Bruner’s (1960) spiral approach is often used in teaching to introduce the basic concepts without worrying about deep understanding and then slowly progress towards higher order thinking (Gibbs, 2014). However, at each step the basics are reemphasized until they are mastered to improve the retention (Kolb & Kolb, 2008). After mastering a concept students spiral upward and follow the same sequence again but this time, more breadth and depth of knowledge is achieved (Kolb & Kolb, 2008). Thus, spiral learning framework may help teachers design learning activities that may lead to in-depth understanding of the big idea emphasize Bruner (1977)  and Kolb and Kolb (2008), two renowned constructivists. “The concept of spiraling-systematic revisiting of the same material with increasingly broader and deeper explanations and practice-has been with us a long time but little has been done to apply it” says Martin (1978). Thus, in this workshop we tried to use spiral approach with 4mat instructional cycle, as during our compare and contrast with other instructional cycles, we found that this cycle has almost all the components that may help teachers design classroom constructively (Kolb & Kolb,  2008).

To know more about 4MAT instructional cycle please read the document given below-

4mation Instructional Design

Note: Spiral learning approach seems to apply to only those learning environments where teachers and learners meet on regular basis. A learning situation where students meet the teacher once or twice (e.g. a resume writing workshop), the 4MAT cycle is enough to design an effective learning plan.

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References

4MAT Lesson Plans. (2016). Retrieved August 10, 2016, from http://www.4mationweb.com/4mationweb/4mation.php

4MAT Model of Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved August 10, 2016, from http://www.sacsa.sa.edu.au/content/doc_fsrc.asp?ID={2684DC74-724C-41E7-8FDA-135FC31805DB

Bruner, J. (1960). The process of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Kolb, A. & Kolb, D. (2008). The Learning Way: Meta-cognitive Aspects of Experiential Learning. Simulation & Gaming, 40(3), 297-327. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1046878108325713

Gibbs, B. (2014). Reconfiguring bruner: Compressing the spiral curriculum: At base, the “spiral curriculum” is the best way to design learning, but we’ve gone wrong in its implementation. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(7), 41.

Martin, M. (1978). The Application of Spiraling to the Teaching of Grammar. TESOL Quarterly, 12(2), 151. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3585606