’s learning growth

by recognising students varying background knowledge (readiness), language
proficiency, preferences in learning, interests and to react responsively.

The table which is adapted from Ontario Ministry of Education (2004), summarises
the main characteristics of a differentiating instruction model classroom.

No. Differentiated instruction Differentiated instruction does not

does include include
1. • Every student is learning the • Every student is not learning something
same thing but in different different.
ways and at different levels. • Every student does not need to be taught
individually.
2. • Use flexible grouping to meet • Using groups that never change or isolating
needs of students. struggling students within the class.
3. • If you have classroom • Disorderly and undisciplined student activity.
management problems, you
need to solve them before you
can begin to differentiate
instruction.
4. • Make small changes at one • Making too many changes at one time.
time. Then, nothing works because teachers can’t
focus on a large number of new things at
one time, so they give up trying.
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3.3 Elements of Differentiated Instruction

There are three elements of differentiated instruction. Therefore, you can

differentiate:

i) Content

The content refers to what the students need to learn. The content of
instruction should address the same concepts with all students but should be
adjusted by degree of complexity for the diverse learners in the classroom.

ii) Process

The process refers to the methods of delivering the instructions in order to

impart knowledge to students. For examples tiered assignments, flexible
grouping, scientific enquiry approach, etc.

iii) Product

Product refers to how a student demonstrates what he or she has learnt. The
product can take the form of both formative and summative assessments.
Some examples of formative assessments include interviews, oral
presentations, performance based assessments, rubrics, portfolios, etc.

Teachers can differentiate instruction according to the students’ readiness, interests

and learning profile.

Readiness is the current knowledge, understanding and skill level a student has
related to a particular sequence of learning. It is important to note that readiness is
not merely a synonym for general ability level but rather it reflects what a student
knows, understands and can do today in light of what the teacher is planning to
teach today.

Interests refer to what a student enjoys learning about, thinking about and doing. In
differentiating instruction according to students’ interest, a teacher attempts to
increase the likelihood that any given lesson or project is at once highly engaging
and personally meaningful for each student in the class.

A learning profile is a students’ preferred mode of learning. When differentiating

instruction, a teacher needs to consider the students’ preferred learning style
(visual, auditory, tactile or kinesthetic), grouping preferences (individual, small group
or large group) and environment preferences (lots of space or quiet area to work).

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4.0 Suggestions on How to Use the Guidelines on Differentiated Instruction for
Science Years 7 & 8

The following are steps to be taken to ensure that differentiation can be attained or
achieved by teachers:

• Learning Pathways

Students are categorised into three learning pathways. The three learning
pathways for students are:

i) “Must do” group of students who are struggling with the concept;
ii) “Should do” group of students who have some understanding of the
concept; and
iii) “Could do” group of students who understand the concept.

Figure 1 below illustrates the three learning pathways.

Key Concepts and

process skills

Must do group : Should do Could do group :

students who are group: students student who
struggling with who have some understand the
the concept understanding of concept
the concept

Figure 1

Adapted from Carol Tomlinson (1995) How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability
Classroom

• Optional Learning Objectives

Some objectives are indicated as optional in the document of Guidelines of

Differentiated Instruction for Years 7 & 8 (page 11-27). Teachers should use
their professional judgement and discretion to decide whether or not to teach the
optional objectives to the must do group.
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 • Team Work

Teachers should work together to produce relevant teaching resources and

share the resources. Reading about examples of differentiated instruction and
discussing with colleagues and other teachers who are practicing differentiated
instruction can be very enlightening. However, teachers need to bear in mind
that what works in one context may not work in another context.

Much of the planning and preparation should be done before a teacher begins to
teach a class. Diagnostic and formative assessment, tiered assignments, flexible
grouping strategies, etc should be carefully prepared well in advance.

