The Gerlach and Ely Instructional Model

The Gerlach and Ely Instructional Model

by Edora Leezia binti Alias

Introduction

Vermon S. Gerlach and Donald P. Ely created the Gerlach and Ely model with the idea that the average teacher was an instructional designer (Grabowski, 2!". #his model was created to $ocus on hel%ing teachers to understand the level and needs o$ their learners, there$ore are able to %lan teaching and learning activities that are best suitable $or the learners. &ccording to Grabowski (2!", Dr. Ely described the model as 'has stood the test o$ time and 'serves the classroom teachers well.

Background

#he Gerlach and Ely model was created in )*+) when the authors o$ #eaching and edia- & Systematic &%%roach decided that there was a need $or an inclusive overview o$ teaching and learning. &round this time, there were a number o$ models beginning to $lourish so the authors decided to come out with a model that is able to e%lain the elements o$ teaching and learning as well as establishing a relationshi% to the media o$ instruction at the same time. /t is said that the original conce%t $or Gerlach and Ely model is closely linked to the /di (/nstructional Develo%ment /nstitute" model develo%ed by the S%ecial edia /nstitutes 0onsortium. #he /di model com%rises o$ three %arts that are design, develo% and evaluate. #he %arts are broken into three ste%s each as shown in the table below.

DES/G1 1eeds &ssessment &ssessment Setting &nalysis 3rgani7e anagement

DEVE3P /denti$y 3b5ectives ethods Selection 0onstruct a Prototy%e

EV&4&#E #est #est Prototy%e 6ormative Evaluation /m%lement

#he model is %roblem8oriented, based on team %rocesses and linear in its a%%roach which is similar to Gerlach and Ely model (Grabowski, 2!". #he #he orig origin in o$ the the Gerl Gerlac ach h and and Ely Ely model odel can can be cred credit ited ed to both oth commu communi nicat catio ion n as well well as learn learnin ing g theo theori ries. es. #his #his is beca because use both both theo theorie riess are commonly being used in not only educational settings but also teaching and learning strateg strategies. ies. #he #he main main key in the design, design, develo%m develo%ment ent and im%lem im%lement entatio ation n o$ the

%roducts that this model %roduces is communication while a learning theory is to describe how the learning takes %lace. Since this model %romotes learner8centered instruction, it is very crucial to eamine the domains o$ learning that are cognitive, %sychomotor and a$$ective learning in each learning %ro5ect.

Explanation

#he Gerlach and Ely model is an attem%t to %ortray gra%hically a method o$ systematically %lanning instruction (Grabowski, 2!". #wo very essential %arts $or e$$ective teaching were incor%orated that are the necessity o$ care$ully de$ined goals and the tactics on how to reach goals. #here are ten im%ortant elements in this model. #he ten elements are s%eci$ication o$ content, s%eci$ication o$ ob5ectives, assessment o$ entering behaviours, determination o$ strategy, organi7ation o$ grou%s, allocation o$ time, allocation o$ s%ace, selection o$ resources, evaluation o$ %er$ormance and analysis o$ $eedback. &ccording to the Gerlach and Ely model, the teacher is res%onsible in choosing the %arts o$ a content to be taught. #he decisions made are o$ten in$luenced by a number o$ $actors like state or local guidelines, %ersonal e%eriences and long8 range goals. 3b5ectives are de$ined to be s%eci$ic skills the learner should be able to dis%lay under de$ined conditions at a designated time (Gerlach, )*9". #he assessment o$ the learner:s entering behaviour occurs in ste% three. &s known by all educators, every learner comes with a di$$erent set o$ schemata or %rior knowledge. /t is crucial $or a teacher to know the etent that a student has ac;uired in terms o$ the terms, conce%ts and skills o$ a %articular content %rior to $ormal instruction. 3ne way to get this done is by conducting a %retest $or the learners be$ore eecuting the $ormal instruction. Ste%s $our to eight are all de%endent on each other.
there to hel% students to discover. #here is no right or wrong method as both are valid and has their own %lace in a teaching and learning %rocess. #he net decision is organi7ation o$ grou%s. #he teacher needs to think o$ which strategy would best work $or the students. 0an they work individually, in %airs or in grou%s= /$ the instruction is in grou%s, the teacher has to determine the a%%ro%riate si7e $or each grou%. #he ob5ectives can hel% select the most a%%ro%riate grou% si7e by answering the $ollowing three ;uestions (Gerlach, )*9"). y knowing the answer to the ;uestion will students learn individually, in %airs or in grou%s, in class or outside, hel%s the teacher to identi$y the s%ace needed $or the teaching and learning activity to take %lace. #he $inal ste% in this s%ecial grou% is the selection o$ resources. &ny kind o$ resources suitable with the learner ob5ectives can be selected. #hey should be selected in terms o$ the learner:s e%ected res%onse and not only the stimuli itsel$. #here is a huge di$$erence between learning resources and instructional materials that a teacher should know. aterials are not resources until there is a meaning$ul contet $or their use to the students. #he eam%les o$ resources include still %ictures, motion %ictures, audio, realia and com%uter8assisted instruction. 3nce the grou% o$ simultaneous decisions is com%lete, evaluation o$ %er$ormance has to be carried out. #he teacher can do so by looking at the observable or measurable changes in the students to identi$y what the students have learnt. >y doing so, the teacher will be able to determine the e$$ectiveness and e$$iciency o$ the lesson.

6inally, is the last ste% in this model that is the analysis o$ $eedback. #his $inal ste% hel%s the teacher to review the %revious ste%s and identi$y whether or not they have been e$$ective and bene$icial $or the students gaining new knowledge and understanding. 6urther relevant actions like rein$orcement or remedial activities can be %lanned i$ needed once analysis o$ $eedback has been carried out.

Diagram

Determination o Strategy 

Specifcation o Content 1

Organi!ation o "roups #

Eva$uation o *erormance Assessment o Entering Behaviours A$$ocation o %ime + 3 &

Specifcation o Objectives 2

A$$ocation o Space '

Se$ection o (esources )

Ana$ysis o ,ee-bac. 1/

6rom Teaching and Media: A Systematic Approach, Second Edition by V.S. Gerlach

& D.P. Ely, )*9, >oston, &- &llyn and >acon. 0o%yright )*9 by Pearson Education.

S%eci$ication o$ 0ontent and 3b5ectives



/n these $irst two ste%s,

ob5ectives are de$ined to %rovide reasons o$ the learning content $ollowed by the content, which is the medium to achieve the ob5ectives set. 3b5ectives have to be clear and include conditions in which behaviour should occur and the criterion level $or acce%table %er$ormance. 3b5ectives must be stated %ro%ositionally whereby they can be veri$ied to be true or untrue. /n order to come out with a good ob5ective, the teacher should identi$y i$ it ehibits the $ollowing $our characteristics). /t describes something that the learner does or %roduces. #he sub5ect in the ob5ective must be the learner. 2. /t states a behaviour or a %roduct o$ the learner:s behaviour. #he %roduct has to be observable and measurable.

!. /t states the conditions o$ the behaviour is e%ected to occur. #he circumstances like time or materials can be described. ?. /t states the standard that de$ines whether or not the ob5ective has been achieved. 6or eam%le, the ob5ective o$ a reading lesson is set as @Students are able to answer at least $ive out o$ eight multi%le choice ;uestions correctly: where the teacher will be able to see i$ the ob5ective has been attained or not by looking at the number o$ ;uestions the student are able to answer correctly. &ssessment o$ Entering >ehaviours


Assessment o Entering Behaviours 3


3ne o$ the most

im%ortant things $or a teacher to do while designing an instruction is to determine the students: %resent skills or eisting knowledge. #he teacher should know whether or not the students need the instruction. #he teacher can measure the eisting knowledge o$ the students by various mechanisms including re$erring to %re8eisting records and a teacher designed %re8test. Aowever, it is very im%ortant $or the teacher to bear in mind that this ste% would be im%ossible without having a clear ob5ective o$ the instruction.

Determination o$ Strategy





#he

teacher decides how to use in$ormation, selects resources and de$ines the role o$ the students in order to determine an instructional a%%roach. &s mentioned earlier, there are two main methods to determine suitable strategy that are e%ository and in;uiry. E%ository, a traditional method involves lecture, discussion used by the teacher to accommodate a %redetermined goal and students demonstrate that they manage to ac;uire the in$ormation. /n;uiry on the other hand re;uires students to raise ;uestions, organi7e the in$ormation gained and $ormulate hy%othesis $rom it. #his includes many techni;ues like lecture, discussion, %resentation and verbal written re%orts. #he main $ocus o$ this ste% is to determine which strategies best allow the students to meet the ob5ectives.

