Teaching Methodologies

1. DISCOVERY APPROACH
Discovery Approach is a teaching strategy which aims to assist the students in
finding solutions or answers to a problem or attaining a learning objective through
meaning, interpretations, and conclusions.
The teacher may assist the students minimally in initiating the search for
information. Such technique is termed guided discovery. Along the way, she may
ask questions as reminders to ascertain the right sequence and direction of all
the learning activities.
Instructional Characteristics
1. The student’s gains first-hand experience.
2. The use of all the sense makes observations keen and reliable.
3. Since the student discovers what they panned to look for, learning becomes
permanent.
4. It develops critical thinking. The skill in employing the steps of the scientific
method is developed.
5. The joy and pride in discovering as worth all the time and effort spent.
6. Such independent search can lead to full blown research later.
7. The teacher stays nondirective, thus developing independence and personal
excitement as well.
Limitations
1. Lack of needed tools may hamper the scientific procedure.
2. Less capable ones may not be successful despite guidance.
3. It may lead to trial-and-error unless properly guided.
Suggestions
1. Make sure that all materials and tools will be needed are available.
2. Caution must be taken in classifying data into relevant and irrelevant ones,
otherwise, the conclusions will not be reliable.
3. It is in the analysis of the recorded data where guidance is most needed.
4. This method is recommended for those who exhibit scientific attitudes and
systematic work habits.
5. Employ this method for those who possess the necessary skills and are
observed to be persistent in completing what they have started.

2. CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH
Constructivist approach views learning as a process of construction meaning
which is greatly influenced by the learners accumulated experiences and
understandings. It is likewise viewed as a social process in which learners
construct meaning through the “interaction of prior knowledge and new learning
events”. As an active process, the learner continuously revise past learning and
“reconstruct’” concepts as they interact daily with the environment.
Constructivism is anchored on the assumption that ‘the absorption or assimilation
of knowledge is somewhat personal and therefore no two learners can build up
the same meaning out of one situation. Knowledge, therefore, is the result of
learners own construction of reality. It involves a continuous creation of rules to
 explain an observation, and in the process, checks new information against prior
knowledge to come up with a new understanding.
Instructional Characteristics
1. From the constructivist perspective, teaching is not considered as merely
transmitting knowledge and information (facts, concepts, principles) to students
but rather as providing students with relevant experiences from which they can
construct their own meaning.
2. The teacher act as a facilitator providing opportunities for a stimulating dialogue
to that meaning could evolve and be constructed.
3. The repertoire of instructional materials include learning activities and events
rather than fixed documents (laws, principles) that almost always learned
unquestioned and simply recalled.
4. The teacher ceases to be the traditional “sole source of authority in the
classroom”. With proper recall of existing knowledge which they gain through
experiences, she guides them through skillful questioning and appropriate
cognition processing.
5. Necessarily, her lessons are activity-oriented in order for them to experience or
gain personal knowledge through active involvement.
6. Participation with understanding enable them to “live through” a learning episode,
thus discovering information by themselves.

3. EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Educators are foremost believes in the old cliché: “experience is the best
teacher”. A natural part of learning if this be true, is the occurrence of personal
knowledge or personal involvement. To experience an event means to “live
through”, to actually see, feel, or encounter an incident or a certain situation.
In teaching-learning episodes, experience is at the base, it is the foundation upon
which new ideas and behaviors are formed. With prior experiences, students are
able to create their own meanings, concepts, perspectives. Hence, they need for
activity-centered teaching methodologies wherein they undergo directly an
intelligent use of all their senses.
Instructional Characteristics
1. Experiential learning is essentially a way of acquiring knowledge of skills through
direct and keen observations followed by an analysis of what has been sensed
and understood. Then, the particular experiences acquires meaning through an
intellectual process termed “reflection”. To reflect simply means to deliberate,
reason, and mull over carefully.
2. Children learn best from experiences with natural occurrences and with concrete
objects in the environment.
3. Experiences gained through interactions with other individuals promote learning
situations.
4. Such accumulated experiences are further examined and evaluated by
themselves, thus enabling them to formulate new insights as well as gain new
skills.
5. Experiential learning requires that (a) a child should be personally involved in the
learning task, (b) the knowledge or information must be discovered by the child
herself, and (c) the objectives of the learning activity must be clearly understood,
at the same time, allowing flexibility in their own ways of pursuing them.
 6. Experiential learning can be distinguished from other teaching models in that it
emphasizes directly what one is studying, also making conclusions and
generalizations based on direct experiences. But before a child can fully benefit
from an experience, she should develop some skills such as the ability to listen
critically and to observe keenly through an intelligent use of all the senses. She
should be able to develop the ability to analyze observations upon which she can
formulate new concepts and understandings.
7. On the part of the teacher, she should listen carefully and be able to pick up
subtle cues from every classroom encounter. She should lead the students in
connecting the current experience to previous ones, thus create new insights and
perspectives.