Differentiated instruction does not negate the need for activities in which all
students are working on the same learning task at the same time, whether
individually, in small groups or as a whole class. However, within a differentiated
framework, a teacher will frequently choose to assign tasks of different levels of
difficulty to different students based on observations of students in the class. For
example, some students may require remedial activities while others need
extension activities. With practice, the teacher can respond to such diverse
needs on the spot.

5.0 Procedure on How to Plan for Differentiated Instruction

Step 1: Know Your Students

Survey the ability levels, interests and learning styles of students. This can be done
by performing pretests. Pretests may take various forms of which some are
mentioned below.

• Formal test (teacher prepared pretests);

• Oral assessments e.g. questioning ;
• Picture interpretation;
• Diagram labeling;
• Problem solving scenarios;
• Prediction;
• Teacher observation / checklist;
• Show of hands to determine understanding;
• Completing concept maps;
• KWL charts (What I Know, What I Would Like to Know, What Have I Learnt);
and
• Past record of student performance

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It is also important to know your students informally. This can be done by using an
interest inventory, conducting an interview or asking students to respond to a
questionnaire with key questions about their learning preferences. Sometimes
knowing students’ preferences can help motivate students to attend to any tasks
assigned.

Step 2: Have a Repertoire of Teaching Strategies

It is imperative that teachers use a variety of teaching strategies since “one size
does not fit all”. Some of the strategies that can be deployed are direct instruction,
science by enquiry, cooperative learning, constructivism, etc.

The important thing to remember is to use teaching strategies that will facilitate the
understanding of students. It is also about taking risks and trying teaching and
learning strategies that you would have otherwise ignored. These are exciting times
for the teaching profession since we are faced with a generation of learners who are
challenging us to think about how we deliver instruction.

Step 3: Identify a Variety of Instructional Activities

Teachers can tier the activities according to the readiness level of students. The
diagram below illustrates how to plan tiered assignments.

• Create on-level tasks first and then adjust the level of difficulty up and down.

Below - Level Tasks for On-Level tasks Above-Level Tasks

for students struggling for students who have for students who
with the concepts (Must some understanding understand the
do group) of concept (Should do concept (Could do
group) group)

Adjust the levels of difficulty

of the tasks

Adapted from Carol Tomlinson (1995) How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability
Classroom

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When tiering assignments, besides adjusting the levels of difficulty the teachers
would have to adjust the followings:

 Level of complexity of the content;

 Amount of structure / Number of steps;
 Materials;
 Time allocated for completing the task;
 Form of expression; and
 Level of Dependence.

• Use flexible grouping and small-group instruction. In flexible grouping, the

grouping should not be stagnant. Therefore, frequent regrouping should occur.
Students will benefit from interacting together when working on tasks such as
practical activity, written assignment, problem-solving activity, etc.

• Have a variety of materials, resources and texts available for student use. Well
prepared teachers can give additional assignments to students who may
complete their work before the allocated time. These additional assignments are
known as anchor activities, (Tomlinson,1995).

• For visual learners use appropriate graphic organisers. Some examples of

graphic organisers are:

i) An example of Fishbone Mapping

Cause 1 Cause 2

Detail Detail

Result

Detail Detail

Cause 3 Cause 4

Figure 2

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ii) An example of Chain of Events

First Event

Second Event

Final Event

Figure 3

iii) An example of Continuum

Low High

Figure 4

iv) An example of Compare and Contrast

Name 1 Name 2

Attribute 1

Attribute 2

Attribute 3

Figure 5

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v) An example of a Cycle

1 3

Figure 6

vi) An example of cluster

Figure 7

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 vii) An example of Spider Diagram
Main Idea
Detail

Topic /
Concept

Figure 8

Step 4: Identify Ways to Evaluate Students’ Progress

Varying modes of assessment is necessary if students are to be given opportunities

to demonstrate authentic learning. A variety of assessment modes can include
portfolios, rubrics, performance based assessment, etc.

With these general principles in mind, determination to succeed and with patience,
teachers can find what teaching strategies work best for their students. All it takes is
practice.

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