COMPLEX INSTRUCTION

The Program in Complex Instruction is a work in progress at the University of Vermont. Current efforts are led by Drs. Charles Rathbone and Nancy Ellis, Professors of Education in the Elementary Education program at the University of Vermont (UVM).

Complex Instruction (CI) is an equity pedagogy and is one form of cooperative learning similar to the strategies popularized by David and Roger Johnson. CI diverges from the Johnson and Johnson model in that CI considers troubling issues in group work such as silent participants or over-dominance by some participants to have their origins in the status children carry into group work. CI interventions create more equalized academic status within cooperative groups and facilitate children talking and working together by teacher and curriculum interventions. As a result, student gain scores on academic content learning and achievement are often quite profound. Click here to see a live action movie of CI in a Vermont Classroom.

Currently, CI knowledge and methodology is infused into the Elementary Education program at UVM. Click here to see a more in-depth description of how CI relates to the pre-service program at UVM. Undergraduate students work on CI at several different points across their four years of pre-service teacher education. All Elementary Education candidates are expected to apply CI during their senior internship and to track resultant academic gains, especially for at risk learners. Click here to see a detailed description of the senior internship project.

In addition to work done with pre-service teachers, hundreds of in-service teachers in Vermont have heard about CI and more than 90 teachers have training in CI at various levels. UVM offers a distance learning course entitled “Reaching All Students through Complex Instruction.” The semester-long course combines two face-to-face meetings, three interactive television meetings, and on-line instruction to make it easily accessible for full-time classroom teachers. For information about participating in the course, contact Dr. Rathbone at crathbon@zoo.uvm.edu.

The CI work of Drs. Rathbone and Ellis has been supported by VISMT and professional development funds from Eisenhower grants.

See a live-action movie demonstrating Complex Instruction (requires Quick Time Plug-in)

See an in-depth description of Complex Instruction within the UVM Elementary Education Program

See a detailed description of the UVM Elementary Senior Internship Project

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