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Development and Implementation of Four Critical Science-Focused
Instructional Strategies
This researcher began teaching the family policy course 5 years ago. During
the first year of this course, the researcher noticed students were understanding the
importance of the issues affecting families every day in society, but many of them
lacked the self-confidence in taking social action effectively on the perennial or
emerging issues affecting families, as well as in advocating effectively for families
after they completed the course. These concerns were the main reason for developing
and implementing the four instructional strategies with a critical science emphasis
over the next 4 years this course was taught by this researcher. The students’
final project was to produce a policy brief on their family issue that showed their
confidence in taking social action and in advocating effectively for families.

Gap Analysis
The first critical science-focused instructional strategy developed and
implemented was to help students examine their chosen perennial or emerging
family problem through a gap analysis process. A gap analysis is an examination and
assessment of a recurring or emerging problem to identify the differences between
“what is” (what currently exists regarding the problem) and “what should be” (that
which is more desirable) and how to close the gap between the two (Brown, 1980).
Montgomery (1999) recommended four steps in conducting a gap analysis:
1. Identify the current state of the perennial or emerging problem affecting
families to understand where to apply the gap analysis;
2. Analyze the current state of the perennial or emerging problem to
determine the starting line for improvement;
3. Define and measure the end goal (or desirable solution) to see an
improvement in resolving the current perennial or emerging problem;
and
4. Understand the gap(s) regarding the perennial or emerging problem that
need(s) to be closed. (p. 81-82)
With these four steps in mind, students developed a gap analysis chart to compare
the current state of a perennial or emerging family problem to the desired state and
then identified gaps that needed to be addressed (Montgomery, 1999). Once students
identified the gaps associated with their perennial or emerging family problems, they
prioritized them based on their importance and the resources available to address
them. This helped the students focus their efforts on the most critical areas that
needed attention. Developing a gap analysis chart can enhance students’ critical
thinking skills because it requires careful observation, analysis, and the ability to
identify areas for improvement. This gap analysis chart can also help students gain
a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by family members when analyzing
the problem from different perspectives.

Family Impact Lens
The second critical science-focused instructional strategy implemented was
introducing students to the Family Impact Lens developed by Bogenschneider et
al. (2012), which allowed students to further analyze “how families are affected by
the problem; in what ways, if any, families contribute to the problem; and whether
involving families in the response would result in better policies and programs” (p.
9). This lens provided an organizing framework on five family-impact principles

40 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators