Module 4-B
Rethinking Teacher-centered
Instructional Methods
TED 367
Methods in Sec. Ed.
Reading
• Read the following in the Duplass
textbook:
– Unit 5 (topics 21-25) Instructional Approaches
– Unit 6 (topics 26-36) Methods
Teacher-centered Methods
• Expository in nature.
• Easier to implement than
student-centered
activities.
Teacher-centered Methods
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Teacher talk (lecturing)
Demonstration
Assignments and homework
Memorizing
Reviewing
Questioning
Discussion
Topics in light color will be presented by class members.
Teacher Talk (Lecturing)
Teacher Talk (Lecturing)
• If the traditional lecture method of “chalk
and talk” with the teacher talking and
pupils taking notes is your idea of
teaching, you will find yourself with an
inordinate amount of classroom
management problems.
Teacher Talk (Lecturing)
•
Lecturing (AKA direct instruction and
teacher-centered instruction):
– Teacher is THE primary communicator of
knowledge.
– Teacher directly manages the pace and
sequence of instruction.
– Includes:
1. Lecturing to students (formal).
2. Talking with students (informal).
Teacher Talk (Lecturing)
Teachers need to lecture more
today due to time constraints in
meeting academic standards.
Teacher Talk (Lecturing)
• Remember that:
– You can “teach at” students, but this does not
ensure students have learned the material.
– You must monitor students to ensure that you
have not lectured too long.
Improving Teacher Talk
• Newer approaches to teacher talk:
– Feedback lecture.
– Guided lecture.
– Responsive lecture.
– Demonstration lecture.
– Pause procedure lecture.
– Think/write/discuss.
– Lecture with graphic organizer.
– Socratic method lecture.
Improving Lectures
• Conduct lectures more as discussions.
• Integrate different types of lectures and
organizing patterns.
• Integrate visuals and manipulatives into
the lecture.
When Lecturing, Make Sure…
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Don’t talk too much.
Don’t talk too fast.
Make sure you can be heard and understood.
Avoid monotone. Enthusiasm is contagious!
Just because students hear something does not
mean they understand it.
– Don’t rely on lecture only. Support lecture with direct
or simulated learning experiences.
– Don’t assume. Ensure students know prerequisite
knowledge/skills.
Guidelines When Lecturing
• Use an advance organizer.
– State main idea and how it relates to other
learning/knowledge. Builds connections.
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Have a beginning, end, and logical order.
Reinforce with visuals.
Encourage student participation.
Have a clear ending, followed by activity.
Keep teacher talk short.
Keep pace relatively quick.
Guidelines When Lecturing
• Realize that the college lecture is inappropriate
for adolescents.
• Recapture student attention.
– 10 to 15-minute blocks. Used to commercials.
• Vary strategies and activities frequently:
– Teacher talk  student-centered activity
– Change learning activities every 10-15 minutes.
– In a 60-minute period, use 3 or 4 sequenced learning
activities. May be concurrent.
Guidelines When Lecturing
• Prepare notes/outline. Do not read lecture!
• Guide students in note-taking (what is
important?).
• Don’t just summarize textbook, or students
will not read it. Augment and supplement.
• Move about the room when lecturing.
• Explain vocabulary as you go (prefix, root
word, suffix). Remember that all teachers
are language arts teachers!
Guidelines When Lecturing
• Use examples and analogies to bridge
knowledge.
• Establish and maintain eye contact.
– Develops rapport.
– Read student attentiveness and
comprehension.
– Helps with classroom management.
Demonstration
Demonstration
• Demonstration is a methodology liked by
students.
• Students are actively engaged in the
learning activity.
Purposes of Demonstration
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Grabs attention of students.
Student vicariously participates.
Reduces safety hazards.
Saves time and resources.
Reviews theory.
Illustrates or models.
Guidelines when Demonstrating
• Decide the most effective way to conduct
the demo:
– Teacher.
