MODULE 7 DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHES

What is deductive instruction?

A deductive approach to instruction is a more teacher-centered
approach. This means that the teacher gives the students a new concept,
explains it, and then has the students practice using the concept. For
example, when teaching a new grammar concept, the teacher will
introduce the concept, explain the rules related to its use, and finally the
students will practice using the concept in a variety of different ways.
These deductive instructional approaches are deductive reasoning,
advance organizer, backward design, lecture, and lecture-discussion
models.

Deductive approaches of instruction are commonly utilized by teachers in all levels of instruction
considering that these are direct instructional approaches. These models, according to Muij and Reynolds
(2005), usually begin with general principles, from which consequences and phenomena are deducted, until
a particular is attained for students to know:
1. What are the results to be derived?
2. How are they derived?
3. How are they used?

Gunter, Estes, and Schwab (2003) likewise explained the significance of the approach by stating that
deductive approaches usually begin with the presentation of generalization, a rule, or a concept. Students
are then given specific examples, along with facts, associated with the generalization, concept, or rule. In
moving from general to the specific, students are encouraged to draw inferences and make predictions
based on examples.

Deductive reasoning
This approach proceeds from principles or generalizations to their application in specific instances. It
includes, among others, the testing of generalizations to see if they hold in specific cases.

Syntax for deductive reasoning

1. State a theory or generalization to be tested
2. Form a hypothesis in the form of a prediction
3. Observe or collect data to test the hypothesis
4. Analyze and interpret the data to determine if the prediction is true
5. Conclude whether the generalization holds true in the specific context from which it was taken

Examples of deductive reasoning

1. All dolphins are mammals.
2. All mammals have kidneys.

Using deductive reasoning, you can conclude that all dolphins have kidneys. Remember, for this
to work, both statements must be true.

Advance organizer
Advance organizers are verbal statements at the beginning of a lesson that preview and structure new
material and link it to the content students already understand. According to Eggen and Kauchak (2001),
advance organizers are like cognitive roadmaps that allow students to see where they have been and where

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they are going. In essence, advance organizer is a deductive information teaching approach designed to
teach interrelated bodies of content and generalizations. This pedagogical model was proposed by David
Ausubel (1963), an educational psychologist who was interested in the way knowledge is organized and
how the human mind organizes ideas.

Common advance organizers

1. Expository advance organizers give students a broad idea of the lesson’s purpose before the
lesson begins. For example, a teacher may tell students what the lesson’s goals are: “We’ve
talked about what habitats are and why some animals prefer to live in different places than other
animals do. Our goal today is to learn about the four layers of a tropical rainforest and which
animals live in each of those different layers.” Teachers often also write the goals on the board.
2. Narrative advance organizers involve storytelling. At the beginning of the class, the teacher might
tell an interesting story that relates to important concepts in the lesson: “I’m going to tell you a
story about a little tree frog who climbed from the forest floor up to the very top of the tallest
tree in the rainforest.”
3. Skimming is another type of advance organizer. A teacher may ask students to skim over a
reading, focusing on highlighted information, such as captions or chapter headings. That makes
them familiar with the material before they read it more thoroughly. Younger students might
take a “picture walk” through the reading.
4. Graphic organizers structure information visually or in pictures. They’re usually one-page forms
with lots of blank areas so they’re easy for students to skim before the lesson. For example, a
teacher might give students a simple drawing of a tree with lines marking each of the four layers
of the rainforest. As the lesson goes on, the students can fill in the graphic organizer with the
names of the different layers and of the animals that live in them. Graphic organizers take on a
plethora of avenues and looks, but the two most utilized are Venn Diagrams and Concept
Mapping.
5. KWL charts are a popular form of advance organizer. Before a lesson begins, students may be
asked to divide a page into three columns. Then they use the first column to write what they
think they know (that’s where the K comes from in the acronym) about rainforests. In the second
column, they add what they want (W) to know about rainforests. And after the lesson, they write
what they’ve learned (L) in the third column. Creating a KWL chart makes students think about
what they already know. That makes them feel more comfortable with the new material they’re
learning. As a result, their interest and focus may increase.

Significance of advance organizers

Advance organizers are of great significance in the teaching-learning process. These are highly inclusive
concepts that serve as an ideal scaffolding and an umbrella into which more detailed information is
incorporated as learning progresses; provide a conceptual framework; facilitate learning; pursue the
purpose of giving students needed background information for the upcoming lesson; and act as a kind
of conceptual bridge between the new and old information (Moore, 2005).

