Teaching & Learning Strategies

A practical guide for teachers

 “A central challenge for the education
system is to find ways of embedding
learning in a range of meaningful
contexts, where students can use their
knowledge and skills creatively to make
an impact on the world around them.”
- Seltzer & Bentley 1999, p.viii
 The Basics of Good Teaching
• presentation of teaching/content
• resources used to deliver the
content
• relation between content and
process
Think about it…
 Strategies
• Observation • Experimenting
• Narration • Discovery
• Discussion • Feedback
• Explanation • Graphic organizers
• Questioning • Grouping
• Demonstration • Checklists
• Application • Rubrics
Observing requires

• prior knowledge
• purpose
• knowledge of attributes to be
observed
• a way to record information
Activities to develop observation skills

• Optical illusions
• Picture books
• Kim‟s game
• Jigsaw puzzle
• Matching patterns
• Spot differences/similarities
• Mark errors
 Synonyms for „Observe‟
• Study • Note
• Detect • Notice
• Discern • Perceive
• Discover • Recognize
• Distinguish • See
• Examine • Study
• Focus • View
• Look at • Watch
Optical Illusions
 Narration
Narration is a way of sharing information
with students. It may be part of any lesson,
and can be used to share information about a
particular topic. Students may also use
narration in its written and oral forms to
demonstrate their knowledge and
understanding of various topics.
 Ways to develop narration skills

• Book display
• Travel guides
• Talking books
• ebooks
 Discussion

“For teachers who prize participatory learning,

discussion is the jewel in the crown of the
engaged classroom. It appears to equalize the
power relationships and affirm the validity of
student opinions.” - Bookfield 2006, p. 115
Some important elements of discussion

• Setting ground rules

• Preparing students
• Seating/classroom layout or arrangement
• Voice skills
• Record keeping
• Grouping
• Methods to be used e.g. Socratic Method
The Socratic Method

This form of discussion is used to „achieve a deeper

understanding about ideas and values‟ (Crystal,
2004). Students are placed in two groups –
participants and observers, so that two skills are
developed – discussion and feedback. This method
facilitates the use of a variety of questions to
stimulate a robust discussion.
Explanation

„If you cannot explain it simply, you do

not understand it well enough.‟ - Albert Einstein
• Explanation is the development of the
narration and the sharing of information with
students, encouraging them to think logically,
aesthetically and morally.
• Though explanations seem one of the easiest forms
of teaching strategies, they really require
preparation and planning to make the sessions
engaging and invigorating or else chances are that
the audience will …
How to write an explanation
• S – Simplicity – be succinct without compromising on the
core points of the content
• U – Unexpected – gain audience attention and interest by
introducing something unexpected to pique their curiosity
• C – Concrete – give concrete examples so that abstract ideas
and concepts become meaningful
• C – Credible – use sources of information that are authentic
such as expert views, podcast, etc.
• E - Emotional – invest in students‟ interests and identity,
that will enable them to relate easily to the content
• S – Stories – incorporate anecdotes as everyone loves to
listen to other‟s experiences; helps to illustrate causal
relationships and highlight ways in which people solves
problems (Heath& Heath 2009, p.206)
vary the use of „and‟ …
• Either • Not only
• Before • Nor
• Since • But also
• After • Once
• When • But
• While • Or
• Until • So
• Although • As
• Since • As if as long as
• Even if • Neither
• Because • Either
 Synonyms for „Explain‟
• Analyse • Detail
• Justify • Describe
• Construe • Illustrate
• Rationalise • Elucidate
• Account for • Bring out
• Throw light upon • Interpret
• Clarify • Annotate
• Expound • Paraphrase
• Point out • Unravel
• Solve • Clear
• Decipher • Define
Questioning

„The effectiveness of a question is

demonstrated by the answer that is given.‟
Bloom‟s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
Traditional information gathering questions

“I keep six honest serving men

They taught me all I knew
Their names are What and
Why and When
And How and Where and Who.” -
(Kipling 1902)
Games that stimulate questioning
• Crossword puzzles
• Trivia games
• Twenty questions
• White and Edible
• What am I?
 Demonstration

“Tell me and I forget.

Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin
• A demonstration is showing someone how to do something.
Demonstrations may be carried out by people other than the
teacher or by using multi-media to assist with students‟
understanding of different concepts.
• The impact of a visual demonstration is very
powerful and effective in learning.
Application
“I hear and I forget. I see and I
remember. I do and I understand.” Chinese proverb

Application is the using of information

and skills you have, to make informed
decisions and reach conclusions.
Experiments
• One of the most effective learning strategies,
experiments enable learners to demonstrate
their level of knowledge and understanding.
• An experiment is an alternative way to
answer a question and to determine why
certain phenomena happen in certain ways.
 Discovery Learning
“The art of teaching is the art
of assisting discovery.” – Max Van Doren
Feedback
“Feedback is central to the
development of effective learning.” Carless 2006
 Style of feedback
• Clarity – language that student can
understand and work on
• Specificity – need to know parts of the lesson
• Valence – positive or negative
• Tone – show respect for the student and work
that has been done or is being done
Graphic Organisers

“A graphic organiser is a communication tool

that uses visual symbols to express knowledge,
concepts, thoughts or ideas, and the
relationships between them, with the purpose of
providing a visual aid to facilitate learning
and instruction, or to follow a procedure.”
Meyen, Vergason & Whelan 1996
Visualisation – Mind Maps
 Grouping
• A group is an entity by itself with its unique
personality which is the sum of the individuals
put together yet unlike each of them
separately.
• When planned carefully, group activities
benefit learners very effectively. They learn
much more than the lesson content –
tolerance, respect, leadership, time
management and so on.
 Types of groups

• Homogeneous or Ability based groups

• Heterogeneous or mixed ability groups
• Cross ability groups
• Cross-age groups
• Whole-class group
• Interest groups
• Friend groups
• Eclectic groups
 Checklists
“No matter how expert you may be, well designed
checklists can improve outcomes” -Steven Levitt.

• A checklist is a list of items you need to verify,

check or inspect. Checklists are used in every
imaginable field from building inspections to
complex medical surgeries. Using a checklist
allows you to ensure you don‟t forget any
important steps. Checklists can speed up the
collection of information by using tick-boxes
and rating scales.
 Product Descriptors
• A product descriptor provides clear details of
the product that the students are instructed
to create simultaneously ensuring that they
are familiar with each facet of the product.
 Rubrics
• It is a document that articulates the
expectations for an assignment by listing
the criteria, or what counts, and describing
levels of quality from excellent to poor.
• Rubrics are often used to grade student work
but they can serve another, more important,
role as well: Rubrics can teach as well as
evaluate.
One example...
Have fun teaching...let your learners
discover the joy of learning!
There is no end to what you as a teacher can
to do to make your lessons invigorating,
engaging and productive for your learners.
This is just the beginning...
 References
• Bloom, B.S., Englejard, M., Furst, E., Hill, W. &
Krathwohl,D. (1956) – Taxonomy of
educational objective: Handbook 1 – cognitive
domain, New York: McKay
• Whitton,D. (2002) – Education strategies for
gifted children. Melbourne: hawker Brownlow
education
• Whitton, D. (2015) – Teaching and Learning
Strategies