Act of Teaching

Chapter 7: Four Instructional Alternatives: Presentation, Discussion, Independent Study,

and Individualized Instruction
Presentations: Teaching as Telling and Showing
What is a Presentation?
-an informative talk a more knowledgeable person makes to a less knowledgeable person.
-an akin to what cognitive learning theorists call expository teaching and reception teaching-
expository because the teacher is putting on a show, reception learning because students are its
recipient.
-showing can enhance telling. Therefore, teachers often accompany their talks with
demonstrations.
Purpose and Characteristics of Teacher Presentations
-to inform an audience of certain fact, ideas, concepts, and explanations.
Socratic Technique- teachers talk in order to force students to think or reflect.
Team teaching- or collaborative teaching is where teachers are working together to share their
expertise engage.
Characteristics of a Presentation:
1. Teacher or other person may present.
2. Presentation may be live or recorded.
3. Presentation may vary in length.
4. Presentation may be formal or informal.
Good Presenters
-believes that his/her learners can best gain particular knowledge or skill by attending, looking,
and listening to him/her or to another presenter.
-should be friendly, humorous, enthusiastic, verbally fluent, and clear.
-possess knowledge of ones own students (with regards to their diversity
-have mastery of the subject one is presenting.
Good Presentations
Three primary factors: preparation, delivery, and closure
1. Preparation- first, establish the topic and objectives learners need to achieve. Next,
collect, review, and organize the available subject matter resources.
2. Delivery- teaching performance about the presentation itself.
Rules:
a. Focus student attention (set induction)
b. Present learners with the learning objectives- tell them what they are expected to
know and to be able to do and why is that important.
c. Use advance organizers- link what is to be learned to what students already know.
d. Present information in an organized, step-by-step manner- the better structured the
lesson, the greater likelihood it will be followed and understood.
e. Provide explanations that are complete, accurate, and clear.
f. When teaching a new idea or concept, use both examples and non-examples if it- use
of examples and illustrations make concepts more clear and interesting.
g. Keep presentations short- if longer than 20 minutes, change things by introducing
variety or have learners review what has been presented.
h. Expect and solicit pupil interaction in the form of questions and comments
Handouts- helpful in (1) made clear the purpose of the talk and what you were expected to know
or to be able to do, (2) provided questions that helped you focus on important points, (3)
contained an outline of the main points, or (4) included a quiz to check your understanding.
3. Closure
- Review and summary are appropriate.
- Reiterate the major concepts, facts, and generalizations that you want learners to recall.
- Connect what students have learned to what they knew prior to the presentation.
- Check for understanding.
When Teacher Presentations Should be Used
-Present knowledge to your learners when:
1. They dont know much about what is to be learned.
2. The knowledge is not available in a better, more understandable form.
3. The knowledge need not to be remembered for a long time.
4. The knowledge is a basis for what will be explored later in depth.
Limitations of Presentations
-Teachers may not know the content sufficiently to present it
-Presentations often do not involve learners enough
-They may be overwhelming, underwhelming, or boring.
What is a Discussion?
-is a situation wherein students, or students and a teacher, converse to share information, ideas,
or opinions or work to resolve a problem.
Purposes and Characteristics of Discussion
Purpose of Discussion
-to review and extend what students have learned in order to ensure their mastery of a subject.
-to have students examine their ideas and opinions.
-to solve a problem.
Characteristics of Discussion:
1. Interaction Pattern- Discussion differs from recitation, or the teacher question-student
answer technique.
2. Group Size and Composition- The whole class can engage in a common discussion, or it
can be divided into groups.
3. Group Arrangement
-participants should face-to-face.
-panel discussion.
4. Role of the Teacher- the teacher serves as observer, recorder, and perhaps arbitrator. Also
to be a facilitator-moderator.
Independent Study: Teaching as Giving and Guiding
Seat Work and Homework Assignments
What is Independent Study?
-any assignment learners complete more or less on their own.
Purposes and Characteristics of Independent Study
-It is most justifiable when students need to rehearse or practice something.
-Rehearse is part of information processing: It gets information into our long-term memory.
-to encourage students to acquire study skills that will serve them throughout life (how to locate,
analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information.)
Limitations of Independent Study
The greatest drawback to independent study is not with the technique itself but with its
intentions, conduct, and assessment.
Individualized or Differentiated Instruction: Tailoring Teaching
What is individualized Instruction?
-Individualized instruction and differentiated instruction are terms used to refer to any
instructional maneuver that attempts to tailor teaching and learning to a learners, or a group of
like-learners/, unique strengths and needs.
-The concept differentiated instruction- teachers working to accommodate and build on students
diverse learning needs- is not new. Rather, it is an outgrowth and elaboration of individualized
instruction.
Purpose and Characteristics of Individualized Instruction
Five Variables:
1. Goals of instruction
2. Learning activities
3. Resources
4. Mastery Level
5. Time
Types of Individualized Instruction
1. Contracts- are signed agreements in which learners promise to perform specific academic
work-perhaps read a book and write a synopsis of it.
2. Programmed and Computer-Assisted Instruction
3. Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI)
4. Individual Guided Education (IGE)
5. Tutoring
6. Distance Learning

Cruickshank, Donald R., Deborah Bainer. Jenkins, and Kim K. Metcalf. The Act
of Teaching. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. (p.203-258)