Teaching methods and strategies

(Techniques)
By the end of the lecture, the learner
should be able to:
• Define what a teaching and learning
technique is and why it is useful for
your teaching purpose.
• Describe various techniques in
teaching and learning activities.
• State the criteria used to determine a
teaching strategy.
• the teaching methods are techniques, &
strategies, and methodologies used by
teachers to convey the subject matter to
the students,

• A teaching technique is a detailed list of

rules or a guideline for any (teaching)
activity. • It is based on the description of
steps, or a set of do's and don'ts, and can
often be linked to a method or strategy.
Technique is a procedure or skill for
completing a specific task.
• There are two broad techniques that
can be used in a learning situation:
– Expository and
– Inquiry
 Expository
• In this technique, the objectives are clearly
stated to the students, learning environment
is arranged, and the teacher describes and
explains the entire subject matter.
• The teacher repeats the main points in
summary and ensures that each student
follow the content.
It is an example of a teacher-centred
technique, sometimes referred to as ‘inductive’
approach.
Inductive method – This is a method of
teaching based on presenting students
with steps to enable them to arrive at
a definite rule, principle or fact.
 Inquiry Approach
• The inquiry approach is more focused on using and
learning content as a means to develop information-
processing and problem-solving skills.
• The system is more student centered, with the teacher as
a facilitator of learning. There is more emphasis on "how
we come to know" and less on "what we know.“
• Students are more involved in the construction of
knowledge through active involvement.
• The more interested and engaged students are by a
subject or project, the easier it will be for them to
construct in-depth knowledge of it.
• Learning becomes almost effortless when something
fascinates students and reflects their interests and goals.
• The learner begins with careful observation,
then designs the measurements needed
and draws reasonable conclusions.
• The teacher may or may not define
objectives but only tells the students the
topic whose content they are required to
learn.
• The student does most of the learning
independently while the teacher just guides
the students.
The inquiry method is also called the
‘deductive’ or ‘heuristic’ method to learning.
• Deductive method – This is a method
that proceeds from general or
universally applicable principles to
particular applications of these
principles to teaching and learning.
 ADVANTAGES OF STUDENT-CENTERED
LEARNING
• Enhances engagement: Students interact with each other and with objects. This
makes the lessons less boring.
• Fosters better memorization: Student centered learning shifts focus from
traditional cramming–based education to engaging content that has real-life value
for students. This helps to keep students interested, challenged and encouraged
to use their existing knowledge for new scenarios.
• Trains problem solving skills: Student centered learning would contain a plethora
of quizzes, questions, role-playing and other challenges where students can test
their skills and creativity. By completing different types of assignments, students
learn to think critically.
• Stimulates cooperation and teamwork: Since SCL contains a lot of group tasks and
assignments, it also fosters cooperation and teamwork, which is good for students
of any age.
• Individualised Adjusts to the individual learning goals: The goal of SCL is to build
the course around needs, abilities, and interests of each and every individual for
maximum engagement and efficiency. With this idea in mind, teachers and course
creators can provide additional materials for individual reading, use personalized
assessment methods, or adjust their assignments.
EXAMPLES OF TEACHING
METHODS AND
STRATEGIES ARE
 1. Lecture Technique
• This is a teaching and learning procedure
by which the lecturer seeks to create
interest, to influence and stimulate his
students, and gets them involved in the
learning by the use of a verbal message.
There are two forms of lecture method:
– Formal – a one-way communication
– Informal – a two-way communication
between the teacher and the student
(Appropriate for classroom teachers).
Lecture method can be used as follows:
• To convey information to your students e.g.
information that is not in their textbooks
• To stimulate critical thinking on the part of
the students
• To reinforce the written work e.g. a lecture
to cover previously learnt material.
• To change teaching pace – varying
techniques.
• To synthesize many sources: putting
together information from different sources.
Aspects to consider when using lecture method.
• Your personality as a lecturer: being
competent, friendly and interesting.
• Consideration of the students: ensure that
students follow and understand the lecture.
• Plan and organize main points.
• Use appropriate language that your students
can follow.
• Ensure effectiveness by use of audio-visual
materials.
• The lecture should be short, allow short
breaks if necessary.
 2. Discussion
• Discussion is an activity in which
students, under the teacher’s
direction, exchange points of view so
as to arrive at a collective decision or
conclusion.
