Differentiation Theory In Learning

Differentiation, with respect to instruction, means tailoring it to meet individual needs of the students. Teachers can differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction. Teachers differentiate the four classroom elements based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile. (Tomlinson 2000). Differentiated instruction can be known as an organizing framework in teaching and learning which calls for a major restructuring in the classroom and syllabus, if done in the proper way, its benefits will transgress the costs.

According to Tomlinson (2004), Differentiated instruction is “a philosophy of teaching that

In accordance with Piaget’s theory, the learner interacts with objects and events available in the physical and social environment and therefore comprehends the objects or events using the process of assimilation, accommodation and equilibration. The learners, therefore, construct their own conceptualizations and use them to generate solutions to problems. This theory also suggests that humans create and construct knowledge as they try to bring meaning to their experiences. In the differentiated classroom, teachers should facilitate the learning process by organizing learning activities and using variety of aid material according to the level of students’ cognitive structure to enable them to construct knowledge through their

Stations or centers might be teacher-led if new knowledge is to be given or student-led if mastery is to be obtained on the information given by the teacher. Project-based is another strategy and one of the best ways to differentiate instruction due to the students’ needs and styles are addressed. Projects internalize help and support among students beside some academic skills. Tiered Activities, on the other hand, are based on the learning tasks designed at different levels of complexity according to students’ readiness levels, i.e. to be gradually given to the students ,whenever the student finishes one stage, they transfer to the other one until the task is done, or at times keeping the learning outcomes same the learning tasks can be designed according to students’ learning preferences viz. Learning styles or Gardner’s multiple intelligences.( Bigelow,1994;Onosko and Jorgensen ,1998;Lewis and Batts