Examining a False Dichotomy: The Role of Direct Instruction and Problem-Solving Approaches in Today’s Classrooms
Nancy Maynes

Abstract
This paper has two purposes. First, it presents an argument for concerns about recent educational research that presents teachers with a choice between using lecture style presentations or problem-solving activities as instructional methodologies, with predictably different outcomes in students’ learning success levels. Second, it summarizes related research that shows value in an alternative framework for examining a teacher’s instructional choices. The argument is made for the need to clarify the elements involved in direct instruction and the value of conceptual models as support in this respect. Ongoing research into the value that teacher candidates see in the use of visual models to support their developing conceptual understanding of their instructional options is presented.

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