– Teacher with student helper.
– Student.
– Entire class OR small groups.
– Teacher first, then small groups repeat.
Guidelines when Demonstrating
• Make sure the demonstration is visible to
all students.
• Have a plan B.
• Model proper safety precautions.
Assignments and Homework
Assignments and Homework
Practice should be incorporated into the
Instructional Sequence as either an inclass assignment and/or an out-of-class
assignment (homework).
Reason for Practice
Automaticity:
• Mastering Procedural
Knowledge processes so
that the procedure occurs
rapidly and with little
conscious effort.
• Allows students to not
commit substantial
memory to the process.
• Frees up cognitive
capacity for higher level
activity (reconstructing
and making meaning of
knowledge that is more
complex).
Overlearning:
• How thinking processes
become automatic.
• Learn something to a
point of mastery so that it
can be replicated
repeatedly, automatically,
and over extended years.
Types of Practice
• Guided Practice
ALWAYS takes place at
school in a classroom,
library, studio, laboratory,
or computer room, where
the teacher can observe
and give feedback.
• The teacher actively
interacts with students,
providing “over-theshoulder instruction” to
an individual or group.
• Tasks are graded.
• Independent Practice
can take place in school
or as homework.
• The student is expected
to complete the task
without (or with very little)
assistance from the
teacher, other students,
or anyone else.
• Independent Practice is
also graded.
Benefits of Homework
• Improves academic performance & study
habits.
• Develops autonomy and self-discipline.
• Promotes efficiency by effectively using
both the classroom and the home for
learning.
• Facilitates parental involvement in
children’s education.
The Goals of Homework
To practice skills learned in class.
To learn a baseline of information in
advance of a lesson, usually as a reading
homework assignment.
To apply concepts learned in the
classroom by completing assignments.
To learn self-discipline.
Parents’ Duties
1. Provide a specific and consistent time
each day for homework
2. If needed, designate a specific place
where homework is to be done.
3. Limit distractions by eliminating TV and
music during homework.
4. Check the student’s understanding of the
assignment before he or she starts.
5. Encourage student to contact a study
club member or homework buddy if
needed.
Parents’ Duties
6. Ensure student does not do homework
with their friends (unless it is a group
project).
7. If student encounters a problem, ask
questions to help the student arrive at a
conclusion.
8. Never do a teenager’s homework by
telling him or her the answers.
9. Expect the work to be neat and orderly.
10. Check the work for accuracy Parents should
if knowledgeable.
not be viewed as
a substitute for
the teacher.
Teachers’ Duties
1.
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3.
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5.
Only assign homework that students should know
how to do if they were paying attention in class.
Reading assignments will follow a prereading
activity and/or be followed by bell work or a
postreading activity.
Homework assignments will always be do-able
and will not need any particular expertise to
complete.
Assignment will be clear and definite, and able to
be completed without specialized materials.
Students will be held accountable.
Teachers’ Duties
6.
7.
8.
9.
Students can be assigned to a study club or homework
buddy to get assignments when absent and to clarify
assignments.
Amount of time students will be expected to spend on
homework will be limited. (Maybe ½ hour a day,
Monday through Thursday.)
Meaningful homework will be assigned on a consistent
basis, perhaps every Monday through Thursday.
Homework will be collected, read, and graded, and
feedback will be provided within two days of receipt.
Include positive comments as well as notes about
mistakes.
Teachers’ Duties
11. Students can be prompted to use a homework planner.
12. Students—not the teacher—will be responsible for the
daily check-in and checkout of homework.
13. There will be some mandatory and some optional
homework.
14. There will be options:
•
For example, students will be able to choose between creating
an essay or creating an image to express their ideas.
15. Assignments will be written on the chalkboard at the
beginning of class, not at the end as an afterthought.
16. As students leave, they will be reminded about the
homework due the next day.