Discussion has the following characteristics:
a) Interchange of ideas between teacher and
students; or student and student. The
discussion can be:
- Whole class discussion
- Small group discussion (from 2 or more
students)
b) Good procedure in presenting a topic for
discussion (planning)
c) Teacher to act as a moderator or leader of
the discussion (focus)
d) A conclusion should be reached upon
exhaustion of discussion.
 3. Laboratory and Practical Work
• These are teaching and learning methods in which
cause, effect and nature of learning activity are
determined by actual experience or experiments
under controlled conditions.
• They are highly suitable for agriculture,
engineering and natural sciences.
• They help students to learn skills and acquire
knowledge which can be applied in a real life
setting.
• When a decision is made to use them, the
objectives need to be explicitly specified, state
safety requirements and specify procedure.
 4. Demonstration
• This is an activity in which the teacher or another
person uses examples, experiments, or some
other actual performance in order to illustrate a
principle or show other people how to do
something.
• In this method, the teacher always explains or
tells students how a particular learning activity
can be achieved.
• It uses actual objects or teaching/learning aids
(models or mock-ups).
• It is necessary in providing the students with
concrete experience of the real life situation
 5. Direct Experience
• This is a teaching technique in which
the student is directly involved in a real-
life learning situation.
• It is done under controlled and specified
learning conditions in a school.
• Teacher explains objectives to the
students, then explains and shows how
they are going to learn the learning
activity.
• It is commonly used in courses such as
industrial arts, home science, handcrafts,
and most sciences.
• It has the following characteristics:
1. Student learns by doing a learning task under
real life conditions (active participation).
2. The teacher defines objectives, the student
explores the learning opportunities, and
discovers for himself a number of facts and
concepts.
3. It emphasizes practical approach to learning
[Activity, Student centred, Experiments and
Improvisation (ASEI)]
 6. Field Trips
• This is a technique in which students
learn outside a classroom such as
cultural, governmental, business or
industrial institution.
• It helps students to learn by doing,
seeing and feeling the actual things
they have gone out to see.
Planning for a field trip follows the
following suggestions:
a) Analyze entry knowledge and skills of
the students, then decide how they are
going to find out what they would like
to know through a field trip.
b) Make the following preparation for the
trip:
– Visit the field trip location in advance so as
to know where it is.
– Discuss the trip with the head of the
institution and secure permission
– Contact the people at the destination to
arrange date and time of the trip(write
official letter).
– Arrange for transport, finance, and other
necessary items
– Together with the students; write
objectives of the trip, prepare
questionnaires to be answered – send a
copy to host guide.
– Assign responsibilities to the students,
form groups in advance, and design
safety and behaviour standards.
c) During the trip; keep to the schedule
both time of arrival and time at the
site, help students to get answers to
their questions, and supervise
travelling back (take roll-call).
d) Through discussions; let the
students describe field trip experience,
evaluate the trip by asking students to
write an essay, answer questions, and
give reactions to the field trip.
 7. Role Playing, Simulation and
Games
Role Playing
• This involves a student acting out or imitating a
situation, conditions, or circumstances with
selected members of his learning group who
assume other roles. Example, parliament under
history and government, structure and bonding in
chemistry etc.
• The teacher ensures that activities are kept within
the bounds of the scene.
• How can you apply role playing in your subject?
• Eg Swearing of president; Blessing of Jacob;
Bonding; Characters in a play; etc
 Simulation
• This is a learning process that involves
students as participants in role
presentations and/or games imitating
real life situations.
• It can be used to make students acquire
and practice various types of skills.
Example, suppose you are teaching how
to generate electricity; you can get a
model magnetic fields and the
movement of the motor to turn turbine
in the magnetic field.
 Games
• Game is an educational technique
where students are presented with
situations that involve choices and
there are differential risks involved.
• Choices are made from a simulated
real life situation which changes
according to the choices, so that the
student wins or loses.
 Common Characteristics
between Simulation and Games
• There is a small, fixed set of players
striving to reach a goal.
• Rules exist to define the legitimate
actions of the players involved in the
game.
• There is always a basic sequence and
structure within which actions take
place.
• There is always a time limit.
 Advantages offered by both
Simulation and Games
• Provide opportunities for students to solve
problems with which they are intimately
involved.
• The student feels satisfied when he/she
senses a new insight as new ideas and
concepts are formulated.
• The student is placed in a relatively realistic
environment.
• A full range of audio-visual media can
sometimes be applied.
• A high degree of interest is developed in the
students through realistic participation.
 8. Group Technique
• This is a way of teaching a number of students the same thing at the same time. It
is a technique whereby:
– The members have to work cooperatively rather than individually
– They formulate common objectives that they aim to achieve, under the
guidance of a teacher.
