Difference between revisions of "Implicit instruction"

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[[Category:Glossary]]
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Implicit instruction is instruction that provides [[example]]s, uses, instances, illustrations, or visualizations of a [[knowledge components]] without providing an explicit verbal rule or principle that describes the [[knowledge component]]. It is in contrast to [[explicit instruction]].
[[Category:PSLC General]]
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In his introduction to Implicit and Explicit Learning of Languages Nick C. Ellis describes implicit and explicit learning in the following terms:
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The National Reading Panel identified five main methods for teaching vocabulary (NRP, 2000, p. 4-3), the first two of which provide an illustration of the difference between explicit and implicit instruction:
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* "Explicit Instruction: Students are given definitions or other attributes of words to be learned.
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* '''''Implicit Instruction''''': Students are exposed to words or given opportunities to do a great deal of reading."
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Implicit instruction and implicit learning (see below) are not the same.  Implicit instruction affords implicit learning, but implicit instruction can also be processed explicitly and lead to explicit learning.  For instance, when a student is given a [[worked examples|worked example]], a form of implicit instruction, and spontaneously decides to explain the reasoning behind the steps taken (see [[self-explanation]]), that student is engaged in explicit learning (trying to generate a verbal rule) in the face of implicit instruction.
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Ellis (1994) provides definitions of implicit and explicit learning:
  
Implicit learning is acquisition of knowledge about the underlying structure of a complex stimulus environment by a process which takes place naturally, simply and without conscious operations. Explicit learning is a more conscious operation where the individual makes and tests hypotheses in a search for structure. Knowledge attainment can thus take place implicitly (a nonconscious and automatic abstraction of the structural nature of the material arrived at from experience of instances), explicitly through selective learning (the learner searching for information and building then testing hypotheses), or, because we can communicate using language, explicitly via given rules (assimilation
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"Implicit learning is acquisition of knowledge about the underlying structure of a complex stimulus environment by a process which takes place naturally, simply and without conscious operations. Explicit learning is a more conscious operation where the individual makes and tests hypotheses in a search for structure. Knowledge attainment can thus take place implicitly (a nonconscious and automatic abstraction of the structural nature of the material arrived at from experience of instances), explicitly through selective learning (the learner searching for information and building then testing hypotheses), or, because we can communicate using language, explicitly via given rules (assimilation of a rule following explicit instruction)." (Ellis, 1994, p. 1f)
of a rule following explicit instruction). (Ellis 1994b: 1 f.)
 
 
        
 
        
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See also the distinction in ACT-R (e.g., Anderson & Lebiere, 1998) between procedural knowledge, which is implicitly processed and learned, and declarative knowledge, which includes (but is not limited to) explicit verbal knowledge and is open to (but does not require) explicit processing and learning.
  
In the definition, implicit learning is conceived as a natural, simple and conscious learning process whereas explicit learning is described as a process which includes conscious operations such as the making and testing of hypotheses.
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Often instructional forms or [[sources]] combine implicit and explicit instruction, for instance, examples and rules or diagrams and text, and the potential benefits of such combinations are a topic of the [[Coordinative Learning]] cluster.
  
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=== References ===
  
The NRP (National Reading Panel) identified five main methods for teaching vocabulary (NRP, 2000b, p. 4-3):
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* Anderson, J. R., & Lebiere, C. (1998).  ''The Atomic Components of Thought.'' Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
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*Ellis, N. C. (ed.) (1994). ''Implicit and Explicit Learning of Languages.'' San Diego/CA: Academic Press.
  
  1. Explicit Instruction: Students are given definitions or other attributes of words to be learned.
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[[Category:Glossary]]
  2. '''''Implicit Instruction''''': Students are exposed to words or given opportunities to do a great deal of reading.
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[[Category:Independent Variables]]
  3. Multimedia Methods: Vocabulary is taught by going beyond text to include other media such as graphic representations,
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[[Category:PSLC General]]
      hypertext, or American Sign Language that uses a haptic medium.
 
  4. Capacity Methods: Practice is emphasized to increase capacity through making reading automatic.
 
  5. Association Methods: Learners are encouraged to draw connections between what they do know and words they encounter
 
      that they do not know.
 

Revision as of 17:47, 10 April 2007

Implicit instruction is instruction that provides examples, uses, instances, illustrations, or visualizations of a knowledge components without providing an explicit verbal rule or principle that describes the knowledge component. It is in contrast to explicit instruction.

The National Reading Panel identified five main methods for teaching vocabulary (NRP, 2000, p. 4-3), the first two of which provide an illustration of the difference between explicit and implicit instruction:

  • "Explicit Instruction: Students are given definitions or other attributes of words to be learned.
  • Implicit Instruction: Students are exposed to words or given opportunities to do a great deal of reading."

Implicit instruction and implicit learning (see below) are not the same. Implicit instruction affords implicit learning, but implicit instruction can also be processed explicitly and lead to explicit learning. For instance, when a student is given a worked example, a form of implicit instruction, and spontaneously decides to explain the reasoning behind the steps taken (see self-explanation), that student is engaged in explicit learning (trying to generate a verbal rule) in the face of implicit instruction.

Ellis (1994) provides definitions of implicit and explicit learning:

"Implicit learning is acquisition of knowledge about the underlying structure of a complex stimulus environment by a process which takes place naturally, simply and without conscious operations. Explicit learning is a more conscious operation where the individual makes and tests hypotheses in a search for structure. Knowledge attainment can thus take place implicitly (a nonconscious and automatic abstraction of the structural nature of the material arrived at from experience of instances), explicitly through selective learning (the learner searching for information and building then testing hypotheses), or, because we can communicate using language, explicitly via given rules (assimilation of a rule following explicit instruction)." (Ellis, 1994, p. 1f)

See also the distinction in ACT-R (e.g., Anderson & Lebiere, 1998) between procedural knowledge, which is implicitly processed and learned, and declarative knowledge, which includes (but is not limited to) explicit verbal knowledge and is open to (but does not require) explicit processing and learning.

Often instructional forms or sources combine implicit and explicit instruction, for instance, examples and rules or diagrams and text, and the potential benefits of such combinations are a topic of the Coordinative Learning cluster.

References

  • Anderson, J. R., & Lebiere, C. (1998). The Atomic Components of Thought. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Ellis, N. C. (ed.) (1994). Implicit and Explicit Learning of Languages. San Diego/CA: Academic Press.