Memorizing
Memorizing
• Sometimes students must memorize
things, even without much understanding.
– Language  alphabet
– Math  numbering system
– Chemistry  common element symbols
– Play trumpet  fingerings
Guidelines for Memorizing
Avoid overuse of memorizing.
If possible, have students understand
meaning before memorizing.
Use mnemonics to aid students in
memorization.
Reviewing
Reviewing
• In general, reviewing is a positive and
necessary practice!
– Recall is improved.
– Understanding is improved by strengthening
semantic networks.
Reviewing in Subjects
• Science
– Many concepts cannot be fully understood in
isolation.
– More appreciation for concepts when seen in context
of later topics.
• Math
– Concepts build on each other. Frequent reviews are
necessary.
• Geography
– Parts have less direct connection. Fewer reviews are
needed.
End of Unit/Course Review
• Always profitable!
– Helps to unify concepts.
– Helps students see the big picture.
– Helps strengthen semantic networks.
• Review should not be used solely as
preparation for an exam.
If you review more often than just before
an exam, students will not view a review
as merely an exam preparation strategy.
Alternative Review Techniques
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Student summaries
Quiz games (Jeopardy)
Discussion
Broad questioning
Dramatizations
Application problems
Explore: Game Reviews
Online Game Templates
Questioning
Questioning
• Well-formed questions help students
develop their critical thinking skills.
• Provides an opportunity for students to
elaborate and adjust their responses
based on their interaction with the teacher
and other students, as well as to put forth
unique insights.
Questioning is one of the easiest ways to
convert instruction from a passive to active
learning experience, but it must be planned and
purposeful.
Structuring Effective and Efficient
Questions
1. Knowledge questions check only memory:
– What is an amoeba, and what are some of its critical
attributes?
2. Comprehension questions check memory
and comprehension:
– Please give the class an example of supply and
demand and explain the difference?
3. Application questions student ability to apply
knowledge
– How do the concepts of protagonist and antagonist
apply to Macbeth?
Structuring Effective and Efficient
Questions
4. Analysis questions require the student to scrutinize
Knowledge
– What conclusions did you draw from the evaporation of the
water?
5. Synthesis questions require the student to combine
Information Knowledge & draw conclusions
– If you know the longitude and latitude of a place, what other
things can you hypothesize about its location?
6. Evaluation questions require the student to use a set
of criteria to make a reasoned judgment.
– What are the most important criteria for selecting a president of
the United States?
FAQ
In a Middle School Classroom, assign percentages
based on the type of questions you think are most
frequently asked by teachers in a typical class
situation.
87.0%
1.______
9.8%
2.______
4.6%
3.______
4.0%
4.______
Knowledge
Analysis
Synthesis
Evalaution
Creating an Environment
Conducive to Questioning
1. Classroom interaction focuses on sustained
examination of a few topics.
2. Students are given sufficient time to think
before being required to answer questions.
3. The teacher presses students to clarify or
justify their assertions.
4. The teacher models the characteristics of a
thoughtful person.
5. Students are encouraged to generate original
and unconventional ideas.
Questions
• All students are called upon on an equally
frequent basis during a period of time.
• Students’ assessment includes grades for
success in answering questions and
participation.
Wait Time
How many seconds do you estimate the average
American, German and Japanese teacher gives
of Wait Time?
For this exercise, it is the time between when you
call on a student and he/she answers.
2 Seconds
American _________
7 Seconds
German _________
11 Seconds
Japanese _________
Positive Results of Wait Time
1. All students are motivated to prepare
and develop answers.
2. Length and correctness of student
responses increases.
3. Silence and “I don’t know” responses
diminish.
4. Number of volunteered answers to
ungrounded questions increases.
Wait Time Approach Results
5. Scores on academic achievement
tests increase.
6. Teachers tend to ask more higherlevel questions.
7. Classroom becomes a quieter and
more civil community of learners.
8. Students become more active agents
in their own learning.
