Module 4
Teaching Methods: Introduction
TED 367
Methods in Sec. Ed.
Module 4
Within the framework of developmentally
appropriate practice, use curriculum and
an understanding of the developmental
levels of students to implement units and
lessons for students, including atypical
learners, in secondary level programs.
Reading
• Read the following in the Duplass
textbook:
– Unit 5 (topics 21-25) Instructional Approaches
– Unit 6 (topics 26-36) Methods
Outline of Module 4
• Mod 4-A: Teaching Methods: Introduction
• Mod 4-B: Rethinking teacher-centered
instructional methods.
• Mod 4-C: Student-centered instructional
methods.
• Mod 4-D: Instructional strategies to
increase learning.
Mod 4-A Outline
1. Direct vs. Indirect Instruction
2. Increasing Critical Thinking and
Reasoning
3. Concept Formation
Direct vs. Indirect Instruction
Direct vs. Indirect Instruction
• Direct Teaching
(direct instruction, explicit
instruction, target teaching,
whole-class instruction,
teacher-led instruction,
lecture, teacher-centered
instruction)
• The teacher tends
to be at the center
of the instruction
dictating its pace
with a high degree
of teacher talk.
• Indirect Teaching
(indirect OR studentcentered instruction)
• The teacher creates
an instructional
sequence whereby
students work more
independently—as
individuals, in pairs,
or in groups—to
construct knowledge
rather than hear
about it.
Direct vs. Indirect Instruction
In direct instruction,
the teacher is at the
center of instruction.
In indirect instruction,
the teacher is a
facilitator who helps
learner construct
knowledge.
Direct vs. Indirect Instruction
Direct Instruction
Advantages:
• Cover much content
in a short span of
time.
• Teacher is in control
of content and time.
• Student achievement
is predictable and
manageable.
Disadvantages:
• Student motivation is
extrinsic.
• Little learner control
over content and
pacing.
• Creative and
divergent thinking is
limited.
• Student self-esteem
is not advanced.
Best Practices for Direct Instruction
• Open lessons by reviewing
prerequisite knowledge.
• Use an overview or analogy to
create a context.
• Provide a short statement of
goals.
• Present new material in small
steps, with student practice
after each step.
• Give clear and detailed
instructions and explanations.
• Ask a large number of
questions.
• Check for understanding.
• Guide students during practice
segments of the Instructional
Sequence.
• Provide systematic, immediate
feedback and corrections.
• Monitor students during tasks.
• Involve all students.
• Maintain a brisk pace.
• Teach skills to the point of
overlearning.
• Praise and repeat student
answers.
Direct Instruction
• Direct Instruction is most effective when:
1. Content is straightforward and well-defined.
• Example: Process for balancing equations.
2. Content needs to be mastered by all students.
3. Content would be difficult for students to master in
indirect instruction.
4. Goal is to integrate facts, concepts, generalizations,
and ideas of an organized body of knowledge.
5. Goal is to introduce prerequisite knowledge to set
up an indirect instruction approach to follow.
When a high degree of active learning has been explicitly
planned, research shows that direct instruction is one of
the most effective and efficient forms of teaching.
Indirect Instruction
Indirect Instruction is effective because:
• Appeals to different students’ sensibilities.
• Students should learn how to learn in many
different ways.
• Capitalizes on social interactions in ways that
whole-class instruction cannot.
• If planned well, students are required to not only
learn the knowledge, but also to initiate and
manage their own learning.
• Burden of learning is strategically shifted to the
student.
Research on indirect instruction indicates that it too is
successful when it is employed effectively.
Best Practices for Indirect
Instruction
• Carefully plan the transition from direct to
indirect instruction.
• Carefully define the tasks.
• Monitor the students’ progress.
• Establish clear time limits and outcomes.
• Ensure equitable participation.
• Establish student-to-student
communication rules for group activities.
Indirect Instruction
• Direct instruction can fail because of
student passivity and boredom.
• Indirect instruction may fail because the
teacher does not:
– Define the tasks.
– Provide adequate structure and monitoring.
– Hold students accountable.
Examples of Direct and
Indirect Instruction
• Direct Instruction. The teacher lectures
using a transparency with columns for
humans and animals, sequentially
identifying a critical attribute of each. The
teacher asks students to take notes.
Examples of Direct and
Indirect Instruction
• Indirect Instruction. The teacher leads a
discussion using a table on the chalkboard with
columns for humans and animals, asking
students to hypothesis the unique attributes of
each and asking follow-up questions to probe
individual students’ thinking as they offer ideas.