Lecture
According to Moore, lecture is an excellent way of presenting background information when building a unit
frame of reference or when understanding a unit. It is an instructional approach in which the teacher
presents information and follows it up with question-and-answer sessions. This approach to teaching
affords the teacher ample opportunity to collect related materials, assemble them in a meaningful
framework, and present the information to students in a relatively short period of time (Moore, 2005).

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For Eggen and Kauchak (2001), a lecture is a form of instruction in which students receive information
delivered in a verbal, organized way by teachers. Teachers, over the years, have used lectures to deliver
instruction in the classroom. Good and Brophy (1994) expounded that lectures are appropriate when:
1. The objective is to present information.
2. The information is not available in a readily accessible source.
3. The material must be organized in a particular way.
4. It is necessary to arouse interest in the subject.

Types of Lectures – Planning for Interactive Teaching and Learning

Several authors describe different types of lecture (Bonwell & Eison, 1991; Broadwell, 1980; Woodring,
2004). Lectures may be categorized in terms of the level of student interaction, the classification of content,
and the medium by which information is disseminated.

Categorized by Levels of Student Interaction

 Formal lecture. The lecturer delivers a well-organized, tightly constructed, and highly polished
presentation. This type of lecture works well for teaching large groups of students and has
been popularized by outlets such as TED Talks (Donovan, 2013) and, more recently, massive
open online courses (MOOCs), such as those offered through Coursera or EdX. In the formal
lecture, students hold questions until the conclusion of the lecture.
 Socratic lecture. This type of lecture, which typically follows a reading assignment to give
students a baseline of knowledge, is structured around a series of carefully sequenced
questions. The instructor asks a single student a question sequence. The questions require the
student to use logic and inference skills.
 Semi-formal lecture. This is the most common type of lecture. Somewhat similar to the formal
lecture, the semiformal lecture is less elaborate in form and production. Occasionally, the
lecturer entertains student questions during the presentation of material.
 Lecture-discussion. This type of lecture encourages greater student participation. The
instructor presents the talk, but he or she stops frequently to ask students questions or to
request that students read their prepared materials. The direction of interaction can occur in
one of three ways: (1) instructor to class, (2) instructor to individual student, or (3) individual
student to instructor.
 Interactive lecture. In this version of lecturing, the instructor uses mini-lectures about 20
minutes long, and involves students in a range of brief content-related activities in between.
Interaction may occur between instructor and students or between and among students.

Categorized by Content
 Expository lecture/oral essay. The lecturer begins with a primary thesis or assertion and then
proceeds to justify it, typically putting the most important information or supporting examples
first and proceeding in descending order of importance.
 Storytelling lecture. The instructor presents concepts and content through a story to illustrate
a concept. The lecture proceeds in typical narrative form, with an exposition, rising action,
climax, falling action, and resolution. Characters are presented and developed through the
presentation of the story line. The goal is to present critical content in a way that students will
remember it.

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 Point-by-point lecture. In this type of lecture, the instructor presents information about a
single concept, question, or issue. The organizational structure is typically an outline format,
with a hierarchical organization of major and minor points.
 Lecture-demonstration. The content involves a demonstration of a process or activity. The
lecture typically proceeds in chronological order, with the demonstration presented in a
sequence of events that the lecturer highlights and explains.
 Problem-solving lecture. In this type of lecture, a problem serves as the focus. The lecturer
outlines the main problem, the key known elements, and the elements that remain to be
discovered. During the lecture, the instructor typically works through the problem and
demonstrates a solution or various possible solutions.

Categorization by Medium
 Naked lecture. The term “teaching naked” was popularized by Jose Bowen (2012) in his
similarly titled book. Bowen argues that teachers have much to gain by taking technology out
of their classrooms. He argues that teaching without technology, “naked,” will improve
student learning. Instructors who adapt this approach talk directly to students without the
intervening agency of technology; alternately, they use technology outside of the classroom
and reserve in-class time for direct communication with students.
 Chalk and talk lecture. This approach is so named because of early uses of lecture in a
classroom with a blackboard and chalk. While some professors still use a blackboard,
whiteboards and markers and smart boards are supplanting the earlier tools. Regardless of
the tools used, the key characteristic of this approach is that the instructor lectures while
generating notes on a medium that students can see.
 Multimedia lecture. A multimedia lecture, once called the slide lecture because of the slide-
talk approach, is one of the most commonly used approaches today. Instructors use audio-
visual software packages such as PowerPoint or Prezi to highlight key points of text. The term
“death-by-PowerPoint” is one that teachers should keep in mind, particularly as something to
avoid, when using this approach.
 Video lecture. This type of lecture is one in which an instructor lectures and is captured on
video as a talking head. At times, the video may alternate between showing headshots of the
instructor and full screen visuals of the slides. This type of lecture is often used in the service
of online learning and blended learning. More recently, this approach has seen increased
usage as part of the flipped classroom strategy (Ronchetti, 2010).

