Teaching Methods #1: Student-Centred Instruction
Also known as Learning-Centric, this Teaching Method is designed to encourage autonomy of learning, imparting skills and practices that foster independent problem solving, and an enthusiasm for lifelong learning. In Student-Centred Instruction, students have an active voice in how and what they learn, using their prior experiences and new information to understand concepts and develop solutions. Teachers guide this process by providing frameworks and structures that students can use and build on, as well as guide them during their decision-making process. Built on the Self-Determination theory, this approach believes that learning can become an incentive if students are allowed to participate, evaluate and manage their own work.
Suggested Approaches for Student-Centred Instruction
- Cooperative Learning approach: Team based learning that focuses on using group projects and collaborative teamwork to meet a learning objective. It is important that teachers incorporate individual accountability to ensure equal participation.
- Active Learning approach: Uses discussions and brainstorming to foster positive discourse so students learn how to formulate questions, ask the right questions and use the information to problem-solve.
- Inductive Learning approach: Also known as Inquiry-based learning, challenges are created for students to solve. One method is using case studies and simulated scenarios for which students need to provide ideas and solutions to solve a particular issue.
Teaching Methods #2: Content-Centred Instruction
Also known as the Content-based Instruction [CBI], this was originally used to teach language and grammar, both foreign and native. Modern education practices have adopted CBI principles and methodologies to teach a subject matter, but it is still in its infancy. Content-Centred Instruction dictates that students should immerse themselves in a subject matter, focusing on learning the meaning or core concept of something instead of the form or rules that make it up. The adoption of technology in classrooms has increased the use of this teaching style.
Suggested Approaches for Content-Centred Instruction
- Use stimulating content such as video documentaries, short videos or even gamification. Encourage students to find or create their own content on a subject, bolstering curiosity and creativity.
- Allow students to use the content to create practical applications or experiments that will help them learn through discovery.
- Find related topics to the subject at hand to show how the subject matter relates to other topics.
Teaching Methods #3: Teacher-Centred Instruction
Also known as the Instructor-Led Learning, this Teaching Method adopts a more authoritarian tone and style, where students are passive receptacles of the knowledge being dictated. The teacher is regaled as an expert or master of the subject matter, and there is little to no involvement of the student in the learning process. Didactic lectures and expository monologues are used to impart the lesson, followed by a question and answer session. While still used in many parts of the world, this teaching style is quickly waning in popularity as it is considered to be too ‘close-ended’.
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