• The teacher then adds correct conceptions,
offers modifications or solicits them
from students, and tactfully rejects
misconceptions while completing
the columns and rows on the
chalkboard.
Examples of Direct and
Indirect Instruction
• Indirect Instruction. Teacher gives students a
Venn diagram, puts them in groups, and asks
them to hypothesize which attributes animals
and humans have in common and which they do
not have in common.
• Students are then asked as a group to offer their
ideas and rationale, while the teacher serves as
a facilitator, probing and suggesting alternatives.
Indirect Instructional Approach:
Attributes of Islands
• What are the attributes of
an Island?
• An Island is:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Critical Attributes: Islands
• What are the critical attributes of an
Island?
• An Island is:
1.Body of land
2.Small
3.Surrounded by water
Debriefing: Non-Critical
Attributes: Islands
Florida
• Non-critical Attributes
–
–
–
–
Sand
Palm trees
Hot
Alligators
Alaska
• Non-critical Attributes
–
–
–
–
Ice
Cold
Rocks
Seals
Direct Instruction: Context
Conceptualization
Land Bodies
Islands
Peninsulas
Continents
Etc.
Direct Instruction: Compare &
Contrast Conceptualization
Island
Peninsula
Surrounded
by water on
all sides
Land
Surrounded
by water on
Three sides
What Should a Teacher Do?
• To increase learning:
– Become well skilled in use of direct and
indirect methods.
– Mix teacher-centered (direct) and studentcentered (indirect) methods.
– Involve more active learning when using
teacher-centered methods.
– Vary methods often during instruction.
Increasing Critical Thinking
and Reasoning
Critical Thinking
• Critical thinking is the most common
term used for analytical reasoning,
thinking skills, problem solving, or higher
mental processes.
• The key to successfully promoting critical
thinking is for you not to do the thinking for
your students. Provide just enough
information and structure to a lesson.
Bloom’s Cognitive Comprehension, Application,
Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation are examples of
critical thinking at high levels.
Critical Thinking
• Collecting relevant
information.
• Sorting and analyzing
information.
• Drawing reasoned
conclusions from
information.
• “Brainstorming” new
ideas.
• Solving problems.
• Determining cause-andeffect relationships.
• Evaluating options.
• Planning and setting
goals.
• Monitoring progress.
• Making decisions.
• Reflecting on one’s own
progress.
Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning (Start with observation.)
1. Show pictures of islands and peninsulas. Students
analyze and categorize pictures based on patterns.
(Islands grouped in one stack, peninsulas in another.)
2. Students are asked to develop a hypothesis that
would include definitions of stack X and stack Y, or
their Critical Attributes.
3. Each group might present a definition, and the
teacher would probe for their thinking by asking
questions or showing more pictures.
4. A debriefing would include confirming the definitions,
reinforcing that X is an island—a small body of land
surrounded by water—and Y is a peninsula—a body of
land surrounded by water on three sides.
5. Students would record the definitions.
Deductive Reasoning
Deductive Reasoning (Start with theory.)
1. The teacher would write the definitions of island and
peninsula on the board.
2. Students would be given pictures and asked to apply
the definition to the illustrations.
3. When they have placed the islands in one stack and
the peninsulas in another stack, students would be
expected to justify their decisions.
4. A debriefing would include reinforcing the concept.
5. Students would record the definitions.
Application
• Direct instruction: Often a graphic
image is used to depict for the students
what knowledge is and how it should be
organized.
• Indirect instruction: Often the teacher
has in mind the equivalent of the graphic
image, but does not share it with
students. Create an instructional
sequence that leads students to
conceptualize it.
Examples
Conceptual Relationships
Concept Hierarchies
superordinate
subordinate
coordinate
Heads of Government
President
of USA
Governor of
Pennsylvania
Mayor of
Altoona
Prime Minister of Great
Britain
Indirect Instruction Activity: Create
a Hierarchy Concept Organizer
CONCEPTS
CONNECTORS
CONTINENTS
Are at
EARTH
Divided into
GULFS
Includes
ISLANDS
Is made up of
LAKES
LAND AREAS
OCEANS
RIVERS
WATER BODIES
Concept Map
Earth
Divided Into
Land Bodies
Water Bodies
Made up of
Includes
Continents
Islands
Gulfs
Lakes
Oceans
Rivers
Review:
MODULE 4 Introduction
• direct instruction: Rethinking teachercentered instructional methods.
• indirect instruction: Student-centered
instructional methods.
• Instructional strategies to increase
learning.