Cooperative Learning Approach

 This methodology works well with groups or teams wherein the members help
one another to achieve a desired outcome.
 It promotes the development of skills in democratic procedures as they solve
problems in collaborative manner.
 It recognizes and rewards collective effort, at the same time fosters strong
motivation.
Instructional Characteristics
 It consists of two important components;
a. Cooperative incentive structure – is one wherein two or more individuals are
interdependent for a reward they will share if they successful as a group.
b. Cooperative task structure – is a situation in which two or more individuals are
allowed, encouraged, or required to work together on some tasks.
 Reward systems are group-oriented rather than an individually-oriented.
Interdependent relationships is strengthened and reinforced when cooperation is
rewarded.
 The interactions within the group is influenced by the members themselves.
 Teams are made up of members with mixed abilities-high, average and
achievers. They exhibit less competitive behavior.
 Teams may be composed of males and females.
 Group work promotes maximal generation and exchange of ideas, thus
influencing one another.
 It promotes tolerance and respect for other people’s points of view.
 Cooperative learning groups exhibit less competitive behavior.
 Group work develops friendliness, willingness, to assist and the worthwhile value
of “caring and sharing”.
Examples:
1. STAD (Student Teams Achievement Division)
2. Think-pair-share
3. Buzz Groups
4. Jigsaw
5. Group Investigations
Limitations
 Sometimes it leads to confusion especially when members don’t understand
clearly their involvement in each task to be performed.
  The low achievers may end up “on-lookers” due to lack of skill.
 Some may not agree to group rewards, leading to low motivation.
Suggestions/Recommendations
 Heterogeneous groupings has been found out to affect the performance of the
members. High achievers can tutors the other members, thus raising the
achievement level of the group.
 Make sure that the students can work well in group situations. This would need
an observations of their social skills and willingness to cooperate.
 Provide sufficient working tools so as not to be hampered by time that might be
spent waiting.
 Provide adequate space for ease and speed of movement.
Role Playing
 Role playing consist of an enactment of a learning situation through which they
depict real life responses and behavior. Through this, students are able to
express their intimate feelings, problems, and approved solutions. It makes use
of events, known personalities and current activities presented in a dramatic way.
 The participants consist of major and minor players, observers, and analysis.
Instructional Characteristics
 Role playing capitalizes on the experiences gained and what was learned.
 Authentic responses are solicited since real life events are presented.
 Personal feelings are elicited from the role players during the presentation which
may not be revealed by ordinary means.
 The participants gain valuable insights into why and how people behave in
similar situations out of the responses depicted.
 As they perform a particular role their internalized values, attitudes, and study
habits could be observed and studied.
 The role player’s confidence is developed.
 The enactment of real life problem situations elicit genuine, typical behavior that
can serve as the best answer to real issues.
Limitations
 If the role is not clear, it may result to an exaggerated version.
 For the young, role playing may not work well due to lack of experience with
everyday happenings.
 Some may shy away from the activity and miss the information being portrayed.
Suggestions/Recommendations
 Select participants guided by the ability of the role players.
 Delineate the line of action, restating the roles for further clarification and
concentrating on the real event or problem situation.
 Prepare the observers on what to look for, especially focusing on the feelings
that will be generated by the performers.
 Discuss and evaluate the presentation as to the action of each role player, the
authenticity of the learning event, and the major response elicited. This could be
done by the observer’s together wit the assigned analyst.
 Prepare the listeners to insure a smooth, clear and uninterrupted presentation.
Peer Tutoring
When used in teaching-learning situations, to tutor means to coach, teach, or instruct
another or do so among themselves. The tutor is more knowledgeable, skilled, and has
the ability to influence others. The group must be close in age, skills and learning styles.
Types of Tutoring
Instructional Peer Tutoring – Older, brighter students coach the younger ones. This
could be on one-to-one or one-to-a group arrangement. They may agree on how the
assistance will be provided. This is practiced when there is a big difference between
tutor and tutee.
Monitoring Tutoring – The class is divided into groups of 4 and 5 members. Monitors
are assigned to lead each group. The teacher has more time to attend to the rest while
the tutors monitor and help the rest.
Pair Tutoring – children of the same age, one better skilled, than the other, interact,
and help one another to pursue the learning activity. They can read and discussed
together,
Structural Peer tutoring – the assistance of trained tutors is required in following
instructions or definite procedures that are provided in model and guides.
Instructional Characteristic
 The tutees receive the individualized instructions, as through their own teacher.
Immediately errors are corrected and rewards for good performance is awarded.
 Careful selection of tutors afford better interactions that facilitate learning since
they are older, skilled and knowledgeable.
 Interests, tastes, and non-verbal clues are easily ascertained by tutors. Then
monitoring is more enjoyable and fulfilling.
 Values of cooperation, respect for one another, and reciprocal attitudes are
inculcated.
 Working in smaller groups with monitors around minimizes disciplines problems
or indifference to get actively and social traits.
 Since tutors are a little older and better equipped, the tutees feel more secure in
their presence be it in a social or academe setting.
Limitations
 It left to themselves, “over tutoring” might create a negative situation instead.
 Unclear roles can lead to questions on credibility of tutors.
 Favoritism in choice of tutors must be avoided. This could result in over
domineering and all-knowing reactions of the tutors.
Suggestions/Recommendations
 Care in choosing the tutor is the key to a successful peer tutoring methodology.
Domineering and all-knowing tutors make the members feel inferior.
 The teacher should be around to observe how the tutoring is progressing.
Immediate feedback could be shared with the tutors to improve or undertake
instant revision of procedures when necessary.
 Assign students who possess leadership qualities in addition to being
knowledgeable and older.
 The development of positive values such as sharing attitude, cooperation and
respect for one another should be carefully observed and given due recognition.
  The nature and extent of assistance requested must be clear among tutees and
tutor in order to avoid negative interactions.
 Request peers who have been earlier notified to discuss the topics included in
the day’s lesson. Confer with the teacher regarding the nature and extent of
assistance they are expected to provide.
 Individual or group tutoring may be considered depending on the level of difficulty
of the lesson.
 Creative tutors are more able to try effective strategies according to their
interests, skills and work habits.
 After a tutoring activity, an evaluation of both parties’ performance should be
undertaken in order to guide future tutoring events.

