L -14TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

PDET 4101

Engage

Engage the students in material that has personal relevance and is meaningful i.e. real life examples and problems

Variety

Give the students assignments that involve a variety of learning styles

technologyResearch with book

Students Teaching

Provide times when students can teach each other the material within the classroom i.e. individual or group presentations

– Leadership– Ownership– Mastery

preview

Every other day or so, allot 10 minutes at the beginning of each class for students to discuss among themselves what they learned in previous lessons.

Reward

Implement a reward system for students to encourage them to take their learning outside the classroom

• Reward students who can apply the material to real life examples

• Reward students who improve from test to test• Reward students who engage in group

discussions outside of the classroom to discuss ideas on how to use their knowledge to solve problems

Goals

Help students establish short term, self referenced goals at the beginning of the term and have them check up midterm to see if they are still on track to accomplishing their goals

Stimulate group work

At the end of each class, present the students with a “challenge for the night” and allow students to work in groups of 3 or 4 to solve the challenge over the course of the evening and present answers in class the next day

Evaluation

Evaluation of students should be private and focus on individual improvement, progress and mastery of the material, not simply on performance.

Collaboration

Teachers collaborate with students to work on a big project.

professionals

Bring in professionals in related careers to give talks about what they do in their work

Learning techniques

Proper instruction helps students learnDo you agree with it?

How do we view “instruction”?

“The previously dominant view of instruction as direct transfer of knowledge from teacher to student does not fit the current perspective.

The present view places the learner’s constructive mental activity at the heart of all instructional exchanges…”

Structured Discovery

“…This does not mean that students are left to discover everything for themselves, nor that what they discover and how they choose to describe and account for it are left solely to them…

Dispenser of knowledge vs.facilitator of learning

THINK/PAIR/SHAREIdeally, what percentage of your total contact time with student each year would you like to spend as…

_____ Dispenser of knowledge

_____ Facilitator of discovery learning

What actual percentage of your total contact time with student this year was spent as…

_____ Dispenser of knowledge_____ Facilitator of discovery learning

How do we get there?

Incrementally… Small changes Practice is essential Expect resistance

Experimentally… A learning process for all Some things work well in your setting Most things need “tweaking”(change or

correction)

INQUIRY-BASED LESSONSINTERACTIVE LECTURESAUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT

Teaching and Learning:Three Strategies Toward a

Student-Centered Classroom

WHAT IS IT?WHY DO IT?

HOW DO YOU DO IT?

Inquiry-Based Teaching and Learning

Why inquiry-based?

First, inquiry-based teaching is strongly recommended by the National Science Education Standards (NSES) for teaching; the two-page summary of teaching standards specifically mentions inquiry-based teaching and learning at least 16 times, far more than any other teaching strategy.

Second, inquiry-based teaching is recommended and/or mandated by many state science curriculum standards. Third, inquiry-based learning has been shown to have a positive impact on both student content understanding and skills acquisition. In sum, when inquiry-based teaching is implemented well, it produces excellent results with students from diverse groups.

Finally, inquiry-based learning fosters skills that help students prioritize information, deciding which information is most important and which is least helpful. It is anticipated that this skill will become increasingly important in an age when vast information is available at the touch of a button or the click of a mouse.

What is it?

Inquiry approach places the student in the role of the investigator

Asking questionsStructuring investigationsConfronting ambiguous findingsConstructing relationships and creating

metaphors

Learners…Are engaged by scientifically oriented

questions.Give priority to evidence which allows

them to develop and evaluate explanations that address scientifically oriented questions

Formulate explanations from evidenceEvaluate their explanations in light of

alternative explanations, especially those reflecting scientific understanding; and

Communicate and justify their proposed explanation.

Why do it?

Impact on content knowledgeImpact on skills that are applicable in

diverse situationsAddresses multiple learning styles

How do you do it?Consider ways to facilitate learning

rather than dispensing(providing) knowledge

Expand & hone (sharpen) your questioning skills

Inquiry is NOT a “free for all” Educator sets the focus and parameters Students generate questions within this

framework Students design investigations given basic

methods and materials

Interactive Lecture

Breaks the lecture at least once per class Students participate in an activity that lets

them work directly with material. Allows students to:

Apply what they have learned earlier; or Gain a context for upcoming lecture material.

Possible Activities

Interpretation of graphsMaking calculations and estimationsPredictions of demonstrationsBrainstormingTying ideas togetherApplying what has just been learned in

class or reading to solve a problemCollecting student responses

Authentic assessment (Scholars’ findings)Think-pair-share (several sources)

Case studies during lecture (Goodman, et al., 2005)

“Rapid response test” – (Rao, 2006)

Role playing by students (van Loon, 1993)

“Pause” midway through lecture (Trautwein, 2000)

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) (Angelo & Cross, 1993)

High Tech & Low TechInteraction “scoreboard” promoted readiness (Kumar, 2003)

Colored letter cards (DiCarlo & Collins, 2001)

Lecture sketchbook (Smoes, 1993)

Broken Lecture (Nayak, 2006)

Impact?

Consistently higher exam scoresHigher instructor evaluationsPositive student comments

Pros and Cons… Pro’s…Increased ability to spot student misconceptionsMore focused lecturesIncreased enjoyment for the instructor due to more

interaction with studentsIncreased student understanding of the contentCon’s…Believing that the actively-learned material was

always the most importantStudents not participating with group reportsNot incorporating outside readings into in-class

problemsActive learning tasks not always matched to current

abilities of students

7 learning Techniques1. Allocate your attention efficiently.2. Interpret and elaborate on what you are trying to learn.3. Make your studying variable (e.g., location,

interpretations, examples)4. Space your studying of a topic or area and repeat your

study several times.5. Organize and structure the information that you are

trying to learn.6. Visualize the information. Reinstate the context during

a test.7. GENERATE, GENERATE, GENERATE, RETRIEVE,

RETRIEVE, RETRIEVE!!

Closing the class

Walking this sleeping giant of teacher leadership has unlimited potential in making a real difference in the pace and depth of school change-

Hope you will wake up as it said above and contribute to nation building