INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

AND TECHNIQUES
(829)
INTRODUCTION

 Instructional strategies are techniques for successfully teaching a concept to a

group of students.
 A teaching strategy is the method used to deliver information in the classroom,
online, or in some other medium. A teaching strategy comprises the principles and
methods used for instruction.
 A combination of instructional methods, learning activities, and materials that
actively engage students in learning process and appropriately reflect both learning
goals and students’ developmental needs are called instructional strategies.
Instructional strategies can:
 Motivate students and help them focus attention
 Organize information for understanding and remembering
 Monitor and assess learning
Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)

 Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) refers to an educational system

of instruction performed almost entirely by computer.
 The term, Computer Based Learning (CBL) refers to the use of
computers as a key component of the educational environment.
While CAI and CBL can refer to the use of computers in a classroom,
they more broadly refer to a structured environment in which
computers are used for teaching purposes.
 Computer assisted instruction (CAI) is a program of instructional
material presented by means of a computer or computer systems.
 Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) refers to“An instruction thatuses
computer or digital device to monitor the learning that takes place
and presents the instructional materials.
Factors that Influence Computer
Assisted Instruction
 Ensure That CAI Activities Are Integrated into Your Curriculum
 Do Not Overuse CAI
 Plan for Uses of CAI Adjusted to Infrastructure and Resources Available
 Maximize Interactivity
 Allow for Different Rates of Progression in Class, but Ensure That All
Students Reach the Objectives
 Ensure Students Understand the Scope and Objectives of Assignments
 Be Sure Students Understand the Models Presented on the Screen
 Assess and Evaluate Student Performance When Use CAI
 Use the Computer under an Appropriate Paradigm
Advantages of Computer Assisted
Instruction
 They provide one-to-one interaction with a student, as well as an
instantaneous response to the answers elicited, and allow students to
proceed at their own pace.
 Computers are particularly useful in subjects that require drill, freeing
teacher time from some classroom tasks so that a teacher can devote
more time to individual students.
 Because of the privacy and individual attention afforded by a
computer, some students are relieved of the embarrassment of giving
an incorrect answer publicly or of going more slowly through lessons
than other classmates.
Cont…

 The program can adapt to the abilities and preferences of the

individual student and increase the amount of personalized
instruction a student receives.
 Moreover, computer-learning experiences often engage the interest of
students, motivating them to learn and increasing independence and
personal responsibility for education.
 A computer program can be used diagnostically, and, once a
student’s problem has been identified, it can then focus on the
problem area.
Drawbacks of Computer Assisted
Instruction
 They are generally costly systems to purchase, maintain, and update.
 There are also fears, whether justified or not, that the use of
computers in education decreases the amount of human interaction.
 In some applications, especially those involving abstract reasoning
and problem solving processes, CAI has not been very effective.
 Critics claim that poorly designed CAI systems can dehumanize or
regiment the educational experience and thereby diminish student
interest and motivation.
 Some student failures can be traced to inadequate teacher training
in CAI systems. Student training in the computer technology may be
required as well, and this process can distract from the core
educational process.
Non-Graded Classes or Mixed Ability
Groups
 Today, non-graded education, also called mixed-age grouping,
heterogeneous grouping and open education, remains an alternative
structure for many schools.
 With more emphasis today on the individual learner and increased
student diversity within classrooms, the non-graded system may
increasingly be viewed as an acceptable alternative to graded
structures.
 Students are given the flexibility to move at a pace that fosters
optimal and continuous learning instead of being promoted once a
year.
Development of Graded Education
Search for Other Models
 By the end of the nineteenth century there were various efforts to
create different schooling models and achieve greater flexibility.
 These efforts continued well into the twentieth century, handicapped
to some extent by the publishing industry's success in producing age
graded textbook series that made it easier for teachers to manage
their work.
 Along with the search for more appropriate, flexible, and child-
oriented arrangements to replace the entrenched graded-ness,
several influential and helpful developments occurred.
 Progressive education was very likely the most dramatic example.
Formal and Non-formal Education

 Formal Education
The hierarchically structured, chronologically graded ‘education
system’, running from primary school through the university and
including, in addition to general academic studies, a variety of
specialized programmes and institutions for full-time technical and
professional training.
 Informal Education
The truly lifelong process whereby every individual acquires
attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experience and
the educative influences and resources in his or her environment –
from family and neighbors, from work and play, from the market
place, the library and the mass media
Non-Formal Education

 Any organized educational activity outside the established formal

system whether operating separately or as an important feature of
some broader activity that is intended to serve identifiable learning
clienteles and learning objectives.
 The distinction made is largely administrative. Formal education is
linked with schools and training institutions; non-formal with
community groups and other organizations; and informal covers what
is left, e.g. interactions with friends, family and work colleagues.
 As Fordham (1993) comments, these definitions do not imply hard
and fast categories. In particular, there may well be some overlap
(and confusion) between the informal and the non-formal.
Cont…
Distance Education

 Distance education or distance learning is the education of students

who may not always be physically present at a school.
 Distance education delivers classes (live or pre-taped) to students in
their home, office, or classroom. As the cost of delivering quality
education increases, institutions find that limited resources prevent
them from building facilities, hiring faculty, or expanding curricula.
 They are using distance education to maximize resources and are
combining their assets with others to produce programming.
 Distance education is offered internationally, nationally, regionally,
and locally over all forms of conferencing technology.
Technologies of Distance Education