Best Practices for Questioning
1. Create and announce your questioning
Framework at the first class.
2. Use wait time. If a student doesn’t answer, then:
a) Repeat the question.
b) Rephrase the question.
c) Simplify the question.
d) Ask a student to attempt to rephrase your question.
e) Break the question down into its component parts.
f) Make your question more specific.
g) Ask students what it is about the question that they
are finding difficult. Try to elicit some kind of a
answer; don’t just move on to another student.
Best Practices for Questioning
3. Ask all students an equal number of
questions during the course of a week.
4. Prepare questions that focus on higher-order
thinking.
5. Since answers to verbal questions are part of
assessment, make sure they are reflected in
students’ grades.
6. Call on other students to repeat a particularly
good answer.
7. Avoid fill-in-the-blank questions.
Best Practices for Questioning
8. Encourage students to answer to the
class, not just to you.
9. Form questions that are precise and
definite, not ambiguous.
10.Encourage students to ask qualifying
questions.
11.Keep questions short and to the point.
Best Practices for Questioning
12.Do not ask for trivial information.
13.Hold students accountable by expecting,
requiring, and facilitating their
participation and contributions.
14.Never answer your own questions! If the
students know you will give them the
answers after a few seconds of silence
anyway, there isn’t an incentive.
Best Practices for Questioning
15.Establish a safe atmosphere for risktaking:
a)Praise correct answers.
b)Always respect incorrect responses by
saying something positive about students’
efforts.
c) When students make mistakes, ask followup questions designed to help them correct
themselves.
d)Model how to think about a question.
Discussion
Discussion
• Leading an effective discussion can be
one of the most difficult tasks of teaching.
• It requires a commitment to a shared
dialogue with the students and great
restraint by the teacher, who naturally
wants to work through his or her planned
lesson.
Best Practices in Discussion
1. At the beginning of the year have students
discuss the nature of a good discussion.
2. Create a set of guidelines or rules for
discussions that ensure civility.
3. Plan the discussion. What topics do you want
to cover? In what order? What will you do if
nobody says anything?
4. Create a stimulus, usually a provocative
question, an emotionally laced statement, a
proposition that on the surface appears to be a
contradiction.
Best Practices in Discussion
5. For the teacher, the focus is not on what you
will say, but on how you will respond to
students’ propositions and questions.
6. Use students’ comments as points at which
you insert your planned agenda.
7. Use a combination of group and whole-class
discussions.
8. Guide participation by rephrasing a statement
by one student into a question for another.
Best Practices in Discussion
9. If a class discussion is not going well due to
lack of energy or enthusiasm, stop and discuss
the situation with the students.
10. Discussion must be based on substantial
knowledge.
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Teacher needs to consistently ask the students to
relate their comments to the content that was either
read or viewed by them or presented in a lecture.
11. Use silence -- your own!
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If you are silent, they will speak. Studies show that
teachers dominate what are characterized as
discussions almost as much as lectures.
Best Practices in Discussion
12. Purposely slow the pace so that students
sense they have time to reflect.
13. You are teaching both content and an
Academic Disposition (you are modeling
how to listen while being involved in a
class discussion).
14. Rather than respond, ask another
student what he or she thinks.
Tips
Teacher’s Tip
If participation in the class is being
dominated by a few students, give
every student five rubber bands or
paper clips. Each time a person
speaks, he or she must throw a
rubber band into a plastic bucket in
the middle of the room. When
students have used up their rubber
bands, they can’t talk anymore until
everyone has participated.
Teacher’s Tip
Don’t assume because it is a
whole-class activity that you must
lead the discussion. As an
alternative, consider having one
or two students lead the
discussion while you join the
class by taking a seat in one of
the students’ desks.
Review:
MODULE 4-B
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Teacher Talk (Lecturing)
Demonstration
Assignments and homework
Memorizing
Reviewing
Questioning
Discussion