innovation and development can liberate individual teachers to explore the diversification and richness of daily practice.
An Overview of the Book
Based on a review of research on instructional delivery methods, Instructional Strategies for Effective Teaching is organized around ten key instructional methods.
1. Classroom discussion
2. Concept attainment
3. Concept mapping
4. Cooperative learning
5. Direct instruction
6. Mastery learning
7. Memorization and mnemonic instruction
8. Inquiry-based learning
9. Self-regulated learning
10. Meaningful feedback
Note that these are not the only methods that one can or should consider; rather, from the dozens available, we’ve selected ten methods that are well researched in terms of their impact on student learning and that effective teachers frequently use.
We present each of these ten instructional methods in its own chapter along with explicit strategies teachers can employ in the everyday life of an effective classroom. To make the featured methods relevant and useful, each chapter contains the following sections.
• An introduction to the instructional method
• What research says about the instructional method
• How to move from research to practice
To end each chapter, we include several handouts to help teachers use these instructional methods immediately. Our intent is for teachers and school leaders to take the methods they find useful right off of the page and put them into practice as seamlessly as possible.
Teachers can use many of the featured methods for self-assessment and reflection. They also help administrators assess instructional practices from the formative perspective. As table I.1 summarizes, we support three specific groups of educators in the important work of delivering effective teaching.
Table I.1: Goals for Each Audience
| Audience | Goals of Book |
| Teachers improving practice | • Self-reflection • Guided study • Teacher-directed growth |
| Teachers teaching teachers | • Mentor tips • Instructional coaching tips • Peer networks |
| Leaders supporting teachers | • Directed growth • Supervisor support for teachers • Coordinated curriculum |
Summary: So Where Do We Go From Here?
Instruction is a process in which teachers apply a range of instructional strategies to communicate and interact with students around academic content and to support student engagement. We know from both research and personal experience that teachers who have similar professional qualifications (such as degree, certification, or years of experience) teach differently in their classrooms and vary significantly in their performances when helping students learn academically. The primary difference between effective and ineffective teachers does not lie in the amount of knowledge they have about subject content, the type of certificate they hold, the highest degree they earned, or even the years they have been teaching. Rather, the difference lies more fundamentally in the manner in which they deliver their knowledge and the skills they use while interacting with their students.
Our goal for this book is to make the delivery of content and the interactions with students around the content more dynamic, engaging, and successful. It is our hope that this guide on instructional methods will motivate you to broaden your instructional versatility and creativity and that you find it practical, solidly researched, and easy to use. Now, let’s put these methods to use in your school or classroom.
Chapter 1
Classroom Discussion
Classroom discussion is an instructional method that engages learners in a conversation for the purpose of learning content and related skills. By engaging in quality classroom discussion, students build understanding of the subject matter, delve deeper into their own perspectives, present their own views verbally, support their arguments with evidence, listen and respond critically, take notes, and critique themselves and others.
According to Michael Hale and Elizabeth City (2006), “student-centered discussions are conversations in which students wrestle with ideas and engage in open-ended questions together through dialogue” (p. 3). In particular, there are two goals for a quality classroom discussion (Hale & City, 2006).
1. Teachers must deepen students’ understanding of ideas in instructional content, as well as their own ideas and the ideas of others.
2. Teachers must develop students’ abilities to engage in a civil, intellectually challenging discussion of ideas.
Hale and City (2006) note that “through close examination and discussion of ideas, along with the use of texts and other learning materials, students develop the skills and habits of reading analytically, listening carefully, citing evidence, disagreeing respectfully, and being open-minded” (pp. 3–4). Similarly, Stephen Brookfield and Stephen Preskill (2005) write that discussion causes “people to expand their horizons, develop new interests, and appreciate new perspectives” (p. 34), as suggested in the following fifteen benefits of discussion (Brookfield & Preskill, 2005).
1. Helps students explore a diversity of perspectives
2. Increases students’ awareness of and tolerance for ambiguity or complexity
3. Helps students recognize and investigate their assumptions
4. Encourages attentive, respectful listening
5. Develops new appreciation for continuing differences
6. Increases intellectual agility
7. Helps students connect with a topic
8. Shows respect for students’ voices and experiences
9. Helps students learn the processes and habits of democratic discourse
10. Affirms students as cocreators of knowledge
11. Develops the capacity for the clear communication of ideas and meaning
12. Develops habits of collaborative learning
13. Increases breadth of understanding and makes students more empathic
14. Helps students develop skills of synthesis and integration
15. Leads to transformation