Strategies for Fostering Classroom Discussions

Excerpted from Fostering Effective Classroom Discussions by J. Barton, P. Heilker, and D. Rutkowski.
Set clear expectations for student participation in discussion sessions.
 Do this at the beginning of the semester to set the tone of the class
 Establish discussion “rules” such as “You are not allowed to say ‘I don’t know’ when asked a
question. If you don’t know, think of a plausible answer, guess, speculate, wonder aloud.”
 Require students to submit an Entrance Ticket when they come to class. Students submit the
entrance ticket to the instructor if they have completed homework or reading – this ticket can
help motivate to students to be prepared for class discussions.

Break the ice with informal talk outside of class.

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 Informally talk with student before and after class about non-class material such as their other
classes, sports, and activities. Showing students that you care about them as individuals may
help them to be more open to formal discussion in class.

Control and use classroom space strategically.

 Arrange the classroom in a circle or horseshoe to help stimulate discussion.
 Move toward the person to whom you are talking but then move away as soon as they begin
to speak so they become the center of the conversation.
 Walk among the students during your presentation to encourage students to talk with you.
 Sitting with your students helps the class become a community which can encourage
discussion.

Use eye contact purposefully and strategically.

 Look directly at the person to whom you are discussing but then scan the class to encourage
more dialogue.
 Watch for non-verbal feedback to keep the discussion lively and meaningful—move on and
change the subject when you see people drifting off.

Avoid open questions; Call on individual students.

 Directing questions to specific students rather than asking the entire class to answer will
prevent students who tend to answer all the time from monopolizing the discussion.

Ask good questions.

 Prepare a list of questions to help drive the discussion. Mark those which are good and delete
for future classes those which do not spur discussion.
 Avoid yes/no questions. Instead, form questions which require students to analyze and
interpret, beginning the question with, “Why do you think?” or “How would you?”
 Include questions that lead to students taking a stand on a subject and lead these questions
with, “What arguments, pro and con, can we generate?”
 Prompt students recall of information by asking questions that refer to readings, prior
discussions, and exam material.

Resist responding to your own questions.

 Take the time to allow students to formulate an answer and avoid answering the question
yourself or asking another student for the answer.
 Ask the student to clarify the answer or add more information if it is not exactly what you are
looking for instead of bypassing that student for another. A sure way to deter students from
discussion is to quickly disregard their answer or comment.

Time and discussion management.

 Plan on how much time you will provide for classroom discussions—and provide more time
than what you think you will need.
 How will you end a discussion if time runs out—will you resume the discussion during the next
class period? Will you have students continue with the discussion in an online discussion
forum you create for that purpose using Blackboard? Will you have students complete
homework based on the discussion?

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 Prepare for disagreement among students, especially if the topic is controversial or gets out
of hand. Providing and reviewing discussion policies and guidelines can help reduce flare-ups
or heated discussions. Refer to step 1 above.

How to present facts, skills, and concepts

Teaching Facts
Teachers help students learn facts—that is, verifiable pieces of specific information. Facts take a
variety of forms, including definitions, names, dates, and formulae. For instance, learning the names
of the state capitols is factual learning. While crucial to overall knowledge development, facts do
not generalize well. They are specific to the context in which they are taught. Methods for teaching
facts vary considerably. Teachers may suggest students use flashcards, instructional technology,
games or other devices for remembering facts.

Sample question used when teaching facts: “What is this?”

Teaching Skills
Teachers also want students to learn skills. Skills are best considered a type of learning that gets
better with practice. The most obvious examples come from motor learning. Practicing your tennis
serve will likely make you more accurate (a good coach can help, too!). But skills learning can also
include cognitive skills, such as using a dictionary. For instance, if you practice finding words in
dictionary by learning how to use the guide words or recognizing the significance of different
typefaces, you will very likely become faster and more efficient. Methods for teaching skills usually
involve practice in which the teacher gives quick feedback on the student's performance.

Sample feedback used when teaching skills: “That time was better. Can you tell what you did
differently?”