• The size of the group depends on the objectives.
• Time and learning space is allocated by the teacher.
How can group activity enhance learning?
• - Humans are social beings hence like socialisation
• - Breaks monotony hence improves interest
• - Fosters cooperation and teamwork, which is good for students learning
• - Learners learn from each other hence improves memory
• Break complex tasks into parts and steps
• Refine understanding through discussion and explanation
• Give and receive feedback on performance
• Challenge assumptions
• Develop stronger communication skills.
• Group projects can also help students develop skills specific to collaborative efforts
• Tackle more complex problems than they could on their own.
• Delegate roles and responsibilities.
• Share diverse perspectives.
• Pool knowledge and skills.
• Hold one another accountable.
• Receive social support and encouragement to take
risks.
• Develop new approaches to resolving differences.
• Establish a shared identity with other group members.
• Find effective peers to emulate.
• Develop their own voice and perspectives in relation to
peers.
• While the potential learning benefits of group work are
significant, simply assigning group work is no guarantee
that these goals will be achieved. In fact, group projects
can – and often do – backfire badly when they are not
designed, supervised, and assessed in a way that
promotes meaningful teamwork and deep collaboration.
 9. Individualized Instruction
Technique
• It is a method in which the teaching
activities are determined by an
assessment of an individual student’s
achievement, needs and aspirations.
To use the technique, teaching programme need to
have the following provisions:
• Allow flexible timing; such as flexibility that
allows students to look after their other learning
activities and any problem of their own.
• Diagnose the student’s entry knowledge and
skills so as to determine whether he/she can be
exempted from a particular activity or given
remedial learning.
• Content options; this gives the learner wider
choice in selecting learning activities.
• Prepare measuring instruments for student
evaluation with alternative and flexible times.
• Include alternative forms of teaching and
learning
 10. Reflective practice
Defined as "active, persistent, and
careful consideration of any belief or
supposed form of knowledge in the
light of the grounds that support it and
the further conclusions to which it
tends [that] includes a conscious and
voluntary effort to establish belief
upon a firm basis of evidence and
rationality, " (Dewey, 1933)
• Or as a critical process in refining
one’s artistry or craft in a specific
discipline (Ferraro, 2000)
• Or reflective process involves
thoughtfully considering one’s owns
experiences in applying knowledge
to practice (Schon, 1996).
• Reflection is a process of thinking
and questioning, it is a way of
helping professionals to develop a
deeper understanding of issues by
analyzing their prior experience to
learn from it and, thereby, improving
their daily work.
• Reflective practice is thinking
systematically about one’s practice
and learning from experience.
 Importance of Reflective Practice
• Reflective practice leads to better learning (Davis
2003), specifically learning from experience.
• It enables modern professionals [like teachers] to
think consciously about their practice to move them
towards deeper levels of awareness, not just about
what they do but also about why they do it” (Forde
et al. 2006 p. 66).
• This level of awareness and thinking allows
practitioners to be more open minded, to adopt
more flexible approaches to their work, so that they
are better able to cope with modern working
practices. Hence, enabling them to overcome well-
worn organisational habits and facilitate significant
change (Osterman and Kottkamp 1993).
Hence, this enables teachers to
identify strengths and weaknesses in
their performance. They work towards
retaining their strengths, and
improving their weaknesses,
consequently, leading to change of
practice.
Good teaching cannot be separated from
reflection. Therefore we reflect:
- For professional and personal growth
- To improve practice and understand it better
- To do things right and to be able to justify our
actions
- For creativity and innovation
- For better relationships with students and
colleagues
- To live up to one’s moral responsibility as a
teacher
- To come to a deeper understanding of
teaching and what it means to be a teacher
- To re-examine and revise our plans of action
 11. Audio-Visual Media
• A term referring to teaching aids.
Other terms include ‘educational
media’, ‘instructional materials’ and
‘learning resources’. They refer to:
– Chalk
– Textbooks
– Films and
– Objects
They fall into the following categories:
– Real things; examples include objects, models,
people and museums
– Still pictures; examples include photographs,
35 mm slides, filmstrips, overhead
transparencies, charts, chalkboard, posters
and maps.
– Motion pictures; commercially produced 16
mm films and single concept 8 mm loops
– Audio and video media; professionally
produced records, tapes, video clips
– Printed media; examples include texts and
reference books, encyclopedias, newspapers,
teacher prepared handouts.