Emerging Approaches and Methodologies in Teaching

Emerging
In education, nothing is constant. Recent approaches may come to supplement already existing approaches. These recent approaches are still in the process of development. New insights about the nature of knowledge emerge every now and then.

Emerging Approaches and Methodologies

Constructivism (approach) Cooperative Learning Investigative Method Problem-Solving Method

Constructivism

Constructivism
There is no direct transmission of knowledge from teacher to learner. Students construct knowledge; they do not merely record understanding. In a classroom that follows the constructivist approach, students' learning should be active rather than passive.

Constructivism
Passive Listening to teachers lectures Answering convergent questions Drill and application Active Investigative work Work involving small groups Learning by experience Cooperative learning Problem solving

Constructivism
Passive Teacher lectures and students listen Teacher asks and students answer Teacher drills and students show whether they have accomplished teachers standards Active Students investigate Students cooperate Students grapple with problems Students make sense of their own experiences

Constructivism
Content still matters, but in constructivism, how students acquire content is different In traditional conceptions of education, teachers fill students with buckets of information In constructivism, students are naturally curious

Constructivism
Information is most useful and meaningful for students if it is related to past knowledge students have (called schemas). Learners become responsible for what they learn and the way they learn. Teachers do not impose meaning Instead, students make meaning.

Constructivism
Traditional Students are Teachers are Lesson development Materials filled givers Constructivist thinkers facilitators Giving of correct answers Seeking out what students think Textbooks and workbooks Books + primary sources and hands-on materials Focused on big ideas Tied up with teaching; done in many ways

Curriculum Assessment

Rigid; focused on basic skills Separate from teaching; done through tests

How students work

Usually individually or in a competitive environment

Usually cooperatively

Constructivism
In a constructivist classroom: Teachers should supply plenty of examples. Teachers should promote interaction. Teachers should relate concepts to real life or make students ponder or work in real settings. Teachers should focus on what students think. Teachers should ask the right questions to encourage students to think (usually open-ended questions with plenty of wait time) Teachers should focus on processes more than on answers.

Constructivism

1/2 + 1/3 = ?

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative Learning
Alternative to competition and individualism Competition: students successes depends on others losses; emphasis on winning, getting to the top, etc. Individualism: students learn by themselves, but what about interaction and communication?

Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning involves students working in small groups to achieve mutually determined goals. Cooperative learning can be used to teach traditional basic skills, HOTS, and awareness of students differences and interpersonal skills.

Cooperative Learning
What Should be Present? According to Slavin: (1) Group goals, (2) Individual accountability, and (3) Equal opportunity for success According to David and Roger Johnson: (1) Positive interdependence; (2) Face-to-face interaction; (3) Individual accountability; (4) Social skills; and (5) Group processing

Types of Cooperative Learning

1. Peer tutoring Students help together, whether in pairs or in small groups. Ornstein identifies at least three types of peer tutoring: (1) within-class, (2) higher grade level-lower grade level, and (3) any two students in equal standing.

Types of Cooperative Learning

Benefits of peer tutoring: Tutors are often less threatening than adult teachers Tutors and tutees become friends. Tutors can cater to the individualized learning needs of slow students. Tutors learn how to teach, which is an important skill that can be carried over to maturity. Tutors gain mastery of their material. Tutors can explain material to tutees in easily understandable ways. Tutors can determine what exactly the tutees are having a hard time with. (Tutors sometimes develop more awareness of this than the teacher can).

Types of Cooperative Learning

2. Student Team Achievement Divisions (STAD) STAD involves division of the class into teams with four or five people. Members of teams are according to rank; usually, there is one high-ability, one lowability, and two or three middle-ability students.

Types of Cooperative Learning

STAD involves the following steps: Presentation of lesson to groups. (lasts for 1-2 periods) Team study. Here, worksheets (fewer than number of students in group) are distributed. Students do not just answer; they exchange explanations. Teachers move around for monitoring and can give some help. The team is not considered done until each member can score 100% on a practice quiz. Quizzing (individually, average obtained, graded immediately) Recognition. Change of teams periodically, e.g. every 5-6 weeks.

Types of Cooperative Learning

3. Team-Assisted Instruction (TAI)
Similar to STAD, but there is greater emphasis on diagnosis. Students first answer worksheets individually, and then teammates give assistance. A score of 80% or more is needed for a student to be able to take the final quiz. Recognition is just like in STAD, plus the provision of super teams, great teams, and good teams. The emphasis of TAI is mastery learning.