Teaching Concepts
Teachers are generally most concerned with conceptual learning because it helps learners to
understand why. Concepts are distinguished from facts in that they are a much broader, deeper
type of knowledge. Learning a concept should help the learner generalize from the teaching context
to other, different contexts. In this way, conceptual learning is like a key: it helps to open learning
in other areas. Concepts are also different from facts and skills because they involve relationships
or processes. Photosynthesis, natural selection, and the theory of relativity are all examples of large,
organizing concepts. Learning concepts is usually much more difficult than learning facts because it
requires analytical thinking; facts taught within a concept are typically learned faster. Teaching for
concepts can take many forms. One common method for conceptual development is the use of
examples and non-examples, with a focus on attributes/criteria for inclusion. Teachers also engage
in hypothetical questioning and systems analysis instruction for teaching concepts.

Sample question used when teaching concepts: “What do you notice about…?” or “How is x like y?”

"Teaching” Morals
Teaching is placed in quotation marks above because we don’t typically consider morality as
something that can be taught. Children and youth learn morals best when they see examples of
virtue. Exhortation is much less effective. Moral knowledge, in contrast to other types of learning,

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cannot be forgotten. That is, once children understand it is wrong to steal, they don’t “forget” what
they learned.

Questioning (e.g., “How would you feel if so-and-so did that to you?”) in the development of moral
learning may have less value than modeling.

What is inductive instruction?

In contrast with the deductive method, inductive instruction makes use of student “noticing”. Instead of
explaining a given concept and following this explanation with examples, the teacher presents students
with many examples showing how the concept is used. The intent is for students to “notice”, by way of the
examples, how the concept works.

The inductive model is a powerful strategy that uses examples in teaching well-defined content. It gives
emphasis to the learners’ active involvement and the construction of their own understanding of specific
topics. It is used to teach how to categorize concepts through common characteristics. During inductive
thinking, students collect, organize, and examine data; identify common elements; and make a
generalization based on common or general elements. Induction starts with a specific observation of a
limited set of data and ends with a generalization about a much broader context.

Teaching inductively is a popular approach to instruction. Teachers, by and large, are confident in
implementing the conduct of study when the syntax of the lesson proceeds from specific to general. Four
inductive instructional models, namely, concept development, concept attainment, inquiry, and problem
solving are discussed in this chapter.

Concept development
This approach is also known as concept formation, was created and popularized by Hilda Taba and her
associates (1971). As a model of concept learning, it was designed to help students organize information,
make connections among the gathered data, and create and test hypotheses. Likewise, it serves as the
foundation for the development of the students' higher level of thinking (Joyce, Weil, & Calhoun, 2004).

Parker (1991) maintains that the concept development model enables students to systematically examine
data in a way that fosters an understanding of how a label for a concept becomes just a label, engenders
more complex thinking about the content, and enables students to relate their experiences with the
available data. As an inductive approach to instruction, this model enables students to process information
with accuracy and efficiency. In the conduct of the lesson/unit of study, the approach addresses the
formation of concepts, interpretation of data, and the application of principles to explain new
phenomenon.

Syntax for the concept development (Taba, 1971)

1. Enumerate and listen
2. Group
3. Label/categorize
4. Interpret data
5. Identify critical relationships
6. Explain relationships
7. Make inferences
8. Apply principles

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9. Predict consequences, explain unfamiliar phenomena, and hypothesize

10. Explain and/or support the production and hypotheses
11. Verify production

Example lesson for concept development

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Concept attainment
This is an inductive approach to instruction designed to help students of all ages reinforce their
understanding of concepts and practice hypothesis testing. The approach is based on the cognitive views
of learning, which maintain that the learners’ active roles depend on their knowledge and utilization of
examples to develop understanding (Egger & Kauchalk, 2001).

Concept attainment is likewise the process of defining concepts by attending to those attributes that are
absolutely essential to the meaning and disregarding those that are not. It involves learning to discriminate
between what is and what is not an example of a concept (Eggen & Kauchak, 2001).

Syntax for the concept attainment (Gunter, Estes, & Schwab 2003)
1. Select and define a concept
2. Select the attributes
3. Develop positive and negative examples
4. Introduce the process to the students
5. Present the examples and list the attributes
6. Develop a concept definition
7. Give additional examples
8. Discuss the process with the class
9. Evaluate

Example lesson for concept development

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Inquiry approach
This is a modification of the scientific procedure us scientists. Its application involves the awareness of a
problem; development of hypotheses testing of the hypotheses; acceptance modification, or rejection of
the hypotheses, and closure (Savage & Armstrong, 1987). As a process, the inquiry approach is involved in
framing questions processing data relevant to those questions, and drawing inferences or conclusions from
the data (Ellis, 1986).

The inquiry model is not just meant for asking questions, it is a process of conducting investigations. It is a
systematic process for answering questions based on facts and observations. As an instructional approach,
it is designed to teach students how to investigate questions through the systematic gathering of data. For
Parker (1997), the inquiry process is the highest form of higher order thinking-critical thinking.