INQUIRY APPROACH
The inquiry approach is one of the most effective and success-guaranteed
methods in teaching Science and Mathematics. If offers the greatest promise in
directing learning activities towards the attainment of the ultimate goal of science
teaching for the 21sr century—the development of scientific literacy. It is sometimes
termed discovery, scientific thinking, heuristic, and problem solving. Kuslan and Stone
(1985) define inquiry teaching as a teaching method which is “modelled after the
investigative processes of scientists.” Both the teacher and the students study scientific
phenomena through the “approach and the spirit of the scientists.”
Unlike other teaching models which emphasize direct instruction, inquiry teaching
aims to help students seek answers to their own questions, gather pieces of evidences,
and draw own conclusions and generalizations. It puts premium on self-directed
learning activities patterned after the scientific procedures and processes. As such, they
learn by inquiring about something, weighing and sorting out information and building
their own meaning. In so doing, they employ such processes as analyzing, evaluating,
and synthesizing with an end view at discovering concepts by themselves. Ultimately,
they become independent, autonomous learners capable of learning on their own.
In history, the processes of inquiry are likewise used to advantage. The teacher
provokes the students into asking questions and participate in historical analysis. With
the vast historical record and stored artifacts as guide, the test for the new idea is
undertaken and conclusions are formulated. Across subject areas and disciplines, the
use of the inductive approach bring students to the inquiry or discovery instruction.

Instructional Characteristics
Following are some instructional characteristics that are observed in inquiry teaching:
1. The inquiry approach offers a generous use of scientific processes such as
observing, comparing, measuring, predicting, inferring, communicating, and
drawing generalizations. They are habitually employed during their
investigations. The development and enhancement of this skill is the primary aim
of this method.
2. The answers and procedures to be followed are not known in advance to the
students. Confronted with questions and problems, they suggest ways of finding
solutions. This leads to the real meaning of “discovery,” thus making learning
more lasting and meaningful.
3. The students are genuinely interested and highly motivated to work either
independently or in small groups. Full and active involvement is spontaneous. A
keen sense of responsibility is exhibited.
4. During the investigations, such questions as how, why, prove, justify, and others
persist which drive them to continue pursuing in order to gather adequate data
and evidences to support their conclusions and solutions.
5. Suspense and excitement occur in a highly eager classroom atmosphere
especially if modelled by an “inquisitive” and “curious” teacher.