 Synchronous learning  Asynchronous learning

In synchronous learning, all In asynchronous learning,
participants are "present" at the participants access course
same time. In this regard, it materials flexibly on their own
resembles traditional classroom schedules. Students are not
teaching methods despite the
required to be together at the
participants being located remotely.
same time. Mail correspondence,
It requires a timetable to be
organized. Web conferencing, which is the oldest form of
videoconferencing, educational distance education, is an
television, instructional television are asynchronous delivery technology,
examples of synchronous as are message board forums, e-
technology, as are direct-broadcast mail, video and audio recordings,
satellite (DBS), internet radio, live print materials, voicemail, and fax.
streaming, telephone etc. onous learning
Benefits of Distance Education

 Distance learning can expand access to education of all population

 Lifelong learning
 Cost-effectiveness
 Distance learning may enable students who are unable to attend a
traditional school setting, due to disability or illness such as
decreased mobility and immune system suppression, to get a good
education.
 Students can review their lessons more than once according to their
need.
 Final opportunity for adolescents
Criticism

 Lack of advanced technology skills

 Difficult for the instructor to organize and plan a distance learning
program
 The isolation of students from instructors and their peers.
Open Learning

 Open learning is an innovative movement in education that emerged

in the 1970s and evolved into fields of practice and study.
 The term refers generally to activities that either enhance learning
opportunities within formal education systems or broaden learning
opportunities beyond formal education systems.
 Open learning involves but is not limited to: classroom teaching
methods, approaches to interactive learning, formats in work related
education and training, the cultures and ecologies of learning
communities, and the development and use of open educational
resources.
Correspondence Education

 Correspondence education means education where the institution

provides instructional materials by mail or electronic transmission,
including examinations, to students who are separated from the
instructor.
 As a general rule, Correspondence Education should be undertaken
when a campus-based alternative is impractical.
 This may be the case when a particular group of students is unable to
reach the campus, or because the college cannot offer an equivalent
course, or because the distance-based instruction is recognized by
the faculty as being superior to what the institution can provide
utilizing traditional modes of learning.
Several collaborative teaching
approaches
 Supportive Co-teaching
Where the one member of the team takes the lead role and the other
member rotates among students to provide support
 Parallel Co-teaching
Where support personnel and the classroom teacher instruct different
heterogeneous groups of students
 Complementary Co-teaching
Where a member of the co-teaching team does something to
supplement or complement the instruction provided by the other member of
the team.
 Team teaching
Involves a group of instructors working purposefully, regularly, and
cooperatively to help a group of students of any age.
Discussion Method

 In the classroom, students sit around a table with their peers and with a faculty tutor
as a guide, there are no lectures, no didactic discourses, and no simple regurgitation
of others’ conclusions.
 Instead, ideas are proposed, rebutted, and defended, until, through discussion and
critical argumentation, the class discerns the meaning of a given text and, more
important, its veracity or error. The truth is found by way of the conversation.
 This is the Discussion Method, also called the Socratic Method after the Ancient Greek
philosopher Socrates, who would engage his students with questions and dialogue.
Because the class is small, the tutor is able to determine each student’s progress, and
students have ample occasion to make their difficulties known. There is a true
meeting of the minds.
Lecture Method of Teaching

 Lecture method of teaching is the oldest teaching method applied in

educational institution.
 This teaching method is one way channel of communication of
information. Students’ involvement in this teaching method is just to
listen and sometimes pen down some notes if necessary during the
lecture, combine the information and organize it.
 Lecture method is the most commonly used method of teaching.
 It is a teacher- controlled & information centered approach in which
the teacher works as a sole-resource in classroom instruction. In
lecture method only the teacher talks & students are passive
listeners.
Case Method

 The case study teaching method is a highly adaptable style of

teaching that involves problem-based learning and promotes the
development of analytical skills.
 By presenting content in the format of a narrative accompanied by
questions and activities that promote group discussion and solving of
complex problems, case studies facilitate development of the higher
levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning; moving beyond
recall of knowledge to analysis, evaluation, and application.
Active Learning Strategies

 Ice Breakers
 Think/Pair/Share
 Write/Pair/Share
 Student Summaries
 Question and Answer in Pairs
 One Minute Paper/Free Write
Questioning Techniques

 Questioning techniques are a heavily used, and thus widely researched, teaching
strategy.
 Types of Questions
Educators have traditionally classified questions according to Bloom’s
Taxonomy. Bloom’s Taxonomy includes six categories:
1. Knowledge – recall data or information
2. 2. Comprehension – understand meaning
3. 3. Application – use a concept in a new situation
4. 4. Analysis – separate concepts into parts; distinguish between facts and inferences
5. 5. Synthesis – combine parts to form new meaning
6. 6. Evaluation – make judgments about the value of ideas or products
Feedback: Redirecting, Probing, and
Responding
 A teacher’s response to students’ answers is just as important as the
question asked. A response may redirect students when an incorrect
answer is given or students misinterpret the question.
 Teachers may probe for further explanation when a partial answer is
given. Finally, teachers may validate a correct response.
 Research in this area shows that redirection and probing are effective
when they are explicitly focused on student responses.