The inquiry approach presents an inductive approach to instruction proceeding through a sequence of
scientific phases designed to foster the use of scientific approaches in investigating the problem. However,
the approach does not require solutions to the problem being investigated (Moore, 2005).

Syntax for the inquiry (Eggen & Kuachak, 2001)

1. Present a question. An inquiry investigation begins when a question is identified.
2. Formulate hypotheses. Once a question has been clarified, the class can try to answer it. A
hypothesis is a tentative answer to a question or a solution to a problem that can be verified with
data.
3. Gather data. Hypotheses are used to guide the data gathering process.
4. Analyze data. Students are responsible for assessing their hypotheses on the basis of the data.
Discussing the data as they relate to the hypotheses may be the most valuable part of the inquiry
process.
5. Generalize. Content closure in the inquiry happens when students tentatively generalize, if
possible, about the results on the basis of the data.
6. Analyze the inquiry process. The teachers ask students to analyze and reflect on the inquiry
process.

Problem-solving approach
This model refers to the ability to recognize, identify, define, or describe a problem, determine the
preferred solution; identify potential solutions; select strategies; test solutions; evaluate outcomes; or
revise any of these steps (Costa, 1985). It is likewise a problem-based teaching approach wherein teachers
help students learn to solve problems through hands-on experiences. It usually starts with a problem that
students need to solve with the assistance of a leader (Eggen & Kauchak, 2001). In contrast with the inquiry
model which provides, among others, learning experiences to investigate, but not necessarily finds
solutions to the problem, the problem-solving as an approach to instruction, calls for solutions to the
problem being investigated. Problem solving, according to Cruickshank, Jenkins, and Metcalf (1999),
requires that the situation exists wherein a goal is to be achieved, and learners be asked to consider how
they would attain the goal. Listed below are the major beliefs about problem solving:
1. A major goal of education is to help students learn how to solve all types of problems, both
subject matter-related (well-structured) and people- or life- related (ill-structured).
2. 2. Some problem-solving strategies tend to be subject-area specific, such as procedures for
solving mathematical or scientific problems.

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3. Other problem-solving strategies are more useful when dealing with ill-structured problems. A
general problem-solving strategy includes the following steps: (a) state the goal to be achieved,
(b) identify the obstacles that might be encountered (c) project alternative ways to achieve the
goal, (d) consider the consequences of each possible solution, (e) decide how to implement the
best proposed solution and do so, and (f) evaluate the degree of satisfaction with the problem
resolution (Cruickshank, Jenkins, && Metcalf, 1999).

Syntax for problem solving (Moore, 2005)

1. Define the problem
2. Collect data
3. Identify obstacles to the goals
4. Identify alternatives
5. Rate alternative
6. Choose the best alternatives

Problem solving addresses one's intrinsic desire to search information for the purpose of understanding a
bewildered phenomena. As an inductive approach to induction, it involves students in their own learning.
John Dewey (1938) maintained that problem solving fosters curiosity, questioning, and interest in learning,
and develops problem-solving skills which are the necessary thinking tools of individuals and groups in
everyday life. All the aforesaid instructional models are taught inductively, as teachers move from specific
instances and examples to general ideas and concepts (Lasley II, Matczynski, & Rowley, 2002).

Deductive Inductive
 Teacher-Centered  Student-Centered
 General rule → specific examples  Specific examples → general rule
 Low interaction  High interaction
 Method of verification  Method of discovery
 Process is fast  Process takes much longer
Figure 1
Deductive vs Inductive Instruction

Agno, L. (2010). Principles of Teaching 2: A Modular Approach. Quezon City: C & E Publishing, Inc.

Bilash, O. (2009). Inductive and Deductive Instruction. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from
https://bestofbilash.ualberta.ca/inductivedeductive.html

Gonzalez, J. (2014). Cult of Pedagogy. How to Teach an Inductive Learning Lesson. Retrieved March 20,
2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RlLVQYhJt8

Gonzalez, J. (2013). Cult of Pedagogy. How to Teach a Concept Attainment Lesson. Retrieved March 20,
2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxvX6B_0nnI

Major, C. H., Harris, M. S., & Zakrajsek, T. (2015). Teaching for learning: 101 intentionally designed
educational activities to put students on the path to success. Routledge.

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Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. (2012). Classroom discussions.
In Instructional guide for university faculty and teaching assistants. Retrieved
from https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide

Osewalt, G. (nd). Common Advance Organizers and Why They Work. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from
https://www.understood.org/en/articles/common-advance-organizers-and-why-they-work

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