Types of Cooperative Learning

4. Jigsaw classroom
This approach is best for high school students. Students are divided into groups to learn more about the topic currently discussed in class Each member of the team, however, studies about different aspects of the topic Each group has a designated expert, or the best in the group, who meets with other experts. Then the experts teach the group what they have learned.

Types of Cooperative Learning

5. Group Investigation
Groups of students solve a common problem, generally an ill-structured problem Examples of group investigation involve diorama constructions, science experiments, and science investigatory projects. Here are six general steps in group investigation: choosing a topic, cooperative planning, implementation, analysis and synthesis, presentation, and evaluation.

Investigative Method

Investigative Method
Involves the use of investigative cases where students can learn. Investigative learning ensures that students can deal with complicated situations as well as manage the way they learn. Cases for the investigative method provide meaningful contexts for subject matter, direct student exploration, and help in developing skills that are important in solving problems for a lifetime. Also, because cases cross disciplines, students can find out the interrelationships between disciplines.

Investigative Method
Steps in Investigative Method (NOTE: they are not rigid) 1. Present a case in front of the class. 2. Identify important issues. 3. Determine major themes. 4. Ask questions 5. Gather resources. 6. Define problems. 7. Design investigative approaches. 8. Find materials where support for conclusions can be gathered. 9. Present results. 10. Evaluation.

Problem-Solving Method

Problem-Solving Method
Much has been said about problem solving as one of the necessary skills needed in todays speedily changing world. Problem solving skills are important because these skills are general they can be applied in a large number of situations.

Problem-Solving Method
John Deweys Reflective Thinking 1. Know the difficulty of the problem. 2. Identify the problem. 3. Look at the data then form hypotheses. 4. Accept/reject hypotheses. 5. Form and evaluate conclusions.

Problem-Solving Method
IDEAL (by Bransford and Stein) 1. Identify (problem) 2. Define (problem) 3. Explore (ways) 4. Act (on the ways) 5. Look (what you have done).

Problem-Solving Method
Heuristics (problem-solving strategies) Here are ten heuristics that Richard Cyert thinks powerful enough for many problems: Keep the basic problem in mind. Take care of the details later. Dont commit to a single hypothesis when there are many that you can use. Find ways to simplify the problem. If an approach is not working, try another one. Ask questions. Be willing to question assumptions. Work backwards. Store partial solutions for later. Use analogies. Discuss the problem with others.

Problem-Solving Method
Successful Problem Solving Bloom outlines differences between successful and unsuccessful problem solvers:
Comprehension Previous knowledge Successful Unsuccessful Reacts well to selected Misinterpret problems cues Knows how to mobilize Dont know where or old knowledge how to begin.

Style of problem solving Can state what they are Cant clarify what they behaviour doing are doing Attitude towards View problem solving as Problem solving is often problem solving challenging frustrating

Problem-Solving Method
Metacognitive Skills Comprehension monitoring Understanding decisions Planning Estimating task difficulty Task presentation Coping strategies Internal cues Retracking Noting and correcting Flexible approaches

Problem-Solving Method
Teaching Problem Solving Here are five processes related to problem-solving in mathematics, though they are applicable to many other subject fields: Attending to prerequisites Attending to relationships Attending to representation Generalizability of concepts Attending to language

Problem-Solving Method
Teaching Problem Solving Here are five processes related to problem-solving in mathematics, though they are applicable to many other subject fields: Attending to prerequisites Attending to relationships Attending to representation Generalizability of concepts Attending to language

Questions
1. (a) What are the three most important differences between traditional teaching and the constructivist approach? (b) Why do you think that the three differences that you chose have the greatest precedence? 2. How can you explain constructivist approach to a parent who has been educated using a traditional approach?

Questions
3. What provisions in cooperative learning will help avoid groupthink, or having the same mindset for all members of a group? 4. One frequent complaint of many bright students in classrooms is that during group activities, they hog up all the work of the lowerability students. What is there in cooperative learning that helps prevent this possibility?

Questions
5. What are five possible ways in which the investigative cased-based approach in education can help hone out critical and creative thinking skills? 6. If the investigative approach takes plenty of time, then what adjustments must be made to the usual classroom environment before the investigative approach becomes operative?

Questions
7. What are three crucial differences between successful and unsuccessful problem solvers? 8. What example from your life did you apply at least one or more metacognitive skills? Explain.