EDU102MTH
Notes #4
7 Teaching/Instructional Methods
The classroom is a dynamic environment, bringing together students from
different backgrounds with various abilities and personalities. Being an
effective teacher therefore requires the implementation of creative and
innovative teaching strategies in order to meet students’ individual needs.
Whether you’ve been teaching two months or twenty years, it can be difficult
to know which teaching strategies will work best with your students. As a
teacher there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, so here is a range of effective
teaching strategies you can use to inspire your classroom practice.
1. Visualization
Bring dull academic concepts to life with visual and practical learning
experiences, helping your students to understand how their schooling applies
in the real-world.
Examples include using the interactive whiteboard to display photos, audio
clips and videos, as well as encouraging your students to get out of their seats
with classroom experiments and local field trips.
2. Cooperative learning
Encourage students of mixed abilities to work together by promoting small
group or whole class activities.
Through verbally expressing their ideas and responding to others your
students will develop their self-confidence, as well as enhance their
communication and critical thinking skills which are vital throughout life.
Solving mathematical puzzles, conducting scientific experiments and acting
out short drama sketches are just a few examples of how cooperative learning
can be incorporated into classroom lessons.
3. Inquiry-based instruction
Pose thought-provoking questions which inspire your students to think for
themselves and become more independent learners.
Encouraging students to ask questions and investigate their own ideas helps
improve their problem-solving skills as well as gain a deeper understanding of
academic concepts. Both of which are important life skills.
Students consider key questions that need to be answered to understand a
given topic, then follow through to collect information, make hypotheses,
participate in activities, and pursue answers in an open environment.
Inquiries can be science or math-based such as ‘why does my shadow
change size?’ or ‘is the sum of two odd numbers always an even number?’.
However, they can also be subjective and encourage students to express
their unique views, e.g. ‘do poems have to rhyme?’ or ‘should all students
wear uniform?’.
4. Differentiation
Differentiate your teaching by allocating tasks based on students’ abilities, to
ensure no one gets left behind.
Assigning classroom activities according to students’ unique learning needs
means individuals with higher academic capabilities are stretched and those
who are struggling get the appropriate support.
This strategy allows teachers to adjust lessons to the range of skill level
present in a class, while also supporting progress. Teachers observe students
and use formative assessment methods in order to make sure class
experiences can be adjusted to individual skill and ability levels as appropriate.
This can involve handing out worksheets that vary in complexity to different
groups of students, or setting up a range of work stations around the
classroom which contain an assortment of tasks for students to choose from.
Moreover, using an educational tool such as Quizalize can save you hours of
time because it automatically groups your students for you, so you can easily
identify individual and whole class learning gaps.
5. Technology in the classroom
Incorporating technology into your teaching is a great way to actively engage
your students, especially as digital media surrounds young people in the 21st
century.
Interactive whiteboards or mobile devices can be used to display images and
videos, which helps students visualize new academic concepts. Learning can
become more interactive when technology is used as students can physically
engage during lessons as well as instantly research their ideas, which
develops autonomy.
Mobile devices, such as iPads and/or tablets, can be used in the classroom
for students to record results, take photos/videos or simply as a behaviour
management technique. Plus, incorporating educational programmes such as
Quizalize into your lesson plans is also a great way to make formative
assessments fun and engaging.
6. Project-based Learning
This strategy allows students to engage in learning about a topic over a period
of time, and may help the development of deep understanding. Project-based
learning can also incorporate a variety of skills and strengths as students work
independently or together to make a video, book, or website.
Projects depend on the underlying goals and range from web design to movie
making, from science experiments to broad survey projects. Teachers can
identify important questions or objectives and design comprehensive projects
that will enable students to develop relevant skills while completing them.
When developing project-based learning experiences, teachers can consider
what big ideas are most important and how a project will help students
explore these ideas. Sometimes, projects develop organically over time in the
context of the curriculum. Otherwise, teachers can save time and locate
relevant ideas for project-based learning by exploring the many resources
available online and in teaching handbooks.
7. Blended Learning
Today's educators know that technology has had a profound impact on how
teaching and learning work. One of the phenomena that has come to play an
increasingly important role in education is blended learning.
The idea of blended learning is that some students can benefit from doing part
of their learning in a digital environment, and part of it face to face.
The benefits of blended learning include the fact that many students can learn
best independently, on their own time frame, and via interface with digital
technology. At the same time, learning done in this virtual way is often best
consolidated by in-person interactions. In many ways, blended learning
combines the best of both worlds.
Blended learning has seen growth over time, largely because of the
increasing accessibility of technology and ongoing interest in making use of
digital learning technologies. Many educational advocates have spoken to
the advantages of blended learning in the classroom , such as student-
centered instruction, easy data collection, and increased engagement. As with
any educational model, of course, blended learning should be used sensibly
and thoughtfully, with an eye toward enriching student learning.
Being an effective teacher is a challenge because every student is unique,
however, by using a combination of teaching strategies you can address
students’ varying learning styles and academic capabilities as well as make
your classroom a dynamic and motivational environment for students.