3rgani7ation o$ Grou%s


Specifcation o Content


1



#he

%ur%ose o$ this ste% is to hel% meet the students: learning %re$erences that could best bene$it the students. #he teacher ought to identi$y which ob5ectives o$ the instruction designed can be met when students work on their own and when there is interaction among students as well as $ormal %resentation with interaction among teacher and students.

&llocation o$ #ime and S%ace


Specifcation o Content


1

Assessment o Entering Behaviours A$$ocation o %ime 3 &

Specifcation o Objectives


2

#he

teacher needs to $irst analy7e the ob5ectives and s%ace availability by looking back at the three ;uestions o$ grou%ing, as they will also a$$ect the %lanning o$ time. /denti$y whether the students will need s%ace $or working alone, interaction among students or $ormal %resentation. #he needs o$ large grou%s will vary $rom small grou%s. #he teacher needs to $ind ways to make a s%ace be $leible.

Selection o$ Besources




Assessment o Entering Behaviours A$$ocation o %ime 3 &




Besources are selected based on the learner ob5ectives whereby they are selected based on the res%onse e%ected $rom the learner. #his is the ste% when a%%ro%riate instructional materials are obtained and ada%ted to $it the teacher:s needs. #ake note that resources are normally selected rather than develo%ed due to the constraints and classroom setting.

Evaluation o$ Per$ormance








/n this ninth ste%, the teacher needs to identi$y what the students have learned by a $ew methods including observing or measuring the changes occurred in students and $inding out i$ there is a $unctional relationshi% between the means o$ instruction and the instructional ob5ectives.

&nalysis o$ 6eedback








Ana$ysis o ,ee-bac. 1/

/n this $inal ste%, the teacher needs to use the in$ormation gained $rom %er$ormance evaluation in order to know the ;uality o$ student behaviour and the e$$ectiveness o$ instructional techni;ues. #his is the time to review all the %revious ste%s and the arrow that runs along at the bottom o$ the model $rom the last bo on the right towards the $irst bo on the le$t denotes this $ormative revision.

Personal Perspectives

/n my o%inion, the Gerlach and Ely model is a great guideline $or a beginner teacher. #he model demonstrates a com%lete instruction $or a good teaching and learning %rocess besides em%hasi7ing the im%ortant com%onents that sometimes tend to be $orgotten or overlooked when %lanning an instructional design. #he Gerlach and Ely model is not only bene$icial to the new teachers but also to the veterans. Veteran teachers will be able to gain a $resh look at the sub5ect, to%ic or students they may be having di$$iculties with $rom the e%erience o$ using this model. 4n$ortunately, some teachers may re$use to learn how the model works. Some teachers es%ecially the veteran teachers who are already in their @com$ort87one: may not be o%en to trying new ideas. 1ovice teachers, like mysel$ a $ew years back, are not aware o$ the eistence o$ the Gerlach and Ely model as a tool to hel% them creating more e$$ective teaching and learning strategies. 1evertheless, / believe that i$ teachers are well versed on the Gerlach and Ely model, they will be able to im%rove their %ractice %ersonally as well as the whole %ro$ession.

References

>ranch, B. ()***". /nstructional Design- & 0once%tual Parallel Processor $or 1avigating earning S%ace. /n C. van den &kker, B. >ranch, .. Gusta$son, 1. 1ieveen, & #. Plom% (Eds.", Design Approaches and Tools in Education and Training . Dordrecht, #he 1etherlands- luwer &cademic Publishers. Gerlach, V.S., & Ely, D.P. ()*9". Teaching & Media: A Systematic Approach (2nd ed.". Englewood 0li$$s, 1C- Prentice8Aall /ncor%orated.

Grabowski, S.,  >ranch, B. (2!". #eaching  edia- & Systematic &%%roach. The Gerlach & Ely Model, A riti!ue by Sarah Grabo"s#i. eengwe, C., /n &gamba, C. C.,  /G/ Global. (2)F". Models $or impro%ing and optimizing online and blended learning in higher education 3rellana, &., Audgins, #. .,  Simonson, . B. (2*". The per$ect online course: 'est practices $or designing and teaching . 0harlotte, 1.0- /&P, /n$ormation &ge Pub.

The Gerlach and Ely Instructional Model

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