Methods of Teaching

Methods are best understood by who is active. Teacher-centred methods (lecture, demonstration, narration, recitation) emphasise transmission and suit large groups, factual content and the memory level. Learner-centred methods (discussion, project, problem solving, heuristic, inquiry, cooperative learning) emphasise activity and suit understanding and reflective levels. Technology-mediated methods (programmed instruction, computer-assisted learning, blended learning, flipped classroom, online learning) personalise and scale learning. No single method is best; selection depends on objectives, content, learner characteristics, time and resources.

• Lecture method: the teacher explains orally. Advantages: economical, covers a lot, suits large groups, gives structure. Limits: passive learners, little feedback, memory-level outcomes, attention declines after about 15 to 20 minutes. Lecture-cum-demonstration improves it by adding visual proof.

• Demonstration method: the teacher shows a process, experiment or skill while students observe; ideal for psychomotor skills, science experiments and where apparatus is costly or dangerous.

• Narration (story-telling), description and recitation are used for history, literature and moral education.

• Discussion method: guided exchange of ideas; builds thinking and communication.

• Seminar: a participant (or group) presents a paper and the group discusses it, led by an expert; it is not a lecture or drill. Symposium: several experts speak on different aspects of one theme. Panel discussion: a small group of experts discusses a topic in front of an audience, with a moderator. Workshop: hands-on, skill-based group work on a practical problem. Conference: large gathering to share research.

• Brainstorming (Alex Osborn): group generates many ideas without criticism; stimulates creativity.

• Project method (W. H. Kilpatrick, based on Dewey): learners plan and carry out a purposeful activity in a real-life setting; learning by doing. Steps: providing a situation, choosing, planning, executing, evaluating, recording.

• Problem-solving method: follows the reflective thinking steps of Dewey.

• Heuristic method (H. E. Armstrong): the student acts as a discoverer; the word comes from the Greek heurisko, I find out.

• Inductive and deductive methods: moving from examples to rule, and from rule to examples.

• Socratic method: disciplined questioning to draw out knowledge and expose contradictions.

• Case method (Harvard): analysis of real or simulated cases, popular in management and law. Role play and simulation: acting out situations to learn behaviour and empathy.

• Cooperative and collaborative learning: small heterogeneous groups work for a shared goal with individual accountability. Jigsaw (Elliot Aronson, 1971): each member becomes an expert on one part and teaches the group. Think-Pair-Share (Frank Lyman): think alone, discuss with a partner, share with the class.

• Montessori method: didactic materials, freedom within limits and the prepared environment for young children. Kindergarten: Froebel. Dalton Plan: Helen Parkhurst, individual contracts and self-pacing.

• Peer tutoring and mentoring, team teaching (two or more teachers share a class) and inquiry-based learning.

Programmed instruction was developed from Skinner’s operant conditioning. Linear programming (Skinner): small steps, active response, immediate feedback, self-pacing; every learner follows the same sequence. Branching programming (Norman Crowder): learner’s response decides the next frame, with remedial branches for errors. Mathetics (Thomas Gilbert) emphasises mastery of behaviour chains. Pressey built an early teaching machine in the 1920s. The Keller Plan (Personalised System of Instruction, 1968) uses self-paced modules with mastery tests and proctors. Computer-assisted instruction offers drill, tutorials, simulation and games. Blended learning combines face-to-face and online teaching (not technology-only, not traditional-only, not multilingual teaching). Flipped classroom: learners study content (video) at home and use class time for discussion and problem-solving. E-learning and MOOCs are discussed in Topic 7.

Microteaching, developed by Dwight Allen at Stanford University (1963), is a scaled-down teaching encounter (small class of 5 to 10 students, a single skill, 5 to 10 minutes) used to train teachers. The cycle is Teach, Feedback, Re-plan, Re-teach, Re-feedback; in the commonly cited Indian model the timings are roughly 6, 6, 12, 6, 6 minutes (36 minutes in all). Skills practised include set induction (introducing a lesson), stimulus variation, probing questioning, explaining, illustrating with examples, reinforcement, fluency in questioning, silence and non-verbal cues, using the blackboard, recognising attending behaviour and closure. The purpose is to master one skill at a time in a safe setting with immediate feedback.

Ned Flanders’ Interaction Analysis Categories (FIAC) record classroom talk every three seconds using ten categories. Teacher talk, indirect influence (1 to 4): accepts feeling, praises or encourages, accepts or uses students’ ideas, asks questions. Teacher talk, direct influence (5 to 7): lecturing, giving directions, criticising or justifying authority. Student talk (8 and 9): student response, student initiation. Category 10: silence or confusion. The results are shown in a matrix; the I/D ratio (indirect to direct influence) indicates the teacher’s style. A higher I/D ratio signifies a more democratic and student-centred classroom.

Behaviourism (Pavlov, Thorndike, Skinner, Watson): learning is a change in observable behaviour produced by conditioning and reinforcement; its methods are drill, programmed instruction and reward. Cognitivism (Gestalt, Bruner, Ausubel, Gagne): learning is mental information processing and insight; its methods are advance organisers, concept mapping and discovery. Constructivism (Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner): learners actively construct knowledge; its methods are inquiry, projects and cooperative learning. Humanism (Rogers, Maslow): learning is self-directed growth in a supportive climate. Gagne’s nine events of instruction are: gain attention, inform objectives, stimulate recall of prior learning, present stimulus, provide learning guidance, elicit performance, provide feedback, assess performance, enhance retention and transfer. Thorndike’s laws are readiness, exercise and effect.