The Evidence is in the Design

Abstract

To better understand the effectiveness of Direct Instruction (DI), the empirical base related to DI's instructional design components (explicit teaching, judicious selection and sequencing of examples) and principles (identifying big ideas, teaching generalizable strategies, providing mediated instruction, integrating skills and concepts, priming background knowledge, and providing ample review) are analyzed. Attention is given to the converging evidence supporting the design characteristics of DI, which has broad applicability across different disciplines, teaching methodologies, and perspectives.

Keywords: Direct instruction; Empirical evidence; Instructional design.